Prospects

Edmonton Oilers Prospects Roundup: Jake Chiasson scores big in the WHL playoffs

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 Jake Chiasson. Let’s dive in!


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.


Chiasson’s big goals

It was a big week for Jake Chiasson, who scored a number of big goals for the Saskatoon Blades in their WHL playoff run.

Chiasson takes the pass up the boards in the offensive zone. Taking the open space to the slot, Chiasson employs movement and a quick release to get it through the goalie. After the first-seed Saskatoon Blades fell behind 2–0 in the series to Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats, this goal tied the series as the Blades took both games in Regina.

This is not the first big goal that Chiasson has scored this season, and as we will see, it was not the last either. While the concept of “clutchness” is nebulous, if Chiasson can prove this tendency in future years and at higher levels it would be a well earned reputation.

Another goal in the clutch for Chiasson, bringing the Blades to within one goal late in the third period. Since being traded to the Blades, we have seen Chiasson stationed at the net front more often. Not only is this where Chiasson is at his best, as opposed to the high slot where he was often used for the Brandon Wheat Kings, but it is also likely the area he will need to excel into to continue thriving at higher levels.

This clip shows us why the Wheat Kings chose to use Chiasson as a shooter, as he’s able to fool the goalie off the rush here. Following the theme, this is a clutch insurance marker for Chiasson, extending the 1–0 lead to 2–0 midway through the third period.

The Blades find themselves down 2–0 in a series once again, this time to the Red Deer Rebels. Despite Bedard’s talents, the Rebels are a much more formidable opponent than the Pats, and this early deficit will be a tough one to overcome. Perhaps Chiasson has another magical moment or two left, surely the Blades will need it.

As far as Chiasson is concerned, he will likely debut as a professional next season with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. It would be foolish to assume his production of this season would be matched in the AHL, but Chiasson will have an interesting opportunity before him. As a net front option, his skills will diversify him from the bulk of the other young Condors, perhaps allowing him to play a bit higher in the lineup or on the second power play.

Given that stylistic profile, Chiasson will need a summer or two, at least, to get his body to NHL level. During that time we should hope to see him score at a rate of at least 20 goals in the AHL while some other aspects of his game round out. There will be a lot of steps and adjustments along that road for Chiasson, but in order for him to be worthy of any NHL consideration they are steps that will have to be taken.

This and That

OHL

Matvey Petrov starts this play as the puck carrier through the neutral zone. Weaving the width of the ice, Petrov works a give and go, breaking into the zone. Petrov is known for a great shot, part of what causes the goalies and defence to sell out to square up to him. Petrov has been much more of a playmaker this season, perhaps an evolution as the winger was coming off an equally dominant season of production last year. Petrov coyly slides it to the near side, leaving the Barrie Colts strewn across the ice and the net wide open for his teammate.

After dispatching the Mississauga Steelheads in six games, the North Bay Battalion are up 2–0 in their second round series against the Colts. There are some good teams in the OHL, but the Battalion are certainly capable of a deep run and maybe a Memorial Cup appearance as OHL Champions.

KHL

Nikita Yevseyev was named the top rookie of the KHL’s Conference Finals. Ak Bars Kazan, Yevseyev’s team, just won the first game of the Gagarin Cup final against CSKA Moscow. While Kazan does have some talent, including Alexander Radulov, it is impressive that Yevseyev has been playing over 15 minutes a night on such a big stage, a clear contributor to his team’s success in his first post draft season.

AHL

While this is technically Oilers news, the fact of the matter is that the signing of Cam Dineen is much more likely to affect the Condors operations. Dineen is a top flight AHL power play quarterback, a big reason for the Condors mid season turnaround, as he was acquired in the Nick Bjugstad trade.

While Dineen might be worth another shot in the NHL, it might only ever be a circumstantial decision. If a primary puck moving option, like Evan Bouchard, were injured and the Oilers felt they needed a designated short term replacement option Dineen would make sense. Most likely this will not be the case, but considering the amount of young talent that should be on the Condors roster next season, Dineen will improve the team’s floor, allowing the prospects a better environment to grow in.

The Condors will play the Abbotsford Canucks in a best of three series. It might all be over for the team in short notice, but it was good to see the Condors remained focused and driven through the end of the regular season. It would be the best case for the Condors to go on a deep run, powered by strong performances from their young players.

That being said, should the Condors bow out, there would be nothing to stop the Oilers from bringing the likes of Raphael Lavoie and Dylan Holloway up to the NHL. Without injury it is unlikely we will see either appear in a game, though both might be deserving of an opportunity if the Oilers start running out of healthy players. Even so, being around the team will be a value experience for both, as they will be looking to crack the Oilers roster out of training camp next season.

All the talk of keeping the Condors competitive is encapsulated in this clip. In a late season game against one of the AHL’s top teams, the Calgary Wranglers, Xavier Bourgault steps up to give the Condors the lead late in the third period with an incredible individual effort.

