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 new Bakersfield Condors signee Ethan de Jong. 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.
Condors Sign de Jong
The Condors season did end with a 2–0 playoff series loss against the Abbotsford Canucks. The Condors did well to continue to play the meaningful games down the stretch but were outclassed by the Canucks.
Since the loss, there have been some notable roster decisions, with Calvin Pickard, Olivier Rodrigue, and Dylan Holloway joining Oilers practice. The Condors also made a signing with former Quinnipiac forward Ethan de Jong, a teammate of current Oilers prospect Skyler Brind’Amour.
The signing of Brind’Amour’s college teammate may have little effect on if the centre signs with the Oilers. It should be expected that Brind’Amour becomes a free agent on August 15.
With that being said, de Jong is a good player in his own right. While Brind’Amour was known for his defensive play and his effectiveness as a net front presence, de Jong fits the profile as a skilled winger. Both were strong contributors on the champion Quinnipiac Bulldogs team.
Brind’Amour is the older of the two players, though his game might be more transferable to higher levels, de Jong is notable in his own right. He will join a number of forwards that will make their professional debuts for the Condors next season.
This and That
AHL
The second of the two Condors goals in their best of three playoff series comes from a familiar face, Raphael Lavoie. This is a good shift from the Condors who work the puck along the boards. When the Canucks try to gain possession the Condors pressure the puck, winning it back before finding Lavoie dancing down the middle alone.
This is far too much time and space to afford Lavoie, who reached a new level of play as an AHL scorer in the back half of this season. Lavoie has become a dangerous shooter, scoring from distance, on one-timers, and off the rush.
The Condors other goal of the playoffs came from James Hamblin, who finds the loose puck in the slot during the Condors power play.
There was some hype for Hamblin coming into the season, but Hamblin was not able to parlay that into an NHL spot. His talent as a scorer does not suggest much offensive upside at the NHL level, but Hamblin is a smart enough player that he still has a chance to work his way into consideration for a depth checking role for the Oilers in the next season or two.
WHL
Jake Chiasson and the Saskatoon Blades have advanced to the third round of the WHL playoffs. Down 3–0 in the series, the Blades won four straight games to defeat the Red Deer Rebels. For Chiasson and the Blades, the chance to continue playing will be invaluable.
Chiasson’s point totals have not been astronomical through this playoff run, with four goals and nine points through 14 games, but he has managed to score some big goals along the way. This matches the Blades performance overall, as it hasn’t been pretty with the team trailing lower seeded teams in both their series wins so far.
OHL
Matvey Petrov and the North Bay Battalion have advanced to the OHL’s Conference Finals after a Game 7 win against the Barrie Colts.
Petrov has had an interesting playoffs. On one hand his goal scoring pace is way down from his usual rate in the OHL. Petrov’s depressed goal totals have even led to speculations of a potential upper body injury.
There are, however, some positives to how the post season has gone for Petrov. He has racked up a large number of assists, building his resume as a playmaker. With two goals and 16 assists through 13 games he is still producing at a high level—tied for the lead on his team with 18 points, good for second in the OHL playoffs.
Two of Petrov’s three playoff goals came this past week, a welcome sight from the winger known for his shooting talent.
Petrov starts the play with a pass to the point, sneaking down into the zone. As the puck works its way around, Petrov is ready for the shot, even from the right angle. Petrov makes no mistake with the one-timer.
On this play, the Battalion are able to win the draw back to Petrov, who fires a wrister that beats the goalie clean from a standstill.
Both these goals show that Petrov has not lost his shooting talent overnight, and from a long term perspective it should be counted on as one of his strengths as a player. It has been encouraging to see some strides as a playmaker from Petrov this season.
Graduating from Junior at the end of this season, Petrov is likely bound for the AHL. This will be a significant jump for Petrov and we will see if his scoring can translate to the professional ranks.
Naysayers might point to most of Petrov’s success coming from the power play, or from the perimeter. This might make it difficult for Petrov to continue scoring in the same manner he has grown accustomed to, but time will tell how Petrov fares, likely in the AHL next season.
USHL
The USHL playoffs are about to get underway, and Shane Lachance and the Youngstown Phantoms hold a bye as the second seed in the league’s Eastern Conference.
The USNTDP team is always strong, as are the top seeded Chicago Steel, and the Phantoms will have their work cut out for them.
Lachance, the Phantoms captain, will move on to Boston University next season. It will be interesting to track how Lachance’s production translates to the NCAA, where a strong freshman season would see the 6’5” winger shoot up the Oilers’ prospect rankings. Lachance scored at a rate quite similar to linemate William Whitelaw, bound for the Wisconsin Badgers next season, and likely a top 50 draft selection in this year’s NHL entry draft.
KHL
Nikita Yevseyev’s strong season continues, but hangs on by a perilous thread. Yevseyev’s Ak Bars Kazan team is down 3–2 in the Gagarin Cup Final to CSKA Moscow. It has been a great run for the KHL’s top seeded western conference team in Kazan, just as it has for the Oiler prospect who has logged a regular role on their blueline.
