This is NHL rookie scoring in January of 2013. The Oilers had a couple of freshmen tearing up the blacktop, and there were a few fast starts that did not turn in to NHL careers.
The best Oilers rookie camp of all time was 1980, when Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson and Paul Coffey all arrived as full-time NHL players, while Charlie Huddy and Andy Moog also debuted. How about this century? There are two candidates.
THE 2010 GROUP
- R Jordan Eberle—Now at 1060 NHL games.
- D Jeff Petry—Now at 981 NHL games.
- L Taylor Hall—Now at 909 NHL games.
- L Magnus Paajarvi—467 NHL games.
- R Tyler Pitlick—Now at 420 NHL games.
- C Chris VandeVelde—278 NHL games.
- D Martin Marincin—227 NHL games.
- D Brandon Davidson—Now at 180 NHL games.
- L Teemu Hartikainen—Now at 52 NHL games.
- D Alex Plante—10 NHL games.
- L Phil Cornet—1 NHL game.
- D Johan Motin—1 NHL game.
- C Milan Kytnar—1 NHL game.
- L Curtis Hamilton—1 NHL game
- G Tyler Bunz—1 NHL game.
That’s an outstanding group, three men will exceed 1,000 games and two more played over 400 NHL games. The Oilers didn’t make a dent with this group, but the constant changing of managers and coaches, along with a subpar group of support veterans, were the main reasons for the failure to launch.
THE 2015 GROUP
- C Leon Draisaitl—Currently at 790 NHL games.
- D Darnell Nurse—Currently at 716 NHL games.
- C Connor McDavid—Currently at 712 NHL games.
- D Ethan Bear—Currently at 275 NHL games.
- D Caleb Jones—Currently at 248 NHL games.
- G Laurent Brossoit—Currently at 140 NHL games.
- L Anton Slepyshev—102 NHL games.
The 2015 group contains two future Hall of Famers, and built ‘up the spine’ with centers and defense. I think the clear edge is the 2015 group, and we’ll see if Stanley is in the future. I think Laurent Brossoit is an underrated member of that group, 140 NHL games for a goaltender is a good number.
ROOKIE CAMP 2025
We’ll see some great young talent this fall, although it’s possible Matt Savoie misses rookie camp. Ike Howard should be there, I am also looking forward to seeing Quinn Hutson. He left college after his junior season, clearly spiked as an offensive contributor and it will be interesting to see if he can push for playing time in main camp. I think his rep with fans was hurt by those few NHL minutes where he barely played and didn’t touch the puck. It’s the ultimate small sample size, but he didn’t get much done in those minutes (a total of 27 minutes) but did get a shot on goal and took a penalty.
Dobber prospects writes this about him: A responsible, fast-paced winger with good defensive instincts, he is an above-average skater with an excellent set of hands and a pro-level shot. Unlike his younger brothers Cole and Lane, he has limited upside but could become a valuable bottom-six forward.
One of the things a full pro season for Hutson, Howard, Josh Samanski, Viljami Marjala and others will do is give us a better view of their potential in the NHL. Not every skill player who arrives in pro becomes a top-six forward, but all of the bottom-six forwards in the NHL could post offense in their amateur, college and European leagues. Stan Bowman is shopping in the good aisles. It’s been a few years since Edmonton has been a player in procuring talent that other teams were interested in.
New for The Athletic: What can Oilers fans expect from Stan Bowman’s European signing pipeline?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6544239/2025/08/10/edmonton-oilers-bowman-european-signings/
Looks like Olivier Rodrigue is heading to Kazakhstan to play in the KHL for Barys Astana……
They have some nice Beaches where he’s heading.
The absolute definition of bad prospect management.
Phil Kemp says hello.
Now, here, I agree with poor prospect development as Kemp actually did earn NHL reps and the org had opportunities to give him some and didn’t. They called Josh Brown up and played him over Kemp this year for crying out loud.
