This is the 2014-15 Oklahoma City Barons blue. Oscar Klefbom did all that damage in nine games. Brandon Davidson would still be playing NHL hockey if not for Matt Tkachuk and Dustin Byfuglien.
Dillon Simpson and David Musil were solid AHL players but it was about the boots. Martin Marincin was a giant LH blue who could play the RH side and he had an NHL career of 227 games.
Brad Hunt and Jordan Oesterle were not drafted by the Oilers but would have legit NHL careers after leaving the organization. Unlike Simpson and Musil, Oesterle’s skating was an extreme positive, and Hunt could get around well enough, too. Both could move the puck and were versatile. Both were undersized, Hunt was 5.09 for crying out loud and played 288 NHL games.
In Oesterle’s NHL career (still going), he posted 96 points, 16 on the power play. That’s 17 percent. Hunt posted 41 percent of his 86 career points with the man advantage. To give you an idea about how much 41 percent of offense coming from the power-play represents, Evan Bouchard is at 35 percent for his career.
I don’t think Beau Akey is going to be a prime time power-play defenseman. He did post 38 percent of his points with the man advantage last season, but was only third among Barrie Colts defensemen in power-play points. Things may change for Akey, but Bakersfield is likely to employ brilliant Finnish puck mover Atro Leppanen in the PP QB role for much of next season.
Akey is 6.0, 183. He is fast and mobile. I see his NHL career resembling Jordan Oesterle’s, and I’m pretty sure hopes were higher for this player 18 months ago.
Edmonton needs to develop Akey and turn him into an NHL player. However, the skill set (six-foot, two-way defenseman with great wheels) checks in at third pairing unless he can prove puck moving at five-on-five is an extreme strength. That ability (moving the puck) would play in Edmonton in a big way. That’s Akey’s path to the NHL.
New for The Athletic: What can Edmonton Oilers expect from 2025 European free-agent signings?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6489976/2025/07/13/edmonton-oilers-david-tomasek-free-agents/
Is wild to me how many Oiler fans online think that Artur Silvos, the 24 year old with zero NHL success, is an upgrade they should pay a 4th round pick to acquire (actually more as the the Pit pick would be more valued and there would likely be a premium).
Is there a young goalie in Pittsburgh now available?
This move makes very little sense to me from Vancouver’s standpoint. You are planning to keep $13 million dollars worth of goalies? When you had a very good, up and coming cheap goalie to play as a backup?
I get Demko’s injury history, but don’t you consider that BEFORE you sign him for $8.5 million AAV? Shouldn’t you keep Silov and trade Lankenen to the highest bidder?
Glad to see they are continuing to make poor decisions in Vancouver. I don’t know much about pittsburghs goalies but have heard there are some decent young ones there.
Silove is not “very good” – he still has a chance but, to this point, he’s not an NHL goalie.
LT always says that prospects can break your heart. I hope that doesn’t happen here.
Don’t break my heart, Beau Akay break my heart, I just don’t think I’d understand.
And if you break my heart, Beau Akay break my heart, I might blow up at Mike and Stan.
I am both ashamed and proud of this post.
This leads me to wonder…
Will Calgary come in and wreck Bahl?
That’s worthy of a slow clap and standing ovation!
Somewhere Tarkus just felt a cold shiver…of excitement.
I am probably the only poster here who knows more than one song by Billy Ray Cyrus. I giggled at your post.
Akey is more suspect than prospect at this point
He was tracking well post-draft until the injury – arrows are no longer directly up but he still made the World Junior team last season (barely played which looks like a coaching mistake based on team results and how he looked when he did get ice) and is just turning pro.
Miles to go!
And box cars fell off a cliff in the playoffs when he should have been hitting his stride
First season back from shoulder surgery.
I’d also like to mention Alex Regula who will likely play ahead of Akey this season in the AHL (right shot).
The one good thing about the Peter Chairelli era was the draft team picking and having a stable of D of vast ability. Holland walked in to a good situation on future D but was blindsided with Kelfbom injury and Larsson leaving without a heads up.
Bowman has done a hell of a job replacing the bare cupboards up front with three good looking top 9 forewords Podkolzin-Savoie-Howard all for 3 million dollars in total.
The D is another story all we really have is Akey and if you squint hard enough the Finn who might surprise everyone with his all around game in the AHL. Most NHL D take forever to develop 4-5-6 years old is normal. Bowman needs to find a few castaways from other teams that are 21-22 maybe on the waiver wire. Bowman seems to have a good scouting team in place.
Bowman is accumulating a lots of darts mimicking his days in Chicago. This is a total 180 of the previous organization that would of done way better if they brought Maggie the Monkey out of retirement. At least with Bowman he’s turning over every rock as with Holland there was no future if you were drafted by Edmonton. In 5 years under Hollqnd’s team we have zero players on our roster with Akey basically our last hope.
Was going to mention Regula as a d man that Bowman has already picked up to try to address the lack of defence prospects. See that OP mentions this already in the post above
Lazy hire of Tyler Wright, instead of digging in to find someone else is a huge mistake by Holland. I still can’t believe LA hired him. The Oilers have clouded both their judgments. See how it works out for them.
L.A panicked they had a good looking future they could of easily beat us if not for Byfield brain cramp. Holland will completely gut all the nice futures they have starting with Spence. The Ceci contract is bizarre to say the least. I imagine he’ll hire Wright, Henderson and his Son. The G.M club is a small world organizations keep recycling the same chosen few.
Alex Regula (although a bit older).
You seem to like this guy why? Who would be his comparables and who’s job can he take? ( Emberson-Kulak-Stecher)
I’m a little late to the party as I just realized it was Bowman in Chicago that traded Perlini for Regula back in 2019.