This is a tough play for Yevseyev, as he does not see the opposing player and is unable to brace himself. It is a strange play that is hard to fault Yevseyev much on, and the hope will be that the young defender is safely able to continue playing.
For his part, even in this clip it is clear that Yevseyev looks the part of a professional defenceman, even in his first post draft season. Yevseyev has the body type to be an effective player already, and should grow into a defensive role nicely as he matures.
Yevseyev is stepping up on this play, showing some of the assertive tendencies he has shown this season. This mentality has come through in making defensive plays, closing gaps in the neutral zone, but has been a factor on Yevseyev’s five goals this season as well.
A good season for Yevseyev next year would constitute mostly of a reprisal of his work this season. If he’s able to log regular minutes in the KHL it will be a great sign. The five regular season goals is more than enough given Yevseyev’s skill set, and equally this output would be impressive. The one step forward we should hope to see would be in assists. Yevseyev has shown some passing ability, but this should be the foremost area of growth fans should be looking for.
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 37.9 (1)
- Dylan Holloway 35.5 (2)
- Maxim Beryozkin 33.0 (3)
- Raphael Lavoie 31.1 (4)
- Patrik Puistola 24.8 (5)
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 | 55 | 18 | 13 | 31 | 0.56 | 40 | -5 | AHL | 22.3 |
| Tyler Benson (LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 40 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 0.55 | 29 | -6 | AHL | 21.9 |
| Carl Berglund (C) | totals | 41 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 0.66 | 12 | 7 | Hockey East | 24.2 | |
| Maxim Beryozkin (RW/LW) | totals | 61 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 0.52 | 22 | 7 | KHL | 33.0 | |
| Jake Chiasson (C/RW) | totals | 70 | 20 | 38 | 58 | 0.83 | 26 | -15 | WHL | 20.6 | |
| Maxim Denezhkin (C) | totals | 39 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 0.54 | 90 | 1 | VHL | 17.8 | |
| Seth Griffith (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 69 | 17 | 41 | 58 | 0.84 | 32 | -12 | AHL | 33.5 |
| James Hamblin (LW/C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 49 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 0.53 | 14 | -1 | AHL | 21.1 |
| Dylan Holloway (LW/C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 9 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0.89 | 4 | 1 | AHL | 35.5 |
| 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 | 58 | 32 | 20 | 52 | 0.9 | 47 | 13 | USHL | 19.9 |
| Raphaël Lavoie (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 58 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 0.74 | 41 | 9 | AHL | 29.5 |
| Jeremias Lindewall (RW/LW) | Östersunds IK | HockeyAllsvenskan | 35 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.17 | 12 | -16 | HockeyAllsvenskan | 5.0 |
| Brad Malone (C/LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 38 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 0.5 | 26 | 3 | AHL | 11.5 |
| Tomas Mazura (C) | St. Lawrence Univ. | NCAA | 28 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0.43 | 8 | 2 | ECAC | 17.1 |
| Greg McKegg (C/W) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 65 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 0.31 | 62 | 6 | AHL | 10.0 |
| Matvei Petrov (RW/LW) | North Bay Battalion | OHL | 65 | 27 | 66 | 93 | 1.43 | 32 | 31 | OHL | 37.9 |
| Noah Philp (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 67 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 0.51 | 61 | 1 | AHL | 20.3 |
| Patrik Puistola (RW/LW) | Jukurit | Liiga | 60 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 0.67 | 12 | -8 | Liiga | 24.8 |
| Carter Savoie (LW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 44 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.25 | 18 | -17 | AHL | 10.0 |
| Devin Shore (C) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | AHL | 39.9 |
| Tyler Tullio (C/RW) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 60 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 0.43 | 18 | 3 | AHL | 17.1 |
| Joel Määttä (C) | Univ. of Vermont | NCAA | 36 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0.39 | 18 | -10 | Hockey East | 12.6 |
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 |
| Jason Demers (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 55 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 0.33 | 75 | -7 | AHL | 8.2 |
| Vincent Desharnais (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.15 | 19 | 1 | AHL | 3.7 |
| Cam Dineen (D) | totals | 66 | 6 | 41 | 47 | 0.71 | 14 | -8 | AHL | 28.3 | |
| Philip Kemp (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 68 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 0.28 | 49 | 9 | AHL | 11.2 |
| Luca Münzenberger (D) | Univ. of Vermont | NCAA | 28 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.18 | 24 | -9 | Hockey East | 5.8 |
| Markus Niemeläinen (D) | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 28 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.25 | 16 | 1 | AHL | 10.0 |
| 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 | 48 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0.15 | 11 | 7 | KHL | 9.9 |
Goalies
| Player | Team | League | GP | GAA | SV% |
| Olivier Rodrigue | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 28 | 2.8 | 0.91 |
| Calvin Pickard | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 36 | 2.8 | 0.909 |
| Samuel Jonsson | Rögle BK J20 | J20 Nationell | 27 | 2.65 | 0.902 |
| Ryan Fanti | totals | 40 | |||
| Fort Wayne Komets | ECHL | 32 | 3.39 | 0.896 |
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