Edmonton Oilers Prospect Roundup: James Hamblin is ready for the NHL

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.

No turning back for Hamblin

The time has finally come for James Hamblin. He has been working his butt off through every league that he has been in and now, finally, he has reached the NHL after his cup of coffee last season. The Edmonton Oilers have found a hard working fourth line centre who can play the wing and has the offensive tools, hockey IQ, and finish to play higher up in the lineup.

It was an emotional time for Hamblin ever since he got called up to the Oilers. Hamblin is from Edmonton so scoring his first NHL goal was emotional in that aspect. But it was even more emotional on a personal aspect because he dedicated his first NHL goal to his late mother, Gina Hamblin. The late Gina Hamblin had passed away from ovarian cancer in 2017. It was a very hard effort for Hamblin to continue on with his career after this had happened. But the young man kept battling through and finally got himself onto the centre stage. After shooting the puck into the Tampa Bay Lightning’s net, he pointed to the sky and bellowed, “That’s for you Mom!” It was very emotional for him and, to be honest, for the fans as well.

Ever since then, Hamblin has continued on with his brutal forechecking in the corners that opponents do not enjoy and he capped off an 8–2 win over the Anaheim Ducks by scoring another goal top corner. Based on how Hamblin has been playing, I believe he has constructed a fully fledged fourth line for the Oilers. It has been hard for the team to find a decent fourth line centre who can keep up a strong forecheck in the offensive zone. Ever since he has been called up, Hamblin has not been out of the lineup once and his line has been getting rotated consistently with the other top three lines. It seems like Hamblin and Adam Erne have created some chemistry together and they have been menaces to the opposition.

I do not see Hamblin being taken out of the lineup anytime soon and I also think that he will have an opportunity, in the future, to perhaps have a gander at third line time when injuries strike the Oilers. Nevertheless, it seems Edmonton has found themselves a diamond in the rough.

Prospect of the Week

Raphael Lavoie

All Prospects

Standouts

To keep up-to-date on the happenings of the rest of the Oilers’ prospects, here’s a quick run through of news and notes on the rest of the prospect pool.

AHL

Matvey Petrov had a decent week for the Bakersfield Condors this week. It hasn’t been amazing for the Oilers rookies in the AHL right now but Petrov has been getting more ice time and he scored his first goal of the season. He also sealed the latest win for the Condors in the shootout by scoring on a rocket. Hopefully this will give him more confidence.

Xavier Bourgault has started the season very well has he had gone a PPG but, unfortunately, when Raphael Lavoie got called up to the NHL, Bourgault lost a bit of his confidence. He hasn’t recovered from it fully as he is still suck on one goal and 4 assists. He is also a -1 right now so his defensive game hasn’t been the best either. It was a rough patch for him so hopefully he will battle out of this quickly.

Consistent, consistent, consistent. That is what Max Wanner has been continually bringing to the Condors every game right now. He is not producing heavily in terms of points (1 goal and 1 assist) but he is bringing a solid and consistent effort every single time he steps onto the ice. Head Coach Colin Chaulk is able to rely on Wanner to play the top pair with Cam Dineen which is so great to see. I have faith in Wanner to continue bringing it each game. I cannot wait to see what he will have in store for the Oilers next.

OHL

The Oilers top defensive prospect, next to Max Wanner, Beau Akey has nine points in his last 14 games and he is bringing a steady effort each time he is on the ice. I am not watching Akey on just his point production. I am watching him on his defensive play and how he works in the corners with teammates, along with against the opposition.

After a slow start to the season, Nathaniel Day has gotten a bit more consistency in his game and that has led to more consistency in the Flint Firebirds game. It does not seem like Flint will be heading anywhere any time soon, but Day can still bring consistency to his game and improve upon that even though his team does not seem like they will be improving in the winning aspect.

NCAA

With three goals and 13 assists in 13 games, Max Copponi has been tearing the league apart so far and it doesn’t look like he will slow down yet. I really think the Oilers are in for a gem. Copponi is great all over the ice and he has pretty much shown everyone that he is just way too good for the NCAA now.

Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire