The American Hockey League has long been a great spot for NHL prospects to land.
While more work could be done to get younger players there sooner, the Oilers have utilized the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors well since they moved there in 2015. A number of prospects have come from there going on to play NHL games including the likes of current Oilers in Stuart Skinner, Evan Bouchard, Ryan McLeod, Philip Broberg and Vincent Desharnais without accounting for others like Ethan Bear and Caleb Jones, and more, who have played games in the bigs.
Over at Daily Faceoff, Steven Ellis took a look at the top 10 players who could be ready to take the jump to the NHL. Here are three from other teams in the Pacific Division:
Tye Kartye, LW, 22 (Seattle Kraken)
Kartye’s rookie season was outstanding, with the undrafted free agent scoring 28 goals and 57 points in 72 games. He then stepped into Seattle’s top six during the playoffs before finishing off the AHL season by playing in the Calder Cup final. He had just one point in seven games in the eventual loss to Hershey, but Kartye’s season-long work gives you a reason to think he is ready to take the next step next year. Not bad for a forward that didn’t peak until his overage OHL campaign with the Soo Greyhounds.Dustin Wolf, G, 22 (Calgary Flames)
Wolf can’t go back to the AHL. He’s way too good, simple as that. Wolf has won the top goaltender honors in both of his pro seasons, giving him a nice four-year streak after winning the same award in the WHL before that. All Wolf does is win, proving that teams made a big mistake not selecting him before the seventh round in 2019. The talent is there, with the 22-year-old recording a mind-blowing 77-20-7 record with seven shutouts and a .927 save percentage over 105 AHL games. He was excellent in his NHL debut as well, allowing just one goal on 24 shots in mid-April against San Jose. Daniel Vladar is still in the way for now, but if Wolf gets his chance, don’t be surprised if he’s the No. 1 over Jacob Markstrom before long.Arturs Silovs, G, 22 (Vancouver Canucks)
The Canucks rolled through a couple of backup goaltenders last season, but Silovs looks ready to take the throne next year. He went 3-2-0 in his first five games of NHL action and posted a 26-15-5 record with four shutouts for Abbotsford this year. His most notable performance came at the World Championship, where, after going 7-3-0 and leading Latvia to its first medal in IIHF history, he was named tournament MVP. Is he finally the right man to back up Thatcher Demko?
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B’s sign Bo
The Boston Bruins signed forward Jesper Boqvist to a one-year, $775,000 deal on Wednesday.
Boqvist, 24, was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft and stored 10 goals and 21 points in 70 games last year with them. Here’s more on the signing from Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Trudeau:
Coach Jim Montgomery and the Bruins should be able to explore the upper limit of the Swede’s potential on a team that has changed drastically this summer.GM Don Sweeney traded Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks in a cap dump, defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Connor Clifton walked in free agency, and Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci will likely retire.With a thin prospect pool and most of their money tied into David Pastrnak’s monster extension, a reclamation project like Boqvist represents a low-risk, high-reward play by Sweeney.…Though Boqvist, free-agent acquisition Morgan Geekie, and the assortment of aging former stars could give the Bruins enough of a boost to keep their contention window open another year without future Hall-of-Famer Bergeron playing for peanuts, Montgomery and Sweeney will need to work fast to avoid having to rebuild around Pastrnak.Boston will likely spend its remaining cap space, a little over $5.4 million, on restricted free agents Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic in the coming days.
Ducks sign Carlsson
The Anaheim Ducks signed second-overall draft pick Leo Carlsson to a three-year entry-level contract Wednesday.
The standard rookie contract comes for Carlsson, who was named the Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year while scoring the most points and assists by a junior player in the SHL, just weeks after the draft.
Carlsson scored 10 goals and 25 points in 44 SHL games last year.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
