The Edmonton Oilers’ prospects saw plenty of action this past week. Despite some strong individual performances across all leagues, we had to give this week’s spotlight to some serious news involving Max Wanner. Let’s dive right into it!
Welcome to the TOR Edmonton Oilers prospect update. Each week, we’ll take a dive into how the Oilers’ prospects have done in their respective leagues. We have defined a prospect as a skater who has played fewer than 65 NHL games, and is younger than 25 years of age. All data is from EliteProspects. We also use an NHLe calculator built by Christian Roatis (@Croatis) which is used to estimate a player’s equivalent point total in the NHL based on how they are performing in their respective league. The calculator uses the difficulty of the given league combined with the ease at which a player puts up points to determine the NHLe.
Four Moose Jaw Warriors suspended indefinitely
Max Wanner is one of four members of the Moose Jaw Warriors who have been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation. The public has not been told any other information, but Wanner’s future in hockey is clearly in some degree of jeopardy.
Given some of the recent scandals in junior hockey, this is a worrying development. In time we might learn what exactly led to this suspension, and until then it might be dangerous to speculate too much. For now, Wanner’s on ice play is far from the most important thing we will be keeping an eye on.
This and that
AHL
The Bakersfield Condors played two games this week, a shootout loss to the Ontario Reign, and a 6–1 win over the San Diego Gulls. Olivier Rodrigue got the win in his start, stopping 24 of 25 shots.
A classic breakaway dangle, James Hamblin pulls off the backhand five-hole move with ease. He may never reach the level of a top six NHL scorer, but Hamblin has some functional skill.
Linemate Seth Griffith finds Hamblin in the slot. Together with Noah Philp, the trio is likely to feature as a consistent AHL scoring line for as long as they are together. There are younger prospects with more upside throughout the lineup, but night for night in the 2022–23 season, this group might be the primary scoring line for the Condors.
6–3–1 in their past ten games, the Condors are moving up the standings, ensuring that there will be meaningful hockey played down the stretch. The playoffs might be a stretch too far, but it is a positive sign nonetheless.
Michael Kesselring has the AHL lead in goals for defencemen, showing some of the reasons how in his clip. Kesselring has the mobility to find shooting lanes through traffic, a quick and accurate release, and the confidence to put them both together.
WHL
Some high profile deadline acquisitions have made their way into the Seattle Thunderbirds lineup, something that should be of great interest to our Reid Schaefer watch. Not that drafted prospects are the only good players in the WHL, but Schaefer goes from being the lone drafted prospect on his line to sharing the ice with two prospects that are arguably more highly thought of than Schaefer. Both Dylan Guenther and Adam Lambert looked close to ready in handling top six NHL roles for the Arizona Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets respectively.
Schaefer’s early scoring has waned since his U20 World Junior appearance. No matter how you slice it this represents a huge talent upgrade for the powerhouse Thunderbirds, and Schaefer will look towards a big second half, including a deep playoff run, by forming some chemistry with his new teammates. While this might lead to more points and a deeper playoff run for Schaefer, his chemistry with Guenther might cause the Coyotes to value Schaefer as a prospect more than they do now, should that have any bearing on NHL trade negotiations.
OHL
Matvey Petrov is among the leaders in OHL scoring, showing exactly why he has all but outgrown the league here. Though his shot and one-on-one skills were always big assets for Petrov, he has not been relying on them to create offence this season, which bodes well for his transition to pro next season. Fantastic shot and good to see him cut to the middle.
As much as the previous clip shows more skill, highlights like this one are almost more promising to see from Petrov. Heading to the tough ice is a good habit to have, and must be something Petrov is willing to do to have success at higher levels.
KHL
A dazzling goal by Maxim Beryozkin, showing many of his best traits as an attacker. With speed, lateral quickness, deceptive puck handling, and a quality shot, Beryozkin puts it all together on this play. At his best he is attacking laterally in the offensive zone, and to see this more and more often in the KHL speaks to his confidence growing. With another season left on his current deal, Beryozkin will jump straight into the NHL if and when he decides to come to North America.
ECHL
Ryan Fanti has continued his strong play in the ECHL, showing explosiveness and athleticism in stopping this two-on-one. Since returning to the ECHL last month he has improved his play, and looks to be more confident and consistent than earlier in the season. This is fantastic news for the rookie, as making the jump from the NCAA is not always smooth, the most promising thing is that he is finding himself as the season goes.
Goaltending numbers like save percentage and goals against average don’t necessarily correlate much from league to league, meaning that looking at Fanti’s great college numbers or less impressive ECHL numbers aren’t exactly fair measurements in a vacuum.
NHLe Leaderboard
NHLe is a metric used to estimate a player’s offensive output at the NHL level from their point totals in their respective league. Here are the Oilers’ current top five (bracketed numbers denote movement from the previous week).
