One of the smaller moves by the Oilers this summer was to move out former first round pick Xavier Bourgault, to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for 2020 second-round pick, Roby Jarventie and a fourth round pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

The fourth-round pick quickly became Vasily Podkolzin, who has started the season well for the Oilers and there was wonder whether the trade of Bourgault for Jarventie would yield similar results. The big question with Jarventie was his health, not his ability. Jarventie had already done well in his young professional career. He had played seven NHL games with the Senators in the 23/24 season and had a very nice AHL season going where he had gone 9-11—20 in 22 games. However, Jarventie suffered two serious knee injuries in back-to-back seasons in the Senators organization and that made trading for him risky.

Jarventie finally made his debut with the Bakersfield Condors this weekend. While it is very early in his career with the Oilers organization, Jarventie showed some glimpses of what might could be down the road. More on Jarventie, the young Condors and all the news and notes in this week’s Oiler Prospect Report.

When Jarventie was drafted, it wasn’t because he had second-round talent because he was graded by many scouting services as a first-round talent. He had good size at 6’2″ and 200 pounds, skated well and had an offensive flair. What was in question was his diligence for the game. Despite having all this ability, Jarventie could get lost in games for periods at a time. Worse, he would combine that type of lacklustre play with some flat-out awful defensive decisions.

So down the board he slid until the late second round. Whatever happened post-draft, a new Roby Jarventie emerged almost immediately. He had a very strong season in the SM-liiga before coming to North America, but that’s when the injury troubles hit Jarventie. In his last two seasons, Jarventie has scored 50 points in 62 games. The problem is that he has only played 62 games.

So when Jarventie made his debut on Friday night, there were a lot of questions around him and how two knee injuries would impact his game. While playing two games doesn’t tell us a lot, it does give us some glimpses. Those glimpses were very positive.

Here is a clip of one of his first shifts. Jarventie is a very smart player in the offensive zone. He has great size, but what I really like is how he constantly adjusts his positioning to create lanes. He also is very hard to handle down low. This shift also finishes by showing just how out of game shape Jarventie is at this time. Understandable, of course, given the length of absence from the game.

One of the elements of his game that was on full display in his debut was his vision. Jarventie is an excellent passer of the puck.

Watch this great little play off of a failed set shot on the faceoff. Jarventie gathers the puck and heads outside while Matthew Savoie sneaks into the slot. Watch the narrow lane Jarventie has to fit this pass through and how quickly it happens. Great finish by Savoie.

That’s a very quick read and a great execution off that read by Jarventie. Savoie’s finish on the play was also very good.

Jarventie finished his weekend with two assists in two games. His second game looked a little sloppy, which would stand to reason. No doubt his stamina levels were not great playing the second of a back-to-back series against Coachella Valley.

Nevertheless, it was an encouraging start for a player that was traded for a prior first round pick of the Oilers.

There has been a lot of focus on Savoie early in the season by Oilers observers with some wondering if this was a player that could jump to the NHL sooner rather than later given the lack of scoring punch on the team. Savoie has been solid to start the season, but not spectacular, scoring two goals and five points in eight games. More concerning for me is he only has twelve shots on net. Savoie has a really great catch-and-shoot release, so finding more shots is going to lead to higher point totals for certain. His goal above is an example. However, Savoie is not a great creator of his own offence. He is more reliant on others to make plays while he finds quiet spots to finish. Again, much like the play above.

Here is another example of what I am talking about. The play starts in the defensive zone where Savoie does a nice job turning over a puck and advancing it up ice. Watch the great work by Seth Griffith in the offensive zone. Watch Savoie quietly get lost in an open spot. Griffith makes a tremendous pass and Savoie gets off a very good shot, but is denied.

If I was asked what two things to watch for with Savoie’s game, the first would be development in his ability to create more offensive plays on his own with more dynamic puck skills, so he does not need to rely on others. This will be critical to his development. Only having twelve shots in his first eight games isn’t good enough. Some of that is the adjustment to the pro game, but some is on him to be a better creator. The second element of his game to watch is defence. He’s a smaller player so this will be a challenge. The professional game is played at a much higher pace with the players being much bigger, too.

Watch this play that is late in a Condors’ powerplay. Savoie hands off the puck to the defenceman who slides down the wall. Savoie needed to stop here and play defence. With the Condors’ powerplay coming to an end, Savoie needed to back off. Instead, he gets too low into the zone. A quick chip by the Firebirds player and they are off on 2v1 with Savoie chasing.

Savoie’s defensive game has not been bad, but it is an adjustment, Worse yet, he is being forced to play centre with the absence of Noah Philp, James Hamblin and Lane Pederson. One is a call-up and the other two are longer term injuries. This is not ideal in my opinion because he isn’t built to play centre. However, there are limited choices at the moment. Savoie will have to spend much more time working on this side of his game with the injuries. The hope is that this side of his game does not overwhelm his offensive development, which is what the Oilers were looking for in the trade.

Max Wanner is a very important piece for the Edmonton Oilers. He is really only two injuries away from being a call-up for the big club. He also happens to be a big, rugged, right-shot defenceman, which is something the Oilers need. I wondered if Wanner also realized all of these things, too, because he started the season slow. He was making a lot of defensive miscues on what I would call “hero” plays trying too much. Wanner’s best game is a simple one: take care of the defensive end of the ice, retrieve the puck, move the puck up the ice and hip in on offence when possible.

This is the type of simple play from Wanner that I think will advance his career.

He also does a very nice job holding the blueline and does have a sneaky good shot. This clip was from his first goal of the season on Friday night, which also happened to be Jarventie’s first point as a Condor.

He’s a year away likely so there is lots of time to develop his game more fully this season.

Matt Copponi has the early lead in Oiler prospect highlight reel goals. Watch this play by Copponi.

Copponi has played second line centre most of the season in Boston. He is a senior. I will be curious if the Oilers sign him. He doesn’t score a lot, but I think he can chip in more. The Oilers could use his depth in the organization.

William Nicholl continues his fine play, as he is 4-9—13 in 13 games with the London Knights, good for second on the team in scoring. He and fellow Oiler draft pick Sam O’Reilly combined on a very pretty goal for London this week. Nicholl just always seems to be in the right place and this play is an example. Steps into the zone and catches the pass (not likely for him) with pace. Makes a great pass to O’Reilly who outdoes Nicholl with an even better pass.

Maxim Beryozkin has a chance to tie a Lokomotiv club record by scoring a point in twelve consecutive games. His play continues to be strong and consistent. With his contract expiring this year, it will be interesting to see what the Oilers try and accomplish.

That’s it for this week folks. Leave your feedback here or to @bcurlock on the X. Have a great week everyone.