The Edmonton Oilers chose five players at the 2025 annual player selection, and the current administration appears to have a “type” of preferred prospect. If we use Sam O’Reilly as a template for the forwards, yesterday’s group (mostly) falls in line.
This scouting group is also spending picks on defensemen who have wheels and size. One thing we saw last draft that didn’t occur this time? No ‘draft and follow’ types like William Nicholl. Rick Pracey’s team are drafting forwards with enough offense to make it to the show in a support role.
No. 83: C-RW (shoots right) Tommy Lafreniere, Kamloops Blazers (WHL). He scored 24-32-56 last season on a poor WHL club. His NHLE (20 pts) doesn’t suggest a future on any skill line, and his size (via NHL.com he is 6.0, 175 pounds) means injuries are going to be a concern. Still, there’s a great motor (plus skaters rule the day) and the scarcity of centers up and down the line for NHL teams makes this a worthy pick. He was ranked outside the top-100 overall on most sites, I’ll call this a reach.
No. 117: LW (shoots left) David Lewandowski, Saskatoon Blades (WHL). He scored 15-24-39 in 52 games (NHLE: 19) and is a bigger player (6.02, 177) than Lafreniere. My spies tell me this player has a good chance to be the best in the group, and size/skill suggests it may be so. Described as a player with a range of skills and the ability to control play. Definitely a prospect to watch this winter.
No. 131: D (shoots left) Asher Barnett, US National Development Program (USHL). He is 6.01, 200 and a May 2007, meaning he has more development time than most in this year’s draft. Barnett is similar to the other defensemen procured by Edmonton recently: Speed, good size, has a two-way rep that includes good coverage, a mean streak, and the ability to move the puck. Don’t expect a power-play QB, as his NHLE (4 pts) suggests. USHL projections for defensemen are very difficult due to usage. Best we leave the door open, while acknowledging Pracey grabbed a player with a nice range of skills. Remember kids, speed is king.
No. 191: G (shoots right) Daniel Salonen, Lukko (Fin Jr Mestis). Salonen is an overager (he is 19 with a December birthday) and posted a .909 save percentage last season. I’m not going to lie to you, for me goaltending is voodoo and so we wait to see what this young man can bring. He is 6.03, 185 and the Oilers have been quite good in goalie draft and procurement over the last decade.
No. 223: C (shoots right) Aidan Park, Green Bay Gamblers (USHL). Now this is a late-round pick I can get behind. He scored 33-33-66 in 55 games (NHLE: 14) with the Gamblers a year ago and has real skill. Park is 19 and 6.01, 188. He should be considered a long shot, but (as I wrote in the book On The Clock) draft the kids who score as amateurs because the ones who don’t score as amateurs won’t make it 100 percent of the time.
I think the Pracey group did well on the weekend. I especially like the bets on these three forwards, who have skill and speed and could play pro hockey. Hell, one of them could play in the NHL. The scouts have done their job, now it’s up to the development folks.
The last Oilers pick to make the NHL? Dylan Holloway in 2020. That’s five years ago. Oilers need some of these kids to cash, even if it will be in a complementary role. The best chance to shoot the moon and emerge as a foundation piece? Lewandowski. Pretty sure.
New for The Athletic: An early look at Edmonton Oilers prospects after the 2025 NHL Draft
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6458029/2025/06/29/edmonton-oilers-prospects-2025-nhl-draft/
Really nice to make some picks. But really helpful? Hopefully.
besides hunting some good players, I’d like to see Oilers stock up on some hopefuls that are further along. Like Podkolzin.
Sign Kostin for minimum and stock him. Track down some like Kalyev and offer Rangers a late pick. Fill up lots of options for depth.
According to NHL.com, Samanski is projected to join Draisaitl on Team Germany for the 2026 Olympics.
(Side note: I was today years old when I discovered that Teddy Blueger is Latvian.)
Oilers could use a new defense coach. While puck moving is important, so are other skills.
clearing the front of the net was awful, resulting in Skinner looking poor.
Not holding the blue line, backing into top of the circles was poor. (For some)
defending a 2 on 1 was poor in contrast to dmen they were playing against.
pinching was not poor in itself, but high man covering for the punch was poor.
