When Beau Akey went down last November with a bad shoulder that required season ending surgery, it was a tough break for him, but also the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers, gunning for a Stanley Cup, had depleted their prospect cupboard around this time. In the draft prior to Akey’s, the Oilers took four players and traded one of them away: Reid Schaefer. In Akey’s year, the Oilers only had three picks. So losing one draft asset for a year of development, especially the Oilers’ highest pick that year, was a big blow.

Akey returned this fall and started relatively slow. It was a combination of the Oilers protecting the player, but it was also Akey taking time to get back up to the pace of play. Akey has started to come around now and play like he did in his draft year. The slick skating defenceman has started to impose his will on all facets of the game. In particular, his offensive game has taken off. This is a welcome development for the Oilers who are quite light on defensive prospects on the right side. A healthy and outperforming Akey is a very good thing for him and the organization. More on Akey, a whole bunch of good results this week and all the news and notes in this week’s Oilers Prospect Report.

Akey had an excellent week helping the Barrie Colts win two out of three games played. Akey was 1-3-4 in those three games and added eight shots on net. He was also a tidy plus-five in those games. What I love about Akey’s game is his both his four way skating ability and his hockey sense, as uses both together offensively quite often. As a result, he has a great knack for getting shots through that are very dangerous.

Watch his goal this week as an example. As he comes into the puck, he knows the high forward is going to come at him and block the lane. So Akey takes the puck across him to open up a new lane. Without hesitation, when he sees the lane, he lets the shot go.

Here is one of his assists this week that demonstrates the same skill sets. Here ,Akey takes one step to the inside when he receives the puck on the far wall. He steps back outside to change the angle and quickly lets a shot-pass go. The puck gets deflected home.

One last clip from Akey may seem rather average, but again it illustrates his quick-thinking ability. After a quick reverse to his partner, Akey gets the puck back deep in his zone. Instead of taking off with the puck, he launches an area pass up the ice to an attacking forward. The pass either will get to him or will get to a spot where he can be first on the puck. The retrieval is successful and the Colts score a goal.

Akey’s re-emergence after injury would be a massive benefit to the Edmonton Oilers. Akey is currently 4-9-13 in 16 games with the Colts and leads the team at a plus 11. Ideally, Akey starts to score at more than a point per game which would be a strong indication that what is best about his game has returned.

If you had told me at the start of the season that the player I would have written the most about in the first half of the season was William Nicholl, I would have asked if I could drink what you were drinking. However, it is true. Nicholl has been excellent in the first part of the OHL season, with 20 points in 19 games played this season, sitting third in scoring on the London Knights, a team loaded with offensive talent. In addition, Nicholl is second on the team in plus/minus which is a very impressive development given the team. This week Nicholl was all over it with 2-4—6 in three games played. His goal is something I would like to see more of from him. Posting up and using his shot. He understands how to get to soft areas in the coverage and the puck comes off his stick quickly and accurately.

More impressively, Nicholl just contributes in every role. The staff clearly trust him because he plays in a lot of high-leverage situations. He excels in the penalty kill and did so again this week.

In this clip, watch his quick transition skating to pressure players all over the ice. When the puck gets turned over, notice how quickly he can separate himself from defenders. The finish is quality.

My favourite clip of the week from Nicholl is one I posted online already. It is a second assist from a game early in the week. It is a great example of everything Nicholl brings to the table. First, he wins a face-off. Then he is quickly up ice on the attack. When the puck is transitioned, he gets above the attacking team and defends very well. When the puck gets to the wall, Nicholl has this unique ability for someone his size to win wall battles. Finally, he demonstrates his hockey smarts again, getting underneath the puck in his own zone and making sure the puck gets up the ice.

This 74-second shift is really something from a seventh-round pick in his draft plus one. This pick might already be the steal of the NHL draft for the Oilers and we are only 19 games into the season.

Without question, the prospect with the most pressure on him is Matthew Savoie. Traded for a quality 3rd line centre in Ryan McLeod, Savoie is expected to be a low-cost offensive contributor to the Oilers in the near future. As such, every Savoie game is evaluated more closely than other prospects. Savoie has been solid, but not spectacular. He is 4-5—9 in 13 games with a plus 3, but hasn’t shot the puck very much only averaging 1.75 shots per game. Given his ability to shoot this has been a concern for me.

However, Savoie has also faced some challenges. Originally slotted as a right winger, which is his likely NHL position, Savoie has played centre recently due to injuries. That is a very tough thing to do for a 20-year-old rookie pro who is on the smaller side, but Savoie has started to find a comfort zone. Remember when I said he was a plus-three? The team, as a whole, is minus one excluding power play and empty net situations. So Savoie’s modest plus number is a positive. Doing it playing center is even more encouraging.