Kemp, unlike Rodrigue, was deemed worthy of an NHL contract by another org (the Pens).
I hope he gets some NHL games.
How so? He was given the starts in Bako and never earned a real NHL look. I was surprised the org didn’t qualify him but it seems they want Jonsson with a vet in the AHL and, well, it seems none of the other NHL organizations feel he is worthy of an NHL contract.
I truly love that group of “who the hell knows” players.
I personally agree with the “limited upside” comment on Hutson from Dobber prospects but, really, who the hell knows?
For me, I’m interested to see if Marjala can out-pace him – noone talks about Marjala but I have him in the same tier as Hutson, maybe even with a “better chance” to make it.
“For me, I’m interested to see if Marjala can out-pace him – noone talks about Marjala”
I have been….
I hope he tears the cover off. The reality of the NHL is that there were 28 forwards out of 358 that played over 50 games last season who were under 180 lbs, 7.8%. The list is mostly pretty skilled. Marjala has skill, but those aren’t great odds, unfortunately
Which is why I think our Oilers need to be pretty judicious going down this road. With VM I get it, it’s a shot at perhaps a high end skill forward that cost nothing but a contract. He may also be able to fill out his frame a bit as he’s listed 6’1
As it stands though that’s pretty skinny for this league, which I care about because I’ve seen enough high skill undersized or skinny players end up completely on the perimeter in playoffs, a shell of their reg season play. If that happens there is no point doing it
He was listed as 5’11” 156 lbs on draft day, so he probably still has room to grow.
In the same vein, there were only 22 players over 220 lbs last season over 50 GP, Frederic being one of them (these numbers are from NHL). There is like in many sports/leagues an optimal size range, and per position in multi position sports like football, why there are weight categories in combat sports
There are always exceptions, but when you’re outliers at each end of the range add up to only 14% of forwards, it seems that this is a pretty strong indicator of importance and potential success. Taking chances on outliers as little as possible should increase the odds of finding helpful players that can establish real careers
The one thing that Howard brings to this team hopefully will be a little bit of that swagger and confidence he brings naturally with his personality. I don’t expect it right away, but as he gets more comfortable, I think you’ll see his personality come out more. I think this will be good for the Oilers.
That swagger could prove to be detrimental if things don’t go his way. I mean he came to Edmonton after a fall out in Tampa. What happens if he has to go down to Bakersfield?
I think we will learn more about his character if this happens. I think he is going to bring mature understanding of what’s ahead of him. I think he might surprise people.
fwiw I agree with you. I think he came here with an understanding he’d be playing in the NHL. He did hold out on Tampa over this exact issue, after all. We’re all concerned about how much he’ll score, but I’m fairly sure KK will care more about his play away from the puck. If it’s not up to par, he may get sent down, and given his history with tampa it’s not clear how he’ll take it, especially since making a stink worked in his favour this time around.
Edmonton fans turned on J Schultz because he was “gifted” a spot on the roster. People turned on Broberg when it came out he’d asked for a trade when he wasn’t being given any time in the bigs. If there is any sense that Howard doesn’t take a demotion in stride, I could see him in a similar spot with fans around christmas time. Especially since we’re all expecting him to hit the ground running without any pro experience… if his boxcars through 40 games are something like 5-5-10, how are people going to react? How will Howard react to the team and fans, given his natural swagger?
Different circumstance.
When Michigan was eliminated early this past season and it was time to sign and go pro, Tampa didn’t have the cap space to put him in the NHL and wanted him to start in the AHL.
Those in Howard’s peer group were being signed and playing in the NHL (Snuggerud, Leonard, etc.) and that’s what Howard had earned.
The relationship soured as Howard dug in to be treated the same as his peer group.
The Oilers will be giving him every opportunity to make the team and play a real role. If he’s not ready and they send him to the AHL its on merit of his game.