Nurse is capable of much more that he’s delivering- why?
Having said all this, the Oilers have good defence men. Can they do much better? I think they can; and if they can defend better suddenly Skinner is more than adequate.
Is the rumored 4x 9.5 mil deal for Bouch better than 8x10mil? I think I’d just give him the 8 years
Perhaps that’s not available.
With Dobson at $9.5MM for 8, I can argue Bouch is with $12MM for term. Bouch is better offensively, defensively on the PP, now, on the PK. Let’s not even get in to being the best playoff dman in the league two years running or historic playoff production (Dobson does not elevate in playoffs to this point).
Don’t see 12 mil as a realistic number.
Its not – he’s going to be a steal vis-a-vis Dobson.
— Dylan Holloway, our last pick to make the NHL in the last 5 years. Seems crazy.
— That’s has to be the worst in the NHL?
— All under Holland ? Brutal.
— Plus 4-5 years ago we weren’t drafting so low?
Holland doesn’t believe in draft and develop . L.A will have a couple of legit runs at the Cup while Holland cleans out the cupboards trading away half his draft picks on the Mike Green and A.A’s of the league.
Holloway was drafted in 2020. As our host so often says, it takes five years to judge a prospect. Need to give them time to show us who they are.
Xavier Borgault was absolutely a swing and a miss, but Jesper Wallstedt (whom so many online experts wanted instead) has yet to show anything to reccommend him over XB. This upcoming season will be the show me season for the likes of Munzenberger, and possibly Berezkin if he can be compelled to come to North America.
After that we’re looking at picks made late in the round, typically of the second day of drafting. They can’t all be Zetterburgs, though a Brodziak or a Poti would go a long way. In fact, I expect the org to find a player a year no matter where they draft. Two would be better.
To Old Dutch’s credit, he turned middling prospect Reid Schaffer into a pillar of the trade that brought in Ekholm.
According to StatsMuse, Ekholm has a mere one point less than the most productive draft pick from 2022 in Juraj Slafkovski (who’s put up 111 points since being drafted 1st overall) over the same time span.
So depending on the time frame you’re talking about for results, it might not have mattered as much as one may think to win a Cup in the here and now.
— I’d be shocked if there is another NHL with one drafted player playing in NHL from 2020 onwards. Will look it it.
— I bet median is around 3.
— like in 2021 just in the first round 22 players have played in nhl. If it wasn’t Sunday I’d run numbers.
— such a massive shocking failure
What are your qualifiers and controls?
Established contenders are harder for rookies to break into. Bottom of the league organizations that draft higher have more ice time available for their top of the draft players. It’s the same thing we witnessed during the DoD.
How many games by a player do you consider success? One? 2/3 of the season? Does it matter if they’re being yo-yoed between the NHL and AHL?
I took a brief look at total points per draft class after 2020 and each year is littered with players from teams in the bottom 1/3 of the leauge who draft the highest. Examples of some outliers are from teams I’m loathe to give any credit, like Knies in TOR and Stankoven/Johnston in DAL. But they’re not the typical draft success from the most recent five years. They’re the outliers.
Addendum: Ekholm has 92 regular season points as an Oiler. Not quite the same as above but the gist of my point remains.
Per Shawn Belle – after one year, Zach Kassian is no longer part of the org’s pro scouting staff.
Two Oilers will be Wolverines, with SEVEN NHL draft picks on the team. List of Wolverines in the NHL.
Edmonton Oilers who were Wolverines
Draft Choices
Year Name Rd Pick
1991 David Oliver 7th 144
1999 Mike Comrie 3rd 91
2002 Dwight Helminen 8th 244
2003 David Rohlfs* 5th 154
2005 Andrew Cogliano* 1st 25
2014 Zach Nagelvoort 4th 111
2025 Asher Barnett 5th 131
2025 Aidan Park 7th 233
All-Time Roster
Player Pos Years
John Blum D 1983-84
Mike Brown F 2012-14
Mike Cammalleri F 2018
Andrew Cogliano F 2008-11
Mike Comrie F 2001-03,10
Pat Hughes F 1981-85
Zach Hyman F 2022-p
Cooper Marody F 2018-p
Al Montoya G 2018
Jeff Norton D 1996-97
David Oliver F 1995-97
David Roberts F 1996
Pat Hughes was a beauty did his job no matter who his wingers were. After Oliver scored 20 I thought he would follow it up but sadly that was his highmark.
