This is a look at the Edmonton Oilers prospect pool in the fall of 2019. I chose specific categories as opposed to positions, and you can certainly quibble with some players being slotted in those spots. I would argue that Evan Bouchard, in spite of being more chaotic than most “complete” defenseman, does in fact qualify. His goal share since 2022-23 at five-on-five (58 percent) is outstanding, and Bouchard is the latest (last?) home run draft pick by the Edmonton Oilers. How many complete defensemen are on the current prospect tree?

The Athletic article today is about a decade of treating the prospect pool like a never ending resource when it is clearly not a never ending resource. Article is here.

The 2019 prospect pool

From the group listed above, Bouchard, Stuart Skinner, Philip Broberg, Ryan McLeod, Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, Mike Kesselring and Kailer Yamamoto made enough (or will make enough) of an impact to be considered men who have delivered NHL careers. What about now? (My top-20 prospects will be out next week at The Athletic).

Goalies: Olivier Rodrigue, Connor Ungar, Samuel Jonsson, Eemil Vinni, Nathaniel Day. This is an intriguing category. I count three (Rodrigue, Jonsson and Vinni) building a resume that resembles men who have played in the NHL. I’ll stop short of calling the modern Oilers a goalie factory, although it would get a chuckle. I will say this organization is far better than in the past.

Complete D: Beau Akey (more here). Akey is both a strong trade asset and a player Edmonton should move heaven and earth to retain. RH puck movers with some defensive tools have high value.

Two-way D: Noel Hoefenmayer, Ronnie Attard. Both are intriguing while being unlikely to emerge as 200-game NHL defenders.

Shutdown D: Max Wanner, Phil Kemp. Both men have things to recommend them, and both have areas that could keep them from the show. Kemp probably needs a second opinion.

Skill C: Tomas Mazura, Matt Copponi, Dalyn Wakely, William Nicholl. This is a quiet strength in the system. Nicholl has this prospects fan noticing his accomplishments in a fulltime role, and we’ll see. All other names here are a combination of interesting and niggling.

Two-way C: Sam O’Reilly, Noah Philp. Possibly the strongest position in the organization, despite the presence of just two names. O’Reilly has the most complete skill set on this list.

Checking C: James Hamblin, Jayden Grubbe, Maxim Denezhkin, Joel Maatta. Hamblin would be on the ‘two-way’ list but I don’t think he’ll score enough in the NHL. Grubbe is the one to watch here. He’s basically locked and loaded in the role he will play when arriving in the NHL (if he gets there). More offense wouldn’t go amiss.

Skill winger: Matthew Savoie, Roby Jarventie, James Stefan, Matvey Petrov, Brady Stonehouse. Savoie is the best prospect in the system and is showing well across all areas but power play (and the entire team is addled there). I think he’ll earn a recall during the season. Jarventie looks like an injury prone winger, Petrov isn’t moving the needle.

Power winger: Maxim Berezkin, Shane Lachance, Connor Clattenburg. Another sneaky strong position for the team, Berezkin specifically would have high trade value and could be a possible plug-and-play for Edmonton next fall. Don’t discount Stan Bowman’s ability to get him signed, this is an area of strength for the GM.

Two-way winger: Cameron Wright. A strong AHL player, not as prominent this season as last but I like him plenty and am glad Bowman signed him to an NHL deal.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER

• On the road to: CAL (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
• At home to: NJD, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
• On the road to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
• At home to: NYI, NAS (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
• On the road to: TOR, MTL, OTT (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 1-1-1)
• At home to: MIN, NYR (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-1-0)
• On the road to: UTA, COL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
• November results: 6-4-1, 13 points in 11 games
• Oilers in 2024-25: 11-9-2, 24 points in 22 games

The Oilers could exceed my projections with two wins to round out the month. I have it 1-1-0, that would mean a 7-5-1 month, just one point off my prediction. Close enough for jazz. Utah plays a determined game but have had injury issues, this is an opportunity for the Oilers to come out strong after a longish break. Expect rust early.

It’s Friday and that means all hell breaks loose on the Lowdown, Sports 1440 beginning at noon. Steve Lansky will join us from Inside the Truck podcast to help us set up the Utah game and the month of December for the Oilers. We’ll have lots of football (NFL and NCAA) talk and some baseball too. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio; Radioplayer Canada, we tweet out the show after it’s done and you can catch us on Apple and Spotify.