I don’t know what Beau’s frame is like, but he’s going to have to put on some weight. It doesn’t seem he has the offense to play at that size in the NHL and make it on that, to me he should be modelling his game after Gustav Forsling, who is an effective player when he has some size opposite
Mobility, IQ and a great stick can be effective. In other news the Oilers have most likely blown yet another higher pick on a player too small while not having the elite skill that would be his calling card to a solid NHL career. Roll the dice in later rounds, not the first or second
Seems early to call it considering he’s just leaving junior. Has time to put on weight, will take time to adjust to the game. After a year in the AHL is when we will have a real idea of how he’s tracking. I believe his jr career was affected by a pretty significant shoulder injury that kept him out for most of a year. Prior to that he seemed to be tracking well as a puck moving 2-way defenseman with skill and smarts. More than anything, I think how he bounces back from that injury will be what determines his ceiling.
Yes it is too early with him. I think this because of how many we have seen not make it with the Oilers or anywhere. They almost all end up as part time players, 7-8 D, etc. The most games Oesterle has played is 71, 8 years ago on the Coyotes. You’d hope for at least a full time player with their highest pick in 2023 in the 2nd round and only a 6th and 7th after. Maybe he makes it
The Oilers value defensemen with the ability to move the puck. They brought Klingberg in for that single trait and they’ve brought over Atro Leppanen, who may be the LH version of
John Klingberg. Klingberg is a couple inches taller but all three of Akey; Leppanen & Klingberg are basically the same size and all three have puck moving / offensive talent, though shy on the defensive side. Just saying there is a place in the NHL for defensemen of that skill set.
There’s a few. Most seem to be around 200lbs though when they are 6 feet – Montour and Forsling. Klingberg wasn’t getting many offers for much apparently if he signed with the Sharks. There’s a balance it seems, also cup teams don’t seem to have 180lb D not names Makar
I kind of expect to see an AHL pairing of Leppanen & Regula becoming familiar with one another as a possible NHL pair.
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I think this is a wildly aggressive post – 4 players drafted after Akey have played in the NHL, four. Two of them have played a single game, one of them has played 2 games and another six.
Lets also forget, Akey was a 56th overall pick – a pick more likely than not to NOT make the NHL as an every day player, right?
As far as an elite skill – from what I’ve read/hear/seen, his skating is very very plus level.
I’m going to let the kid have a bit more runway after major shoulder surgery and allow him to turn pro without immediate expectations/requirements.
Post-draft arrows were straight up for Akey until that injury and it’s been very uneven for him since.
We should be heartened by his performance at the World Juniors in the small handful of shifts he got…….
It seems likely that, as for most rookie pros, he’ll take some time to adjust to the huge leap to the AHL. I’ll be interested more in his splits and a second half spoke more than his overall year.
For sure, and this is part of the issue for smaller players, staying healthy. Any player can get injured, but contact sport is much more wear and tear on a smaller body, especially for defensemen in hockey
I wouldn’t necessarily call him small – he’s 6 foot, slender at 183 but that’s as a teenager, I presume he’ll get up to 195 or so in due course.
Also, I think it was just the one shoulder injury, right? As of now, a “one-off” and, until/unless something else happens, I’m not going to get too concerned over a potential injury filled career.
That can also happen to players at any size – I mean, Holloway is a sizeable dude that can’t seem to stay healthy.
Developing a D or finding a diamond in the rough from Europe would also make a hypothetical Nurse trade (yes, I know, unlikely) and gradual Ekholm decline easier to handle. That being said, giving up 1st round picks for already established D is not as much of a cardinal sin in a rising cap era.
Also LT, just read the last post and I’m very happy for you! Some things are bigger than hockey. The love of a partner and a pup are all we really need, right? It took me 16 years of marriage and 2 children to convince one the virtues of the other 😉
Test
10/10
— Beau Dommage was and still is such a huge iconic Quebec band : as significant and influential as a Tragically Hip or Rush or Lightfoot
—- Made me look up and started humming “ca fait rire les enfants..”
— even in the 90s as a student in Laval it was always playing.
— Thanks for the mention : had fun listening to the tunes.
Always liked them. Thrilled anyone got the reference. 🙂
We grew up in the 70s/80s in a very French part of Quebec. BD was on heavy rotation. Lots of good Quebec folk music from that era: Plume Latraverse, Harmonium, Jean Leloup, Francis Cabrel, Paul Piche.
There’s a decent movie about Gerry Boulet of Offenbach called ‘Gerry’. They were Quebec’s rock band at the time, them and Beau Dommage were the big 2.
Don’t get me started about the Quebec movie scene, that province is (was?) spoiled with arts funding and the local talent is just incredible. Dolan, Villeneuve, Arcand, Vallee, Pouliot, Huard, it goes on and on.
Harmonium was a favourite in my circle of friends.
It’s incredible how Alberta’s transfer payments fund the arts in Quebec.
So many artists from Alberta end up in Montreal.
Cabrel is French, from Gascony, although he was super popular in Quebec.
I spent a lot of time there in the 80s, but there’s a couple names on your list I’m not familiar with, I’ll check them out. Thanks!
Hadn’t heard of them so I listened to that song. Maybe it’s because my Mom was a hippie, I’m not a folk guy, too much of it as a kid? Interesting band still, thanks for the story
Last saw them as guests of the Rainmaker Rodeo in STAB.
As an Edmontonian participating in an international culture festival in rural Japan, my last minute contribution was to sing La complainte du phoque en Alaska to an uncomprehending crowd. I enjoyed myself.