Should Bowman have a conversation with Marc-Andre Fleury on July 1?
Considering Flower retired, no need to wait for July 1st.
If I recall reports at the time he wasn’t likely to waive his NMC in a trade to be less than the de facto #1. Not sure why that would change now.
I’d have time for a one year contract as a player or better yet, our new goalie coach.
LT, can I trouble you to let us know your source to calculate NHLE’s? I’ve looked at a few different ones and noticed that they vary a fair bit. Also, I noticed your source favours the WHL (approx. 0.30 adjustment factor) by a fairly wide margin over the USHL (~0.15). Thanks.
dobber nhle for all but USHL. I use .16 as that was the total given me by a contact who had done the work. If you have something more updated or accruate, I will absolutely use it.
Here’s a model from Patrick Bacon published in 2021.
Thanks. This model shows the OHL/WHL/USHL all between 0.14 and 0.15.
Thanks. My only concern with Dobber is that the numbers look pretty similar to what they were a few years ago, so I’m not sure how current they are.
I came across this the other day, no idea how accurate it is, as the WHL seems very low with a 0.17 adjustment factor.
In any case, I don’t think the USHL should be that far behind the various CHL leagues.
NHLe numbers Updated for 2025 – Thibaud Chatel’s Newsletter
Now that Husso signed in Anaheim, does that make Mrazek available? I honestly haven’t seen enough to know if he’d be a good 1b for the Oilers. He was decent in Chicago though. 4 million is a lot but maybe retained. Anyone have thoughts?
With Gulutzan’s anticipated departure I can’t help but think of a certain Todd Nelson for the vacancy.
That would be a nice story. I’m thinking it likely that Jay Mckee could be one of the new hires. Strong record as a HC in the OHL, currently with Hyman’s Brantford Bulldogs, and was an assistant on KKs staff in Erie previously.
Interesting angle.
Honestly, I don’t care who it is, as long as the new hire is able to communicate effectively and has a better grasp on tactics. Gully’s PP barely changed over his tenure and was beyond stale.
Nelson has signed on as an assistant to the new coach in Pittsburgh.
Damn, but at the same time… good for Nelly.
Do we get a third for Dallas signing Gulutzan?
Nope. Calgary does…
EF tweeting that Gulutzan is likely next Stars head coach.
Dreger saying he’s been offered the job.
Congrats to Gully – he’s been a good Oiler.
Any love for Joe Valeno on the rebound? Decent size, great skater and scouting reports from junior were excellent defensive play at centre (forecheck/turning over pucks). Plus he’s only 25. I would love to offer him a contract to play 3/4C, learn from McDrai and chance at a Cup? Maybe he comes to the Marty Reasoner school of self awareness that the offence didn’t follow him to the show and he should capitalize on his other assets? Would rather him in that spot than Rico…leaves Nuge as top 6LW
If not him, guys like him, Eyssimont, etc. if Brown, Perry, etc are out, gonna need affordable bottom 6ers.
Lots of experts think Pracey and the Oilers did not do well but Curlock and Mitchel like the draft work and that is good enough for me!
Honestly, how can you really have strong feelings about a team that doesn’t pick in rounds one and two.
I find it most interesting those experts didn’t provide any better, available alternative (that I could find) who they would have drafted instead. I kinda thought we did ok, considering our group of late picks… always looking for that truffle buried underground.
To be fair, most of those rankings I saw, they were ranking the absolute quality of each teams haul and not just relative to their draft pick. Hard for the Oiler to compete with that when your draft order is 31st and you didn’t pick till the 3rd round.
In many of the rankings Florida is behind the Edmonton. Rating the quality of picks for players chosen from 65 to the end is a pretty big crap shoot. 80% or more of the players chosen after round 2 will at most get a cup of coffee in the NHL let alone become regulars.
Every year only the top 2-5 are corkers. Drafting players that can skate, aren’t too small , and play 200 ft is a fantastic plan. Especially RS bcs rare. So many fails in the past Bcs of ignoring current NHL reality or jumping on a hype train
Honestly, signing McD and Bouchard to shorter deals might be good for the Oilers too.
