Welcome to the annual Oil Rig Prospect Rankings. Now that the 2024 NHL Draft is done, we have a good sense of who will be in the team’s prospect pool as they go into the 2024–25 season.
Our team has voted on their top-10 prospects going into the season, and have given out two honourable mention votes. In total, 20 prospects received at least one vote, but only six prospects were consensus selections from the entire team of writers.
Over the coming weeks, we will share our full rankings but for today, to kick things off, let’s take a look at the honourable mentions this year. Both honourable mentions this year are overage picks who put up really good numbers this season.
Honourable Mention 1: Dalyn Wakely
Taking the first of two honourable mention spots this year is Dalyn Wakely. The 2024 sixth-round draft pick earned three honourable mention votes, one tenth place vote, and was left off of only one ballot.
Drafted as a double overager, Wakely put up 104 points in the OHL with the North Bay Battalions while playing on one of the top lines in the CHL. While his two linemates were undoubtedly better than him, Wakely was clearly noticeable as the player creating space and allowing his more skilled linemates more room to generate chances.
The challenge with Wakely is can he be as good at the next level while playing in a smaller role with less good linemates? He will likely be in a different league next year as he goes into his D+3 season, and it will quickly become clear if the Oilers have a player in him or whether he ends up being organizational depth in the AHL or ECHL.
Honourable mention 2: Matt Copponi
Just like Wakely, Matt Copponi was an overage draft pick when the Oilers took him with their seventh-round pick. However, he blossomed this year in his third season in the NCAA with Merrimack College, putting up 32 points in 30 games. This earned him votes on three ballots: a fourth, a tenth, and an honourable mention vote. Him not being included on two ballots pushed him down to an honourable mention spot.
The good news is that Copponi led his team in points this year, but the vast majority of those points were assists. His scoring this season was cut in half from 14 the previous season to just seven this year. All this while recording just 66 shots, down by almost a third.
However, putting up more than a point-per-game in the NCAA is no laughing matter. Copponi has entered the transfer portal and will play for Boston University next season. The Terriers are a strong team and how Coppni does next season is going to be interesting.
There is a lot of potential here, but what he develops into is going to be interesting
What’s next for the two prospects?
Both are going to need more time before they are ready to be considered NHL-bound, but the potential is very much there. To put up a point-per-game in the NCAA or over 100 points in the OHL is no small feat, and even though both of those numbers should have asterisks next to them, they point to more potential than meets the eye. Whether you think they are or they are not NHLers, there is promise in both players and both are worth watching going into next season.
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