We are a very passive team big reason they brought in Brown-Perry-Arvidsson who are more flamboyant. I do like Walman dinkness in the playoffs. If Howard needs to go to Bakersfield then someone needs to be fired for the trade. If Howard can’t score then he’s a dud. Howard is 21 skilled scoring wingers very rarely spend time in the AHL at that age. He is NHL ready and he perfectly called his immediate shot in the top 6 with the 2 best Centre’s I see shades of Jeremy Roenick I hope this kid has a funky goal celebration because our team needs some young spunk to get Leon and Connor going to possibly the next level. Howard will score 20 plus Dano says Booook it….,,,,
None of those players strike me as flamboyant.
Glenn Anderson, on the other hand…
Snuggerud never looked out of place in the NHL last spring. (he was so good, the Blues were willing to trade Zac Bolduc). Ryan Leonard struggled a bit more.
McGroarty played most of the year in the AHL.
Cutter Gauthier rock-n-rolled all season in the NHL in Anaheim.
Matthew Knies rock-n-rolled from day 1.
If Howard needs to go to Bakersfield then someone needs to be fired for the trade. If Howard can’t score then he’s a dud
This is a WILD statement (that you keep making), in my opinion.
Talk about putting pressured expectations on a rookie pro.
The kid talked the talk now he needs to show he more than belongs. This is not a participation league we all know these guys make insane amounts of cash. If they are splint seconds slower than their counterparts they end up on the same plane as Rodrique which is still better than mind you working at Syncrude or selling cars. It’s almost like you don’t expect this Hobey Baker winning sharpshooter to do well? I on the other hand see 20 plus.
What talk did he talk? Not that it really matters.
This is a 21 year old rookie coming from college to the NHL. He looks ready to impact but, holy, the hell the expectations you have with zero room for anything but immediate material offensive impact.
Wow!
It has zero to do with what I expect of him. I fully expect him to have a solid year full of ups and downs, heaters and inconsistencies, etc.
I would certainly NOT require the scouting staff to be immediately fired if he requires a period of adjustment or some development before impact.
I would suggest you look at the list of Hobey Baker award winners, including the ages when won, and the NHL careers they had. Alot of variance and alot of different timelines for success.
First off I love the young man’s out going I’m the best looking male in all of the draft class sense of humour. When your this outgoing you need to back it up with your play or you 15 minutes of fame will end abruptly. Not many players get the opportunity to ditch the team that drafted them and pick to sign with the 2nd best team in the league that’s in need of a top winger that can score. You only get so many chances at the Cup they didn’t get Howard as some sort of project they got him to score goals on his ELC. You better be prepared to see this kid get a push as well as a good look at shooting area on the PP. These are the kinds of gambles that either make or break a G.M. Howard-Savoie-Frederic-Podkolzin? The future starts now.
I am very much expecting a push for Howard and I very much expect him to score lots of goals on his ELC.
Of course, his ELC is three years long and I’m not going to call for scouts to be fired and a trade being a disaster if all is not perfect on November 13, 2025.
I am going to allow for some development in a rookie pro.
Fingers crossed things go a little differently from this – https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1053322
I know a lot of people believe Howard is ready now.I am of the thought that O Rielly will play next year (26/27). He plays a very mature game that will translate to the NHL.This is the reason I think Howard has to hit. If he doesn’t,I think we gave up a hugely valuable asset in both need and and value of position and handiness. My fingers are x it turns out favourably.
The maturity of SOR could be what Tampa was looking for in a player for the future.
Howard is going to have to prove his metal right off the hop or suffer some consequences.
I’ve listened a a bunch of radio and media and pod spots with Howard since the trade, I’ve read write-ups from those that know him and his game well (Wheeler, who spent a week with Michigan) among others and I’ve seen zero indication that Howard is not a mature young man with a mature game (his defensive game, from accounts, coming leaps and bounds in his two years in Michigan).
He’s a confident, not cocky, young man, that has a zest for life – loves playing hockey and being at the rink and on the ice.