This week, the offence started to come as in the two games played, Savoie was 1-2—3 and he added six shots on net. These are all encouraging signs. Savoie is likely never to be a highlight-reel player because he doesn’t command the puck a lot, but he’s an incredibly smart player in finding quiet space for himself in dangerous spots.

Watch his goal this week as an example. Notice his movement around the ice supporting the puck and trying to find open spots. When he finds one where he gets ignored, watch the finish off a great pass.

Savoie is also an incredible passer of the puck. He has tremendous accuracy and makes very quick decisions. Here are two examples from this week.

Again, to be clear, Matthew Savoie has strong offensive ability. Watch his shootout goal last night that won the game for the Condors. It is a top-quality move against a goalie who has played NHL games.

What makes Savoie a little different is that he is off the puck more than on it. He lets other players work the puck around while he sorts himself into good spots to get a pass and either shoot or make another pass. There will be fewer highlight reel plays with Savoie hanging on to the puck for ten seconds. However, he is very effective in how he plays. Make no mistake, the player needs more time, but you can see the game that made the Oilers trade for him. Given he’s been thrown a curveball of playing center his performance to date has been very good.

When Philp was returned to the AHL his play was very quiet. Whether it was getting sent down, the lack of game play that happens in the AHL in the first half or just returning to the game from a one-year absence, Philp didn’t have the same energy. That changed this past weekend when the Condors played in San Diego. Philp was the best player for the Condors going 2-2—4 and adding four shots on net in an 8-7 shootout win. Philp flashed that quick release he has on his shot on one of his goals last night.

This is a legitimate part of his game. His shooting is NHL calibre without question. He also scored a more conventional goal using his size to shield off defenders to tap home a great pass.

I don’t know where Philp is in the eyes of the organization. However, with the bottom six remaining a challenge to score, Philp may get another shot quickly. He is strong enough defensively without a doubt. His confidence in the offensive zone is what needs to come to give himself the best shot to see NHL games again.

Just by numbers, Connor Clattenburg’s chances of playing NHL games is very low at around 15 percent for fifth-round picks. If he does make it, the Oilers fanbase are going to gravitate to this player. Here is Connor Clattenburg in two clips. The first is a goal, but also watch what happens just after the goal.

He’s a great skater and he goes very hard to the net. He also can be quite a pain in the ass during and after the play. It should come as no surprise that his goal resulted in this play later in the game.

Clattenburg is a bottom-six style of player no question. He also brings something the Oilers do not have a lot of in the system. He’s physical, he’s tough and he is absolutely fearless. Clattenburg was missing for a month so he is just returning to game shape. This week he was 1-2-3 in three games with one fight and a lot of angry opposition players. More of the latter is certain over the remainder of the season. Whether the scoring piece continues to develop is the question.

Lachance’s season has been good on paper with 11 points in 11 games, but he hass been inconsistent. He can sometimes go quiet in games which is hard to do with a guy who is 6’5″ and usually plays angry. He also has been less reliable defensively this season. As such, the Boston University coaching staff has moved him around the line-up, trying to find a spot for him that motivates him to play to a level that hasn’t quite shown up. This week was more of the same.

In a two-game series against Maine, Lachance started on the top line on Friday night and was not very good. He had a late assist on the powerplay but was on for a 5v5 goal against and a short-handed goal, but was also overall pretty quiet. So when Saturday came, it was no surprise Lachance was moved down to the second line. Lachance was more involved, but still I wouldn’t call it a great game. It’s just difficult not to love what he can bring to the game though. Here is his tying goal with the net empty last night.

Again, he is so big and he had such great hands that he should score almost every game he is in. There is a player here for certain. Whether he can find the consistency to bring his game each night is the question. This will be a key for the remainder of the season for Lachance.

Sam O’Reilly’s season just took a turn. With the Knights getting Blake Montgomery and Kasper Halttunen on the roster, the forward spots are getting scarce. Last night O’Reilly ended up on the third line playing left wing. There is no question the young man is getting lost in the shuffle at the moment. While William Nicholl seems to be able to contribute from any spot in the line-up, O’Reilly has not found that capability yet.

He is now behind his points-per-game average from last season and that’s a concern. Moreso, he clearly is not playing with much confidence. He is deferring to other players and not asserting himself into plays. He did not have a point in three games this week. Now this is a player who was a defenceman not that long ago, so this may be expected. However, the Oilers traded up to get this player and I don’t think this would meet their expectations.

Matt Copponi continues to play second-line center with the Boston University Terriers. He has seven points in the 11 games played this season. He is a senior this year and given the lack of depth down the middle for the Oilers prospect group, there is a chance he gets signed. Improved scoring would raise his value inside the organization.

That’s it for this week. As always, your feedback is welcome right here. Have a great week everyone.