I know this will be blasphemy to some, but it ensures the Cup window remains open for three more years and would give the Oilers the option to trade McD and/or Bouchard while they still have near peak value to refresh the roster.
Unfortunately, in the cap world you cannot be sentimental.
Im not on board with trading either of these players while they are in their prime
I think BR’US is suggesting that might not be the organization’s choice, so best position yourself.
McDavid is the one doing the positioning.
The best position to be in is to build a team that can defend & forecheck like the Panthers did.
Add some help for Skinner & we’re cooking with gasoline as the kids say
So we have some new bullets in the chamber… sure LT would advise draft and follow… I think it’s reasonable these picks are sweeteners to move contracts… we’ll see.
Lebrun advising that Perry wants to re-sign but contract terms are an issue given Edmonton’s cap situation.
We could see this coming. The man had 19 goals and 10 more in the playoffs and we simply cannot give him near market – we know it’s not reasonable to expect similar, or close to similar, production.
Players at his stage should be okay with a one year contract that’s fully buryable to have a chance to win a Cup one more time.
Perry dug in for $375K over league min last season and games played performance bonuses – and he was coming off a poor season and an ineffective playoffs (I think he got hurt in the LA series).
I didn’t think there would be any way that Perry wouldn’t dig in for “market value” coming off 19G (plus 10).
I would think he would take a very low base with tangible performance bonuses (i.e. goals scored bonuses) but he likes his guaranteed money.
I’d be willing to do something like ~$1MM/1-yr with some kind of tiered scoring and games played bonus, and playoff milestones. Something like, say (spitballing):
Could be looking at as much as $1MM in total bonuses.
The increases in cap will cover that handily, and if he earns those bonuses then he’s worth the money without limiting next year’s roster competitiveness.
Sure but I don’t see Perry going for that at all.
Sail on, Worm.
Team comes first.
Odds of him replicating or improving on his season are slim at best.
I mean, he outperformed his contract this year by a good $2M. That kind of thing will make a player dig in.
He dug in last off-season, coming off a terrible season.
First things first.
The org went into the draft with a dearth of picks, and walked away having made a selection in 5/7 rounds.
That in and of itself is tidy work and should be commended.
This continues a trend of resourcefulness seen last year when they snagged SOR out of the blue.
I don’t think i will ever understand why they wouldn’t just match the Dylan Holloway offer sheet.
How could you just let St.Louis pull your pants down like that?
Fools
Yeah it was a bit odd. But also it seemed like both were Shocked Pikachu about it and I blame his agent more than Holloway or Edmonton.
Especially when he came out and said that his agent assured him that Edmonton would match and there wasn’t anything to worry about. He didn’t want to leave, but his agent surely knew something was amiss with the double Offer Sheets.
I’ve tried to assess this from several angles since last summer.
My guess is Bowman didn’t want another GM determining a not insignificant portion of his team’s salary cap structure.
In the end, he did relatively well with what he’d inherited.
That is maybe why Holloway fired his agent
His previous agent hasn’t been able to expand his NHL client list. Perhaps that is why Holloway switched agents as he is entering an 13 month period were he is likely to negotiate a lengthy (5-8 year) $8 million dollarish AAV contract if he has a season similar to last year.
It is one thing to give a new agent a chance when one is signing an ELC or a smaller transitional deal. Holloway is in need of a full service agency now that he is likely going to be signing a contract significant in years and dollars.
Well, think back 10 months and circumstances were different.
The timing of the offer sheet was a huge factor but, really, lets not forget what Holloway had accomplished at the time.
One could reasonably project his continued progression but, in the playoffs, he did have 7 points in 25 games.
He had less points in more games than Podz had this playoff season and, in those games, he played more with Drai than Podz did in these playoffs. Not to mention, Podz was more physical, more of a 2-way player and helped on the PK
No, I’m not saying Podz is better or anything like that – just throwing out the season that Holloway was coming off last year – another injury riddled season – showed some good things but not great things.
I mean, Podz was objectively superior to Holloway in their Oilers playoff stints.
Podkolzin was objectively not.
I am not sure you’re one who gets to play the objective card (any more than OP). U
How is that possible to state with a straight face given the objective numbers?