- Matvey Petrov 40.3 (1)
- Maxim Beryozkin 29.7 (2)
- Raphael Lavoie 27.1 (3)
- Tyler Benson 25.1 (5)
- Reid Schaefer 24.0 (4)
Overall regular season totals for Oilers’ prospects
Forwards
| Player | Team | League | GP | G | A | TP | PPG | PIM | +/- | NHLeLeague | NHLe |
| Justin Bailey (RW/LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 31 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 0.55 | 30 | -4 | AHL | 21.9 |
| Tyler Benson (LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 19 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 0.63 | 10 | -2 | AHL | 25.1 |
| Maxim Beryozkin (LW/RW) | totals | 47 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 0.45 | 14 | 4 | KHL | 29.7 | |
| Xavier Bourgault (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 45 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 0.47 | 14 | 4 | AHL | 18.7 |
| Skyler Brind’Amour (C) | Quinnipiac Univ. | NCAA | 30 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 0.8 | 6 | 17 | ||
| Maxim Denezhkin (C) | totals | 36 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 0.56 | 88 | -1 | totals | ||
| Seth Griffith (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 45 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 0.84 | 20 | -8 | AHL | 33.5 |
| James Hamblin (LW/C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 25 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0.6 | 4 | 1 | AHL | 23.9 |
| Mattias Janmark (C/W) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | AHL | 39.9 |
| Klim Kostin (LW/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.44 | 15 | -4 | 17.5 | |
| Shane Lachance (LW) | Youngstown Phantoms | USHL | 39 | 25 | 11 | 36 | 0.92 | 37 | 4 | USHL | 20.4 |
| Raphaël Lavoie (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 34 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 0.68 | 21 | 6 | AHL | 27.1 |
| Jeremias Lindewall (RW/LW) | Östersunds IK | HockeyAllsvenskan | 32 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.19 | 10 | -15 | Hockey East | 6.1 |
| Brad Malone (C/LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 32 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 0.56 | 24 | 3 | AHL | 22.3 |
| Tomas Mazura (C) | St. Lawrence Univ. | NCAA | 24 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 0.46 | 8 | 1 | ||
| Greg McKegg (C/W) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 44 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0.25 | 48 | 5 | AHL | 10.0 |
| Joel Määttä (C) | Univ. of Vermont | NCAA | 29 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 0.45 | 18 | -5 | ||
| Matvei Petrov (RW/LW) | North Bay Battalion | OHL | 50 | 23 | 53 | 76 | 1.52 | 26 | 29 | OHL | 40.3 |
| Noah Philp (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 44 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 0.36 | 27 | 7 | AHL | 14.3 |
| Carter Savoie (LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 33 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.33 | 18 | -10 | AHL | 13.2 |
| Reid Schaefer (LW) | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL | 37 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 0.97 | 56 | 11 | WHL | 24.0 |
| Devin Shore (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | AHL | 39.9 |
| Tyler Tullio (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 40 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 0.48 | 14 | 4 | 19.1 | |
| Jake Chiasson (C/RW) | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 16 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 0.81 | 4 | -3 | 20.1 | |
| totals | WHL | 53 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 0.77 | 20 | -23 | 19.1 |
Defencemen
| Player | Team | League | GP | G | A | TP | PPG | PIM | +/- | NHLeLeague | NHLe |
| Jason Demers (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 39 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 0.38 | 63 | -7 | AHL | 15.1 |
| Vincent Desharnais (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.15 | 19 | 1 | AHL | 6.0 |
| Philip Kemp (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 45 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0.29 | 24 | 7 | AHL | 11.6 |
| Michael Kesselring (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 0.5 | 30 | 5 | AHL | 19.9 |
| Slater Koekkoek (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | AHL | |
| Luca Münzenberger (D) | Univ. of Vermont | NCAA | 24 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.21 | 22 | -10 | ||
| Markus Niemeläinen (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.33 | 8 | 3 | AHL | 13.2 |
| Maximus Wanner (D) | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL | 44 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 0.68 | 45 | 23 | WHL | 16.8 |
| Nikita Yevseyev (D) | Ak Bars Kazan | KHL | 47 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0.15 | 11 | 8 | KHL | 9.9 |
Goalies
| Player | Team | League | GP | GAA | SV% |
| Calvin Pickard | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 19 | 2.83 | 0.913 |
| Olivier Rodrigue | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 21 | 2.92 | 0.91 |
| Samuel Jonsson | Rögle BK J20 | J20 Nationell | 23 | 2.63 | 0.898 |
| Ryan Fanti | totals | 24 | |||
| Fort Wayne Komets | ECHL | 16 | 3.27 | 0.897 |