Bourgault begins as the high forward on the forecheck. By reading the play and sprawling out to steal the puck we see the intelligence and intensity that have Bourgault fans excited for his projection as a defensive forward.

Of course, this is only one element of Bourgault’s game. Here he displays his ability as a scorer from the slot, using a good shot, but also displaying some bravado in taking this hit to get the shot off. While we do not want to see Bourgault take too many hits like this, it does tell us a lot about Bourgault.

We see a lot of similar things from Bourgault, this time resulting in an assist. The high forward on the break in, Bourgault shows some savvy in tying up the defenders stick and dragging his feet to stay onside. After losing possession, together with his teammate, Bourgault’s poke check leads to a change in possession, giving Bourgault another golden opportunity off of the forecheck.

Once again Bourgault shows a willingness to shoot, though his shot goes wide, bouncing off the end boards and out the other side for a tap in goal by Condors captain Brad Malone.

The Condors work the puck around on the power play, leading to this one timer from the blueline by Raphael Lavoie. There is some traffic to help, but Lavoie has proven to be an incredible scorer from distance in the back half of this season. This shot selection shows his budding confidence, and with a realistic shot to make the Oilers out of next season’s training camp Lavoie might be an intriguing option as a shooter at the NHL level.

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).

  1. Matvey Petrov 37.9 (1)
  2. Dylan Holloway 35.5 (2)
  3. Maxim Beryozkin 33.0 (3)
  4. Raphael Lavoie 31.1 (4)
  5. Patrik Puistola 24.8 (5)

Overall regular season totals for Oilers’ prospects

Forwards

PlayerTeamLeagueGPGATPPPGPIM+/-NHLeLeagueNHLe
Justin Bailey (RW/LW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL551813310.5640-5AHL22.3
Tyler Benson (LW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL40517220.5529-6AHL21.9
Carl Berglund (C)totals411215270.66127Hockey East24.2
Maxim Beryozkin (RW/LW)totals611022320.52227KHL33.0
Jake Chiasson (C/RW)totals702038580.8326-15WHL20.6
Maxim Denezhkin (C)totals39813210.54901VHL17.8
Seth Griffith (C/RW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL691741580.8432-12AHL33.5
James Hamblin (LW/C)Bakersfield CondorsAHL491016260.5314-1AHL21.1
Dylan Holloway (LW/C)Bakersfield CondorsAHL96280.8941AHL35.5
Mattias Janmark (C/W)Bakersfield CondorsAHL4224123AHL39.9
Klim Kostin (LW/RW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL92240.4415-4AHL17.5
Shane Lachance (LW)Youngstown PhantomsUSHL583220520.94713USHL19.9
Raphaël Lavoie (C/RW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL582419430.74419AHL29.5
Jeremias Lindewall (RW/LW)Östersunds IKHockeyAllsvenskan352460.1712-16HockeyAllsvenskan5.0
Brad Malone (C/LW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL38217190.5263AHL11.5
Tomas Mazura (C)St. Lawrence Univ.NCAA2839120.4382ECAC17.1
Greg McKegg (C/W)Bakersfield CondorsAHL65713200.31626AHL10.0
Matvei Petrov (RW/LW)North Bay BattalionOHL652766931.433231OHL37.9
Noah Philp (C)Bakersfield CondorsAHL671618340.51611AHL20.3
Patrik Puistola (RW/LW)JukuritLiiga601624400.6712-8Liiga24.8
Carter Savoie (LW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL4483110.2518-17AHL10.0
Devin Shore (C)Bakersfield CondorsAHL5235101AHL39.9
Tyler Tullio (C/RW)Bakersfield CondorsAHL601313260.43183AHL17.1
Joel Määttä (C)Univ. of VermontNCAA3677140.3918-10Hockey East12.6

Defencemen

PlayerTeamLeagueGPGATPPPGPIM+/-NHLeLeagueNHLe
Philip Broberg (D)Bakersfield CondorsAHL72240.570-2AHL22.7
Jason Demers (D)Bakersfield CondorsAHL55018180.3375-7AHL8.2
Vincent Desharnais (D)Bakersfield CondorsAHL130220.15191AHL3.7
Cam Dineen (D)totals66641470.7114-8AHL28.3
Philip Kemp (D)Bakersfield CondorsAHL68613190.28499AHL11.2
Luca Münzenberger (D)Univ. of VermontNCAA280550.1824-9Hockey East5.8
Markus Niemeläinen (D)Bakersfield CondorsAHL282570.25161AHL10.0
Maximus Wanner (D)Moose Jaw WarriorsWHL44822300.684523WHL16.8
Nikita Yevseyev (D)Ak Bars KazanKHL485270.15117KHL9.9

Goalies

PlayerTeamLeagueGPGAASV%
Olivier RodrigueBakersfield CondorsAHL282.80.91
Calvin PickardBakersfield CondorsAHL362.80.909
Samuel JonssonRögle BK J20J20 Nationell272.650.902
Ryan Fantitotals40
Fort Wayne KometsECHL323.390.896

Gregory Babinski

twitter: @axiomsofice

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