Interesting take on O’Reilly. From accounts he was solid but not dominant for a stacked London team this past season. He will be back there this year, and most opinions I’ve heard have him needing at least a full season in the AHL after that. If that’s the case he makes his debut in 27/28, likely in a fourth line roll if Tampa wants to keep him a center. Howard may start as a third line winger depending on how he looks in camp but wouldn’t surprise me at all if he is getting reps in the top 6 as well. If he clicks with 97 or 29…
Howard is really no more of a certainty than SOR, it’s just that he might, and that’s the operative word, be more NHL ready. I guess we’ll see.
SOR is no more of a certainty that SOR and has no more of an upside and is not NHL ready – right?
O’Reily was indeed a valuable asset, hence why he was needed to acquire another valuable asset.
Here is where i disagree with the premise of the post above – Sam O’Reily is no more of a “lock” to make it in the NHL as Issac Howard.
This narrative regarding his mature game and playing the right way and being committed is essentially the “good ol’ Canadian boy” narrative and, really, does not make this player any more of a lock. It reminds of Ryan O’Mara (and various others of that ilk).
Both kids are likely to make it but not locks. Both kids have some real upside, Howard likely a more offensive upside.
Maybe SOR arrives in the NHL at 20 without AHL time – Its probably more unlikely than likely but we’ll find out in 14 months.
Mangiapane CMD Hyman (when back)
Pod Drai Savoie
Howard Nuge Frederic (can Howard or Nuge play RW? If Knobby doesn’t like Nuge at C)
Henrique X X
Janmark, Kap, Lazar, Philp, Tomasek as the on the cusp ones up or down, battling for two spots. I don’t see how Bowman isn’t going to make some deals. Unless three of these guys want to go down to stay on board. The first three are fairly established NHL players, I imagine the A isn’t top of mind
Maybe Howard has to go down to start, but he’s not going to be down there long going by what happens with forwards that score a bunch there. So the problem with too many forwards remains. Maybe if Henrique at his age doesn’t make the team out of camp he would accept a trade
Also, PuckP has Janmark and Kap on their PuckGM roster, leaves only 225,834 in cap. Something has to give. If the rookies seem ready to go, they need to use them over keeping less skilled, more expensive, older bottom 6 types. They need a full or most of a season to get enough experience for later. If they can hold up the defensive side you want to bring in their skill. Both have enough jam I think
Maybe Tomasek is better at this point than one of them, but the injection of energy and scoring ability is needed.
Bowman seems pretty up front, I doubt he loaded up like this without having some understanding with the not certain older players about outcomes. The younger guys have to accept some waiting. Some have mentioned Tomasek going home, maybe some promises of trades. Bob says Stan wants more cap for accrual and the deadline, hat tip to OP I didn’t hear Bob say it
I agree moves are likely to be made, but I can’t see any world where Rico ‘fails’ camp. If we were even supposing vets aren’t allowed to mail in it before the season proper.
Probably not, but there will be stiff comp and he’s 35 and not quick or that big. Bowman has already shown a desire to go in a different direction
Maybe Mangiapane can be with McDavid what Podz is for Leon.
The two youngsters, with those line formations, would be thrusted into a strong position for success with impressive veteran leadership.
The fourth line has all the elements with those six players to have two formidable fourth lines. Tomasek might be better than both of the two young guys let alone the other fourth liners.
Last week Stauff pretty much said straight up the Oilers are going to shed a contract before the season, look to accrue and make a top 9 acquisition at the deadline. Shot down it being Henrique – I think Janmark will be off the roster.
Are there details of what is replacing the Young Guns tournament?
