At this time of year, most hockey fans are anxiously awaiting for the start of the season for their favourite NHL team.

Certainly, that is no different in Edmonton. There is likely an added enthusiasm in the city given how close the team came to winning the Stanley Cup, but the start of the season also means something else: the return of all of the Oiler prospects who didn’t get to stay in Edmonton to their respective teams to work on their development in hopes of making the big club down the road.

It’s the start of the weekly prospect report here at the Oilersnation, where very week, we watch the games of the various prospects looking for development advances and improved performances. On Sunday, we put it all together in a package of video highlights for you to peruse while you eat your Cheerios. So without further adieu, let’s open up week one of the season and see what we find.

The start of the season for each of the prospects varies. Some, like those in the KHL, have already been playing for weeks. CHL players just began their seasons. Collegians are still working through the end of their exhibition schedule same as prospects playing in the AHL. This is the last week where the available game tape on the various prospects is unbalanced. That said, there were quite a number of standout performances by Oiler prospects.

As mentioned, Beryozkin’s season began weeks ago and he has played 12 regular season games. After a breakout playoff performance last spring, the question was whether Beryozkin could carry that on to this season. The start has been very promising. Beryozkin is 3-5—8 in the first 12 games of the year. He has really improved his shot metrics. This is a player who has a great release, but has not shot the puck very much. After averaging over less than 1.5 shots per game in the regular season, he increased that to 2.0 shots per game in the playoffs which led to scoring totals of 5-11-16 in 20 games.  This year he is shooting just over 2.0 shots per game and he’s third in team scoring.

That said, he remains a very deft playmaker. He has already shown that with a couple of highlight reel assists. Here is one of those to former NHLer, Alexander Radulov.

The key for Beryozkin will be to continue to push his offence. His skating also could use some modest improvement, but otherwise, he has the necessary tools to compete for an NHL job. Increased scoring totals will give the Oilers something to think about when his KHL contract expires next spring.

Lachance had an absolute breakout season with the Boston University Terriers last year, going 13-14—27 in 40 games and tallied 94 shots in those games. He bounced around the line-up early in the season, but ended up with Macklin Celebrini by Christmas and the team really took off. The team was only derailed by Denver University in the national semi-finals. Nevertheless, it was a great season for the team and a strong rookie season for Shane Lachance.

The question for this season about Lachance was what could he do without Celebrini. Well if one game gives us any clues, it might be quite a bit as Lachance went 0-3—3 in the first game of the year. He also had four shots on net and just missed on two of those shots. Lachance is a big man and he uses his size and reach to his advantage.

What will make or break his professional career is his skating. It will required a great deal of work, but it looks like Lachance has put in some time. Here is a clip of one of his assists, which is a great pass, but focus on his skating. He remains a little too hunched over, but his skates are nice and low to the ice and his lower body is in a very good posture. His transitions are much improved as well.

As a comparison, here is a clip from last season.

Notice the trouble with overall balance because his posture is misaligned. Now compare it to this season and you can see a much better set-up. This is a player the Oilers need to watch closely because he brings some very useful tools to the rink each day. He has size. He is tough. He can score.

Fischer joined the Oilers as part of the additional compensation for the Broberg and Holloway offer sheets. Fischer is a smooth-skating defenseman who didn’t shoot a lot of offence in the USHL last season. This season he joined the collegiate ranks going to Notre Dame. Like Lachance, Fischer’s season has only just begun, but there are some interesting developments.

Fischer’s defensive game and skating are not a question. It is whether the offence can develop. With Notre Dame, Fischer has been running the first powerplay, which is great news. Even better news is that he looks very good. Watch this play by Fischer that leads to his second assist of the game. He plays a little pitch and catch with his winger on the wall. Then watch him walk the puck to the middle and then adjust his body and stick angle to get a shot through when he sees a lane develop.

That’s a very high IQ play. This is something that Fischer did not show last season. This will be the key for his year. How much offense can Paul Fischer show. If it works out, it might ease the pain of the mess those two offer sheets created.

Clattenburg came in the Oilers prospect ranks with a thud. Literally. Clattenburg showed up in Penticton for the prospects tourney and hit everything that moved. When he got to Oiler camp he did the same thing.

The fifth-round pick endeared himself to many fans rights out of the chute with his rambunctious style of play. So it goes without saying that Clattenburg didn’t fall to the first round of his overage year because he was just missed. There are areas to work on. The key part is offense. Mostly the puck dies on his stick, but he is still working through how to process the game offensively. When he was sent down to Flint of the OHL, he was promptly put on the first line and has played a lot of specialty team minutes. In his first four games, he is 2-2-4 and has 12 shots on net. This is an encouraging sign. Here was a great goal he scored in overtime this past week.

You can see the young man skates well and there is a glimmer of something there offensively. The key for him this year is to really find his confidence in the offensive zone and be a contributor. He has skills you like as a scout for a professional career. However, without scoring, his career will likely be in the AHL.

William Nicholl had a great start to his OHL season on his return to London. He is 2-2-4 in four games and has ten shots on net. He is playing a lot of specialty teams as well. This might get curtailed with the return of Denver Barkey from Flyers camp. Nicholl showed some good skills with the Oilers. He needs to develop more offense and also get stronger. He’s had a good start.

The Bakersfield Condors had their first exhibition game on Friday and Matthew Savoie was dealing. He had three assists in his inaugural game and had a chance for a couple of more. He played first line minutes and first powerplay. Savoie needs to get going quickly because there will be chances for him to play with the Oilers soon.

That’s it for the opener of the 2024/25 season in terms of prospect reviews. If you have feedback, please leave here or shoot me a note on the X to @bcurlock. Have a great week and see you at the rink.