Nobody expected he was going to explode like that.
Have you seen his stats prior to this past year? i.e. when they had to make the decision?
Holloway went to a weaker team that afforded him more icetime with better linemates.
He spent alot of time on a line with Schenn and Kyrou and increased his playing time from 11 minutes a game on the Oilers to 16+ on the Blues.
It’s doubtful he would have replicated that success with the Oil as he would have been much lower in the lineup.
Good on him.
When young players are ready, you have to play them. And several of us continually said so at the time.
Turns out Holloway is a legit top six winger in his first full year in the NHL. He raised the level of play of both Schenn (offensively) and Kyrou (defensively). Turns out Broberg is a legit top 4D in his first full year in the NHL.
That should have been the season before last season for the Oilers.
Friedman also said he doesn’t think the ideal of Boeser is wrong. Doesn’t see how we can fit it in and thinks Boeser could consider the Oilers.
What do you mean, sorry? It is hard to parse those sentences.
He thinks both sides would want it to work, but the feasibility isn’t there at this time?
The idea of a Boeser Type is what he’s lauding? He thinks that ideal player type is what they should look for?
Friedman has hear the rumors that the Oilers could pursue Boeser and, in his words “doesn’t think the idea is wrong”. He thinks Boeser would consider the Oilers.
Friedman also said they are considering a change in the goalie coach.
All the other coaches have expiring contracts – yesterday Bowman says they’ll likely be intel to provide on that in a week or so.
I’m not against shuffling out coaches under Knoblauch and Coffey.
Some of those voices have been around since the DoD, time for a fresh perspective.
I think Coffey is included.
He said he didn’t know if he’d want to even join at all, so I wouldn’t have any issue if he wanted to excuse himself to his quiet life he’d been enjoying previous to this whirlwind.
But I wouldn’t be showing him the door in the name of change, either.
That would be Gulutzan and Schwartz for me. Possibly Stuart, but he’s got more rope in my mind.
Interesting sequencing to consider. If I was a high end goalie (eg: a Swayman) being asked to waive my trade protection to come to Edmonton I would want to know and be comfortable with the goalie coach.
Is Swayman an “high end goalie”?
Swayman was objectively worse than Skinner last season in his first try as a true starter.
Yup, Swayman had three good years prior but not once was he a starter or even a 1A. He played 37, 41 and 44 games. The first time he was a true starter, he was near .890.
Skinner has a season of .910 (or was it .912?) in 58 games, something Swayman has never done.
Yes, straight up, I do think Swayman is the more valuable goalie but not $6MM more valuable – way too much risk to take that contract given his last season – on a team that was projected to be a lock for the playoffs and contend for the cup – he was part of the reason they were not that.
Completely fair comments on Swayman. I really wasn’t arguing for Swayman, it was just the first name that came to mind as I thought about the goalie coach decision.
Agreed
With goalies, you want to follow the advice Ken Holland offered, but didn’t heed himself.
You can’t trust most goalies these days. The key is to minimize contract risk.
I like goalies under 30. I like goalies inexpensive and on shorter term contracts.
I’m a broken record, but Colorado generally does a good job with mitigating contract risk in net. Copy Colorado.
This morning Friedman says there seemed to be a lot of confidence over the weekend they are going to got Bouchard done.
Threw out 4 X $9.5MM as numbers he’s heard.
$9.5MM would be an absolute steal – like massive.
As blisteringly frustrated as I was with Bouchard at multiple points this season, I always held that it didn’t mean I hated the player, just that I didn’t feel he should get paid more than 10 million. If it means coming in at 4 years, I’ll still feel somewhat validated. And it would suggest to me that organization, player (and possibly important teammates) agree: Bouchard is an excellent defenceman, which is all the more reason to clean up his ill-timed gaffs, not a means of excusing his ill-timed gaffs. This Bouchardwashig has always been nonsensical to me.
Because the timing of the gaffs are consequential. Looking like about $2 million / season value. Now let’s imagine Bouchard without the ill-timed gaffs. Thats a $13 million defensman and he’ll have 4 years to get there.
That defenceman you describe in the last paragraph is what we’ve seen in the playoffs the last two seasons (this season, after the first two games vs. LA and one off-game in the SCF, where I still opine his culpability is HIGHLY debatable).