NHL SID has a niece thing up about Pod
https://oilersnation.com/news/vasily-podkolzin-edmonton-oilers-top-six
I agree with his line of thinking. I’ve been commenting about the need to find the right wingers for Connor and Leo. Everything has to be about maximizing having two centres like that. Not rely on them being able to do what they do with often sub optimal help. Their role shouldn’t be to make other players play better, even if that happens, the GMs role is make it so they can be even better. I think they can still be
When you can build a line on two players that can win the goal share and play in any environment, and find that third guy, you are going to have a very strong top 6. It is now but still runs into trouble, a lot of it being finishing or not being able to keep up strong two way play, I’m thinking playoffs
As is shown in SID’s piece a winger that can really help with defense and possession at both ends is a yuge boost to the elite player
Add with the third player what’s missing. If the second is more offensive find the defensive conscience, or vice versa. Someone that is going to do it almost every game. And now that they are older, wingers with lots of energy and pace
Big opportunities for the rookie skill forwards here. If Pod is Leo’s two way guy, a scoring winger fits the bill. If Zach is Connor’s second, a scoring LW is needed. I hope Matt and Ike have had the best training summers of their young careers
I agree with this train of thought,I am more inclined to believe that Savoie is ready now and have a more wait and see attitude with Howard. It’s not a lack of belief,but the pro game is a different animal than the NCAA from schedule to training and just adjusting to pro life. I was a big O REILLY fan, but I do see the need to take a shot at a goal scorer who has produced at every level.
Who is also much closer to contributing than Sam. Whom I also liked
We can only hope that Savoie & Howard will both contribute at a high level. But that is easier said than done. They will both get the big push, at the very least they should be equal or better than what Arvidsson & J Skinner provided, and they will only improve with more TOI.
I think this is the hope of all Oilers fans fans.
Not only is Savoie likely NHL ready, and ready to impact (in my opinion) but he also has a skill-set that could/should be absolute perfect match with Drai.
I would call Savoie an “elite complimentary winger”.
He’s not a play driver – he rarely has the puck on his stick for long and won’t often transport it through the neutral zone. He excels playing with talented and smart offensive players (center). He is great in small spaces with the puck, has a very good give and go game, high end at finding soft spaces to get off a good release shot. He’s tenacious on the boards, using his body to get on the inside and win battles and a very responsible 2-way player with good instincts in the defensive zone.
Give that player to Drai.
If Podkolzin & Draisaitl aren’t a certainty playing together on the second line, it should be.
In fact, CMD could probably use a player like Podz on the first line. Gretzky had the wild & wonderful Tikkanen and that is the role Podkolzin is suited for.
Agreed, w caveat that Tik also buried the biscuit.
Sometimes.
Podz was 8-3 goals in the playoffs away from Drai – that is massacring bottom six minutes…..
“massacring“. You’ll get it right yet!
I know that many do not think that Podz has the offensive upside to be a legit top 6 guy and this may be true but I do think there is some more offensive development there.
This following isn’t to say that Podz is going to pop as a 60 plus point player like Holloway did this season but I think there is an apt comparison to show there is some upside. Most loved Holloway’s playoffs with the Oilers, he scored some big goals and then, of course, popped with top 6 opportunities with STL the following season. Well, Podz’s playoff run this past season is objectively far superior to Holloway’s last before his pop:
1) Podz had 10 points in 22 games (Holloway 7 points in 25 games)
2) Podz got those points with LESS minutes with Drai (82 vs. Holloway playing 132 with Drai)
3) Holloway was physicial but Podz was more physical (hits/60, for example)
4) Holloway was the more responsible player, he is more responsible with the puck in the neutral zone, etc., etc.)
5) Podz helped in a depth PK role
This isn’t to say that Podz is going to approach 65 points this season but he had a VERY good playoffs, playing much of it in the bottom six and like Holloway going in to this past season, Podz should be able to build on it for this coming season.
I understand Podz playing on Drai’s wing and he can be effective there (and I think score more than last year). He also showed in the playoffs that he can help drive a bit in the bottom six and be productive from there.
He is showing to be a very versatile player and $1MM for this season is such a steal.
I look forward to the extension. If they can get him in the $2MM to $2.5MM range, I give him as much term as he’s willing – I’d give him 8 years. We know he’s full effort and commitment and will always work to get better daily and work his bag off. The floor is established, subject to injuries.
