As the summer rolls along and Edmontonians have huddled around their fans and air conditioning units, trying not to melt into a puddle, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis is hard at work diving into each NHL team’s prospect pools.
And on Monday morning, the prospect guru Ellis took a look at the Edmonton Oilers system, and its top 10 prospects.
He caveats his lists by highlighting his definition of a prospect as players who have under 50 NHL games played, skaters who are 22 years old or younger, and goaltenders who are 25 years old and younger.
Ellis doesn’t sugarcoat things, saying the Oilers have “one of the worst prospect pools in the league.” Its strengths are that their prospect group has size, “but down deep, they’ve got some wingers who can cause a bit of chaos, and you need that in the NHL.”
When it comes to weaknesses, Ellis only sees one impact, everyday player for the team in the future in Matthew Savoie, who the Oilers acquired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier this month in exchange for Ryan McLeod and Ty Tulio. “Beau Akey might make it work, but the lost time due to injury this year means he’ll be playing catch-up in 2024-25,” he added.
It should be no surprise that Savoie and Akey are No. 1 and No. 2 in the Oilers system, according to Ellis.
“What a pickup for the Oilers,” he wrote about Savoie. “They now have a top-40 prospect in the NHL, someone with legitimate top-six potential.
“For someone who touches the puck as often as Savoie does, we don’t see him giving it up often or sending it to someone who isn’t ready. When Savoie makes a pass, he does it with a purpose.
“It’ll be interesting to see how the Oilers handle his development, but I think he should spend significant time in Bakersfield, focusing on becoming stronger and allowing him to learn how to beat older, stronger competition.”
In Akey, a right-shot defenceman the Oilers selected in the second round of the 2023 draft, Ellis highlighted how he liked this pick from the team.
“I really liked this pick last year because I was expecting a big season from Akey with Brandt Clarke leaving Barrie,” he wrote. “Instead, Akey’s season was cut short after 14 games, just as he was starting to really show what he was capable of.
“Some people think he could challenge for an Oilers roster spot in 2025-26, but I’d like to see him hone in on his defensive game and become more responsible in his own zone.”
Two Oilers goalies made the top-10 list: Oliver Rodrigue at No. 9 and recent draftee Eemil Vinni at No. 10.
In Rodrigue, Ellis sees someone who he feels “at least deserves a shot at the NHL sooner rather than later,” while in the 18-year-old Vinni, he sees someone who will need a lot of seasoning before making it to the NHL, but sees an upside as a backup netminder years down the road.
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@thenationnetwork.com.
