Is this what I think it is? A roster for a hockey game? One that’s happening today? It absolutely is!
Hockey is back!
After a short summer break, the puck is about to hit the ice in Penticton for the annual Young Stars Classic featuring the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames this weekend. Each team will play three games, one against each opponent, along with a game between the hometown Penticton Vees taking on the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
Edmonton’s schedule for the weekend kicks off with a game versus the Canucks today (Friday) at 7:30pm PST. On Saturday, the first Battle of Alberta of the season will take place at 7:30pm PST. And, to close out the tournament, a game against the Jets on Monday at 11am PST.
Edmonton’s Young Stars roster
Your next question will probably be something like “who is playing for the Oilers?” Here is your answer.
Forwards
| Player | Position | Acquired |
| Carl Berglund | C | Free agent signing |
| Brayden Boehm | W | Camp invite |
| Connor Clattenburg | W | 2024 Draft (Round 5) |
| Ethan De Jong | W | AHL contract |
| Vincent Desjardins | W | Camp invite |
| Jayden Grubbe | C | Trade |
| Jesse Heslop | W | Camp invite |
| William Nicholl | C | 2024 Draft (Round 7) |
| Sam O’Reilly | C | 2024 Draft (Round 1) |
| Matvey Petrov | W | 2021 Draft (Round 6) |
| Matthew Savoie | C | Trade |
| James Stefan | W | Free agent signing |
| Brady Stonehouse | W | Free agent signing |
| Dalyn Wakely | C | 2024 Draft (Round 6) |
The forward group for the Young Stars tournament features a collection of recent draft picks and some of the Oilers’ top prospects. Savoie (#1), O’Reilly (#3), Stefan (#8), and Petrov (#10) all feature in The Oil Rig’s top ten prospect rankings from earlier this offseason.
They will be the core prospects to keep an eye on, especially with Savoie having a real chance of seeing NHL time this upcoming season. These players are the most talented on the roster and will be who the team relies on to generate offence.
Boehm and Heslop, both from Nanaimo, BC, join the team on camp invites. The former has spent his time in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers while the latter was with the Everett Silvertips. Desjardins has been in the QMJHL with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
The inclusion of Clattenburg, Wakely, Nicholl, and Desjardins show a bit of a focus within the Oilers’ prospect pool at this point. These players are all aggressive, tenacious, and possess fantastic physical play that will ideally grow within the organization and fill out the forward depth in the coming years.
Defenders
| Player | Position | Acquired |
| Beau Akey | RD | 2023 Draft (Round 2) |
| Nate Corbet | LD | Camp invite |
| Hyde Davidson | LD | Camp invite |
| Marc Lajoie | RD | Camp invite |
| Frankie Marrelli | LD | Camp invite |
| Rhys Pederson | RD | Camp invite |
| Pier-Olivier Roy | LD | Camp invite |
| Maximus Wanner | RD | 2021 Draft (Round 7) |
Perhaps a testament to the defensive depth within the Oilers’ prospect pool is this list of defenders that contains two draft picks and six camp invites. The two draft picks do happen to be in The Oil Rig’s top ten prospect list, with Akey placing second and Wanner seventh.
But the remainder of the list is all camp invites from outside of the organization. Which, on one hand, gives the team insider access to some of these prospects. Hopefully some of whom flew under the radar and can lead to some sneaky good pickups in the future for Edmonton.
Davidson (Edmonton) and Lajoie (St. Albert) are both local prospects, the former playing with the Seattle Thunderbirds and the latter having actually been a part of the Oilers organization at the end of last season after playing a game with the Bakersfield Condors on an ATO. Lajoie appears to be set to play in USports this season with the University of Alberta. Another Albertan, Pederson, plays with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL.
Offensive defender Roy joins the tournament before heading to the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, where he was traded over the offseason from the Victoriaville Tigres. While Marrelli is set to play with the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL after a successful sophomore season in juniors in which he also played in the U18 World Junior Championship.
Lastly, Nate Corbet, who was born in Germany but has been playing hockey in Alberta since at least 2019, played his rookie season with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL last season.
Goaltenders
| Player | Acquired |
| Brett Brochu | AHL contract |
| Nathaniel Day | 2023 Draft (Round 6) |
| Connor Ungar | Free agent signing |
The most recent addition to the Oilers goaltending depth is Brochu, who was signed to an AHL contract earlier this offseason. He had a decorated junior career, having the best GAA in the AHL as well as making the all-rookie team in 2019–20, winning OHL goaltender of the year, making the OHL first all-star team, and being a part of the gold medal winning World Juniors team in 2021–22, and making the OHL second all-star team in 2022–23.
Ungar was signed out of university back in the spring after he put up a 2.15 GAA and .932 SV% in his one season with Brock University.
Day has been playing his junior career with the Flint Firebirds of the OHL, where he is set to play again this season.
Who are you most excited to watch in this year’s YoungStars Tournament? Drop a comment down below!