Two seasons in a row almost inarguably the best overall d-man in the playoffs and, for his career, 100% inarguably, objectively, a historic producer of points.
Totally agree. Every player makes mistakes and one involved in the play as much as Bouchard is will make more of them. There is room for some decision making improvement, but you also have to consider all of the plays he makes that nobody else on this d core can make. I doubt any of our other defenders could have kept that puck in against Byfield in the first round that basically saved the season. I agree, 9.5 times 4 is a steal. Hoping they can convince him to sign for the full 8 year term. Give him the rumored 10 x 8 and move on to the McDavid contract
“There is room for some decision making improvement”
Yes, the question is how much is that room worth? His defenders don’t want the player to ever pay for that gap. These are the same people who criticise Edmonton for paying players for their future, imagined contributions.
I guessed all year that I think its worth something, and only once he cleaned up his “decision making” could you argue he is truly more valuable than, say, Makar.
I would write on this blog that he shouldn’t get more than 10 million per year and I would be constantly downvoted. I’ll even get downvoted for this post, undoubtedly.
Now he’s about to sign for 9.5.
I’m not disagreeing with that, but overall I think Bouchard is a very valuable player and a huge part of this team. During the season, I was posting that the Oilers should be offering him something starting with an 8. He was slumping at the time. After another good playoff run, anything below 11, is a bargain imo
But his culpability is clearly debatable within the organization, if Friedman’s tweet has any merit. Its almost as if this blog is the only place where his culpability is a third rail.
The Bobby Orr-level offence is also significantly fuelled by 29 and 97. It is not to disparage the player, but this number also reflects this truth.
The argument that he cleans it up in the playoffs is understood and largely correct, but you can also argue he, as much as anyone, cost Edmonton home ice due to several brain farts that led directly to giving up points in season. I shouldn’t need to go reference each instance, we all watched the season and tracked them as they happened. Given that the team was otherwise load managing, it must have been very frustrating to watch those points get sewered in such a manner.
And Game 6, you can debate it if you want, but he needed to be locked down better than that for 12 million. If he comes in at 9.5, I think its great.
And consider this: 97 said in his presser that Bouchard absolutely needed to get signed. This ought to have put all the leverage in Bouchard’s camp. For the rumoured number to come in much lower than many had assumed, I think it is fair to suggest that the fanbase and punditry calling for $11.5 or more are misaligned with both the organization and players’ view of his value.
Please. Orr played with Esposito, Hodge and Cashman, etc. They were a dominant team with Hall of Fame players.
Bouchard’s outscoring rates increase when away from the Glimmer Twins.
So why is he about to sign for 9.5?
If this contract is the one that gets signed, what do you attribute it to? The kindness of his heart? If thats the case, then why isn’t it for 8 years?
9.5/4 is a compromise more reflective of my analysis than most others. A player I like, by the way.
He’s on record saying he only wants to play in EDM.
Maybe he understands the need to put the team first and not seek to maximize AAV for personal gain in order to earn a legacy that lasts forever.
Or maybe he’s got a terrible agent. I don’t actually know. None of us do.
Having said that, could be that he’s looking at the rising cap and figures he can really hit paydirt when he’s up for extension without necessarily handicapping the team. Leon and Connor will be locked in at early Cap growth levels, and outside Nurse and (ahem) Frederic, all of the secondary NMC player contracts expired.
Of course his offence is fueled to some extend by McDavid and Drai but lets not forget he drove out-scoring to a massive extent this playoffs when both those guys were off the ice and McDavid struggled to outscore all playoffs without Bouchard.
Bouchard has been the best all-around d-man in the playoffs two years in a row.
But then assuming Friedman is right, what accounts for 9.5?
I mean I may be a stopped clock, but if the contract comes in as reported, I’ll know what time it is on Bouchard at least.
To be clear I find him a fascinating player and his contract was always going to be a puzzle. I do think he a player that requires a greater breath of analysis than advanced stats allow. Have always thought that and I think 9.5/4 validates this claim, or at least demonstrates that there are considerations beyond what we have access to.
It’s four years short of max term. Two RFA years out of four.
