In an unfortunate turn of events, the Edmonton Oilers have lost yet another promising young player. Raphael Lavoie, one of the team’s top prospects, has been claimed on waivers by the Vegas Golden Knights. Because we really needed more reasons to hate on the Golden Knights.
The Oilers had three other players on waivers yesterday, Olivier Rodrigue, Josh Brown, and Drake Caggiula, who all cleared and will likely be sent to the Bakersfield Condors.
What will this loss mean for the Oilers?
As of yet, Lavoie had not been given a huge opportunity in Edmonton. Last season was his debut with the Oilers, in which he played seven games and was held pointless. Though he did average just 7:17 in ice time per game, he was able to make an impact and stand out at times. It was clear he still needed to adjust and get comfortable at that level, however.
Lavoie had played strong in the preseason and had a good chance at making the team, but ultimately did not make it as he was stuck in the depth chart behind various veteran wingers.
It is a crucial season in Lavoie’s career path and development arc as he was at risk of being passed in the depth chart by fellow forward prospects, Matthew Savoie and Roby Jarventie. There was a risk of him capping out at an AHL level and not really finding a way to translate his game to the NHL.
In five seasons in the AHL, Lavoie played 202 games, scoring 71 goals and totalling 131 points. He is a scoring winger who struggled at times with consistency, but was a potent shooter when he was on the ice regardless.
This waiver claim marks yet another homegrown prospect being lost for nothing (or next-to-nothing) in a concerning trend as the Oilers already have a comfortable cushion as the oldest team in the league with a poor and shallow prospect pool.
