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 news involving Dylan Holloway. 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.
Holloway to Condors
It was a busy week for the Condors, who went 3-1-0 in their four games this week. Olivier Rodrigue, now firmly in a backup role, won his lone start, while a few of the notable prospects had huge weeks, including three points for Xavier Bourgault, and five points for each Tyler Tullio and Raphael Lavoie.
Dylan Holloway was sent down from the NHL, giving the Condors a temporary boost before leaving with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.
Holloway power play
Here we can see a strong shift of work from Holloway, eventually leading to his first AHL goal of the season. Looking quite comfortable on the flank, a spot he might scarcely, if ever, occupy for the Oilers, it is promising to see that Holloway still has the confidence to make high level plays. It’s quite possible that the NHL was just a step too far for him this season, and that we will see him with more poise in the future.
Holloway hurt
Unfortunately, Holloway would leave this game and miss the Condors game the next day. With an extensive injury history in his short post-draft career, this is far from ideal for the player.
It is worthwhile to mention that Holloway has only a half season of AHL experience, and one might argue that leading the Condors as their top centre might be more important to his development than playing such limited minutes in the NHL as he has this season.
Regardless, this injury does not help Holloway. We are still awaiting a more concrete prognosis, but of course we are hoping for an expeditious and full recovery. Even if Holloway does not find himself an impactful NHLer this season, this partial game in the AHL shows us that there is still a lot of upside. At some point in the next season or two Holloway should be an impactful middle-six forward.
This and that
AHL
Lavoie neutral zone
Lavoie shows us his ability as a neutral zone puck carrier. First, finding the loose puck in the defensive zone, Lavoie headmans to Tullio, who can do little but avoid a hit. Lavoie explodes into space, picking up the puck on a dash through the neutral zone, ending with a quick shot off the post. Lavoie has been dominant, often ending games with more than five shots on goal.
Tullio penalty killing
Though this clip shows off some nice goaltending by Calvin Pickard, some attention should be drawn towards a good active stick by Tullio on the penalty kill.
Tullio shows skill on the rush
This is a highly confident move from Tullio, making the AHL look like junior, if only for a rush. Cutting to the middle, shooting against the grain, Tullio has had a monster first couple months of 2023 and should be rocketing up Oilers prospect rankings.
Philp’s blueline shot
We saw Noah Philp have his best week as a pro, showing a lot of confidence in this clip that results in a Tyler Benson net front goal. In this modern offensive zone setup, the inverted 3-2, Philp comes to the blueline and decisively fires a one timer through traffic.
Bailey taps it in
What would be a high scoring game against the San Diego Gulls begins here with some good power play puck movement leading to a Justin Bailey tap in goal. Tullio plays on the high flank, and shows off vision and a deft touch with this cross-seam pass.
Tullio rips it home
Philp had a strong week, showing off his size, confidently moving along the boards. Griffith is an experienced AHL scorer, adept at finding open teammates as he does here. Tullio has started to show a lot more from his shot, though this is prime real estate.
Lavoie all alone
Clearly this game against the Gulls was wide open, as the scrambled defenders leave Lavoie alone in the slot for a quick one time goal.
An encore for Lavoie
The Condors are absolutely dominating the Gulls here, swarming the offensive zone, winning puck off of defenders. Philp does some good work here, but ultimately it is Lavoie who turns the corner at the blueline, dancing down the middle to fire home a shot from the slot.
Two for Tullio
Noah Philp, who had a strong week in his own right, does great work battling on the zone entry here. Seth Griffith shows great vision to find Tullio, looking dangerous with a good shot in tight.
Tullio Hats
High compete level from Justin Bailey powers this Condors 5 on 3 goal, stealing the puck from a defender, corralling his own rebound, finding Seth Griffith. Amidst the chaos Griffith finds Tullio, with a fairly easy look for his third of the night. Tullio was great on the power play in the OHL from the flank.
Back-to-back hats
Bourgault finds Lavoie with a great pass on the 5v3 power play. It is a wide open net for Lavoie, but it is worth noting we’ve seen a few Lavoie one timer goals from this spot already in 2023.
NCAA
Big game Brind’Amour
In his senior season, number 22 Skyler Brind’Amour is an older prospect, slightly removed from the hype of higher draft picks. That said, Brind’Amour is having a strong season in Quinnipiac, particularly in the second half. He is a big body, who does a lot of work in front of the net on the power play, as we will see in the following clips as well, from earlier this month.
USHL
Lachance dancing
Here we can see Lachance (24) cut into the crease on a backhand dangle that is thwarted. The Phantoms remain in control, eventually finding Lachance cross seam where he fires home a shot. His 26th of the season, Lachance has little left to prove in this league. Judgment on his prospects will come next year in seeing how he adjusts to the NCAA level.