Hutson was a great get by Bowman, no doubt. He didn’t impress me in his Spring debut, but after that experience he should be better prepared for his next opportunity.
I hope he proves me wrong and shows me that he has NHL ability. I was impressed with his showing at the Development camp, he definitely has a very good wrist shot.
He has was easily a top 10, if not a top 5 player at the camp, but he was also one of the oldest (in fact he was the 2nd oldest behind Rhett Pitlick).
I agree with your muted expectations and hope and would note that last sentence is important – he turns 24 on New Years Day – if he has any chance at the NHL, he should overtly stand out at a development camp (rookie camp too).
Of note, both Savoie and Hutson are New Years Day babies (Savoie a few years younger).
I don’t know how others feel about the subject, but it is really starting to irritate me that other hockey writers take someone else’s words to make it the basis of an article. The headlines they then use are deceptive or false to bring in readers.
Then a second or third person with a YouTube channel takes the 2nd article and uses it as a basis for their video.
So much lazy…I know LT has had to deal with this for decades.
I can think of so many other Oiler-related subjects to write about, what can’t those who actually make money from writing do this? Where in the world have original thoughts and ideas gone?
That is why I have begun to skip a lot of articles on other sites lately, seems like the “authors” come and skim LT’s article, slice and snip opinions from the comments and press publish.
I griped about this a few years ago as well. At that time I felt I kept seeing writing that to me was lifted from this comment section. I don’t mean LT, if he does that he seems to give props, but even if he didn’t it’s his blog
There are a lot of unique points of view, and soon after a day’s conversation there would be something up somewhere that took the ideas, and I didn’t think it was in the vein of the writer’s normal output
I thought they should have the honour to at least give credit to whoever had posted the line of thinking. But it seems that you have to write a blog or on some platform to have enough cred to get that. It’s easier to take credit as a pro pundit and have it seem like your thoughts. I let it go because it’s not worth the effort to push back and likely won’t stop anyway
I heard Rogan saying it’s the same for podcasts, mainstream looks down on them but are happy to have their thinking done for them and use the content. They do get credit if the media people are talking about the podcast/er, otherwise maybe not
Or it was exactly the same point or points, even if it was in their wheelhouse
Example?
Here are the examples that set off my post, and clearly it’s this one site that seems to rely on using others ideas to make posts.
It is redundant, lazy and the headlines they use are misleading:
https://nhltradetalk.com/author-argues-oilers-rumors-about-paul-coffey-part-of-toxic-cycle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=author-argues-oilers-rumors-about-paul-coffey-part-of-toxic-cycle
https://nhltradetalk.com/oilers-eyeing-next-brad-marchand-at-trade-deadline/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oilers-eyeing-next-brad-marchand-at-trade-deadline
https://nhltradetalk.com/did-agent-warn-and-try-to-rumor-proof-mcdavid-this-summer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=did-agent-warn-and-try-to-rumor-proof-mcdavid-this-summer
I consume ALOT of Oilers content – almost everything I can get my eyes and ears on but I ignore that “blog” – its not even that, its really just a headline aggregator.
Neither here nor there but, this thread has me thinking that while I may have my issues w Staples, no one could accuse him of not sourcing his material. That guy’s dropping like MLA format and everything.
That may be true. But the number of articles w click bait titles and reams of silly Xitter takes, followed by a summary/response, is wearisome.
Even if your “sources” are referenced a la MLS, if they’re Xitter @sshats you’re quoting, please spare me the misleading title.
If you have something to say, about the value of Evan Bouchard, to take an recent example, write *that* article. Don’t ask me to wade through hot takes on social media before I get to read your argument.
ps. Yes, it’s dog days. Not much hockey news. Just bored (drunk?) fans sh*tposting, writers scraping for *something* to say…. Maybe it’s best to take a vacay? Go to lake. Go swimming or fishing or ?