Harvest Moon posts are among my favorites.
McKenzie had Lafreniere (and Lewandowski) among his honourable mentions in his rankings–top 80 + 20 HM’s–so maybe just a slight reach. Certainly in the range at that stage of the draft.
(Incidentally, I miss watching McKenzie unerringly predict who each team would take right before their pick. It’s like he was making the selections for each team himself.)
6’3″ LHD Owen Conrad wasn’t drafted despite being ranked 43rd by Pronman and 61st by Wheeler. He wouldn’t be the worst player to whom the Oilers could extend a D-camp invitation.
https://mgoblue.com/news/2025/6/28/ice-hockey-michigan-hockey-ties-program-record-with-seven-nhl-draft-selections
We cannot really expect much with the picks we had.
Respectfully disagree.
It’s the job of the scouting staff to unearth gems each and every draft. We need a Kesselring, a Desharnais, a Marino, or even a McLeod to arrive beyond the first round like Swiss trains to the station.
If this team wants to make a habit of deep playoff runs, they’re going to be drafting from the cheap seats year over year.
Need to find value late, and often, in order to have tradeable assets as currency or internally develop cost controlled talent to agument the core.
I think Lafrieniere has a chance. There is talent there and it is propelled by a very motivated mindset.
There is something to be said about an 8th round Bantam pick who gets drafted. In 2 years he will be bigger, faster and impressive.
Salonen is also impressive, next season will be informative, as he takes the next step in his career in Liiga.
All things considered, I like the approach taken by Pracey. Gone are the days of moar bigger coke machines and skating ability is a priority. This is a good thing!
Wow, hard to believe it’s been that long since any of the Oilers picks have made it. Even worse, there is really no one you could project to make it in the next two, maybe three years unless they can get Berezkin signed. Maybe Akey or O’Reilly?
JP spent ten years of his life dedicated to refuting everything I ever posted. Anyone seen him lately?
He and I disagreed about Tyler Wright’s tenure. It left a hole in the talent pipeline.
I had looked back and attributed Wright to the failed Yzerplan.
Drafted prospects with a chance in next 3 seasons:
1 – Rodrigue: he is a top AHL goaltender and still young. With 3 signed younger prospects, are they going to let him walk and bring a more seasoned vet AHL goaltender with NHL experience, or will they be rolling the dice? It seems very risky to take that approach. This would mean the #4 slot would be a 1st or 2nd year (Ungar) pro. That doesn’t make much sense to me, something has got to give.
2 – Berezkin: Maybe he signs for next season, maybe he gets traded, maybe he never comes to NA. There are no guarantees with this player, is he even good enough to make the NHL? His wheels are suspect, so chances are he never sees NHL ice.
3 – O’Reilly: Not this year, but perhaps next season as a rookie pro he gets a cup of coffee.
4 – Akey: This will be his first pro season, will he keep his head above water in the AHL? If he does, perhaps he gets a cup of coffee in his 2nd pro season.
5 – Petrov: This will be his 3rd pro season, tick tock, if he doesn’t show well this will be his last season in the organization. Hopefully, he impresses early on and does enough to earn a game or two, but highly unlikely.
6 – Clattenburg: Rookie pro, but has the size & speed and toughness. You never know, although he struggles with health and consistency. He likely won’t be ready for a cup of coffee for at least couple of seasons, He is totally a long shot, but has coveted “NHL intangibles”.
7/8 – Jonsson or Day: Absolute voodoo, no clue, but soonest possible arrival will likely be their 3rd pro year. That would most likely be due to injury, rather than performance, but you never know.
So, it is a painful truth that there is not much coming via drafted players. All of Savoie, Jarventie, Samanski, Carfagna, Marjala and even Grubbe certainly have far better chances for NHL deployment than any drafted prospect.
We wait………..we have no choice but to.
I would presume they qualify him and bring him back. I think Samuel J. should spend a year in the SHL prior to coming to the AHL.
I know there was soft intel that he was re-signing in the KHL but I don’t think we heard anything official and I remain hopeful he decides to come over. We know the org wants to sign him, Bowman mentioned it on with Stauff before the playoffs.
As Al mentions, I think he 100% can play on this team in October, middle six at least with the potential to fit in the top 6.