ECHL
Fanti finishes strong in the shootout
This is a dramatic save from Fanti, winning the game on this final attempt of the shootout. This was a big comeback win for the Komets, and it is encouraging to see Fanti get both starts and wins regardless of his save percentage or goals against average in this league.
KHL
Beryozkin shows a net front presence
This clip starts with Beryozkin battling along the boards helping his team to win possession before rotating to the net front. A big, fast, skilled player, seeing these types of habits from Beryozkin make him that much more of an intriguing prospect. Though his backhand attempt doesn’t have much on it, habits like battling in tough ice can lead to positive results, just as is the case here.
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).
- Dylan Holloway 39.9 (N/A)
- Matvey Petrov 38.7 (1)
- Maxim Beryozkin 30.3 (2)
- Raphael Lavoie 29.5 (3)
- Tyler Benson 29.5 (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 | 35 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 0.63 | 30 | -4 | AHL | 25.1 |
| Tyler Benson (LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 23 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 0.74 | 27 | 0 | AHL | 29.5 |
| Maxim Beryozkin (LW/RW) | totals | 59 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 0.49 | 18 | 6 | KHL | 30.3 | |
| Xavier Bourgault (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 49 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 0.49 | 16 | 6 | AHL | 19.5 |
| Skyler Brind’Amour (C) | Quinnipiac Univ. | NCAA | 32 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 0.88 | 6 | 19 | ECAC | 20.2 |
| Maxim Denezhkin (C) | totals | 39 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 0.54 | 90 | 1 | totals | ||
| Seth Griffith (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 49 | 11 | 32 | 43 | 0.88 | 22 | -12 | AHL | 35.1 |
| James Hamblin (LW/C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 29 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0.52 | 8 | -4 | AHL | 20.7 |
| Dylan Holloway (LW/C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | AHL | 39.9 |
| 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 | AHL | 17.5 |
| Shane Lachance (LW) | Youngstown Phantoms | USHL | 41 | 26 | 12 | 38 | 0.93 | 37 | 6 | ||
| Raphaël Lavoie (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 38 | 16 | 12 | 28 | 0.74 | 33 | 6 | AHL | 29.5 |
| Jeremias Lindewall (RW/LW) | Östersunds IK | HockeyAllsvenskan | 34 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.18 | 12 | -15 | HockeyAllsvenskan | |
| Brad Malone (C/LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 35 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 0.54 | 24 | 4 | ECAC | 12.4 |
| Tomas Mazura (C) | St. Lawrence Univ. | NCAA | 26 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 0.42 | 8 | 1 | AHL | 16.7 |
| Greg McKegg (C/W) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 48 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 0.25 | 50 | 5 | Hockey East | 8.1 |
| Joel Määttä (C) | Univ. of Vermont | NCAA | 30 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 0.43 | 18 | -6 | ||
| Matvei Petrov (RW/LW) | North Bay Battalion | OHL | 52 | 23 | 53 | 76 | 1.46 | 26 | 25 | OHL | 38.7 |
| Noah Philp (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 48 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 0.44 | 33 | 7 | AHL | 17.5 |
| Carter Savoie (LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 33 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.33 | 18 | -10 | AHL | 13.2 |
| Reid Schaefer (LW) | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL | 40 | 19 | 20 | 39 | 0.98 | 62 | 14 | WHL | 24.3 |
| Devin Shore (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | AHL | 39.9 |
| Tyler Tullio (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 44 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 0.55 | 14 | 5 | AHL | 21.9 |
| Jake Chiasson (C/RW) | totals | WHL | 56 | 15 | 28 | 43 | 0.77 | 20 | -21 | WHL | 19.1 |
Defencemen
| Player | Team | League | GP | G | A | TP | PPG | PIM | +/- | NHLeLeague | NHLe |
| Philip Broberg (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.57 | 0 | -2 | AHL | 22.7 |
| Max 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 |
| Jason Demers (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 43 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 0.35 | 65 | -9 | AHL | 13.9 |
| Vincent Desharnais (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.15 | 19 | 1 | AHL | 6.0 |
| Philip Kemp (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 49 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 0.31 | 26 | 9 | AHL | 12.4 |
| Michael Kesselring (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 46 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 0.46 | 32 | 5 | AHL | 18.3 |
| Slater Koekkoek (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Luca Münzenberger (D) | Univ. of Vermont | NCAA | 25 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.2 | 24 | -10 | Hockey East | 6.4 |
| Markus Niemeläinen (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 17 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.35 | 8 | 0 | AHL | 13.9 |
Goalies
| Player | Team | League | GP | GAA | SV% |
| Calvin Pickard | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 22 | 2.81 | 0.915 |
| Olivier Rodrigue | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 22 | 2.98 | 0.907 |
| Samuel Jonsson | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell | 24 | 2.69 | 0.899 |
| Ryan Fanti | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 8 | 3.71 | 0.884 |
| Fort Wayne Komets | ECHL | 18 | 3.45 | 0.892 |
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
