The Edmonton Oilers prospect pool looks to be getting a bit deeper with some standout performances this season from late round picks like William Nicholls, Shane Lachance, and Maxim Beryozkin. With most season in full swing, this is the time where playoff berths are made or broken. Lets take a look at this past week for the prospects within the Oilers system.
There is so much to get into this week- let’s dive right 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.
Oilers fan should familiarization themselves with Tomas Mazura
This is a forward that the Oilers fanbase might be unfamiliar with, and that might be due to the fact that he’s a sixth rounder from 2019. The Czech-born forward went 162nd overall in 2019, playing out of the USHS Prep leagues.
The forward then committed to play NCAA hockey with St. Lawerence University. After four seasons of NCAA hockey completed, he had a NCAA career with 0.55 points per game. This past January Mazura decided to sign in the Czech league with BK Mlada Boleslav. He made his pro debut on December 30, with BK Mlada Boleslav.
More known as a playmaker, Mazura just recently scored his first handful of pro-assists, and scored his first goal. His game is defined by quality puck skills, offensive senses, and quality transitional play.
His strengths and weaknesses
The best asset of Mazura by far is his puck skills. His on-ice vision, mixed with quality and quick option identification, and smooth(ish) passing means he is a breakout asset for his club. These puck skills aren’t only evident in transition as Mazura shows quality puck control, deke ability, and play making strengths in controlled o-zone plays too.
To go along with his quality puck skills, Mazura shows capable senses, particularly around offensive awareness, lane awareness, and high pace of play. These factors combine to make the forward a true transitional threat. The Oilers draftee also does show some back check involvement and shows hints of quality risk assessment.
The strength of this transition game is best exemplified by his high pace, quality lane creation, and lane driving in offensive transition. Particularly this pace and lane driving combo generate quality zone entries and rush chances.
Additionally the NCAA product shows good rush instincts with quality situational awareness, give and go chance generation, and odd man rush capitalization. All in all Mazura generates 1.04 scoring chances per game, which is a high rate for a first year pro level forward.
In short, Mazura knows what to do in transition through good positioning, creative puck management, and vision.
Some areas of improvement include skating, compete, and physicality.
The St. Lawrence University alum has around average skating, which makes his high pace plays slightly less of a threat. His skating displays a wide base which does give him quality stability, balance, and hit absorption aptitude.
Fundamentally though Mazura has a bit of limited knee flection which harms some of his agility and stride. This stride produces a wonky looking extension and stride recovery, which generates some more limited power. His top end speed is reached quickly, but he shows some flashes of regular acceleration.
Mazura’s compete level is around average for a playmaker. Some areas of concern include his passivity in defensive zone play, motor, and limited defensive pressure exertion. All of which hint at below average intensity, and effectiveness.
The overall lack of physicality is evident in his game as well. The hit frequency for the playmaker is limited, averaging only 0.46 hits per game, while being on the recieving end of 0.81 hits against.
Another area of physicality that the NCAA graduate struggles with is board play effectiveness, often not establishing favourable body leverage, positioning, or intensity leading to only a 48% puck battle winning percentage and poor eye test metrics as well.
Mazura also shows he needs more growth around hockey IQ due to some questionable decision making, forced plays, and some efficiency issues (passing decision, route generation, and shooting).
If the young forward proves to adjust to the pro-level well, he could be an asset for the Condors. The Oilers management has until August 15, 2025 to decide if they want to sign Mazura or not. Do you think he’s a player you’d want to see in a Oilers jersey? Let us know in the comments below.
Edmonton Oilers prospect updates
AHL
- The Bakersfield Condors went 1–2 this past week, collecting their sole win against Coachella Valley Firebirds.
- James Hamblin, Matthew Savoie, and Oliver Rodrigue continue to impress this season. Expect them to continue to take on big roles with the Condors this week.
- Ethan Keppen signed a standard player contract with the Condors on the January 22. The left winger was then immediately assigned to the Fort Wayne Komets that same day. In 26 ECHL games this season, Keppen had ten goals and 17 assists.
ECHL
- Connor Ungar appeared in one game this past week, posting a .929 SV%, stopping 26 of 28 shots he faced in a 2–0 loss to the Tahoe Knight Monsters on the 25th.
Europe
- Samuel Jonsson had a rougher week. He started one game allowing five goals on 35 shots, but still collected the 6–5 win against Kalmar HC. Expect the young goaltender to rebound next week.
- Tomas Mazura had a great week. He posted his first pro goal and three assists in three games this past week. Looks like he has started to find his groove.
NCAA
- Paul Fischer had quite the week in a pair of games against Lindenwood University, where he posted a combined three points in two games, while averaging 23 minutes of TOI per game.
- Joel Maatta found the scoresheet once with an assist in his second game against the University of New Hampshire on the 25th.
OHL
- Flint goaltender, Nathaniel Day appeared in two games this past week collecting one win. Teammate Connor Clattenburg returned from his suspension on the 24th, and posted one assist against Brampton on the 25th.
- Beau Akey had quite the game against Owen Sound posting two assists in that game alone. He appeared in three games against the Owen Sound, Brampton, and Brantford Steelheads. Wakely on the other hand posted a point per game in those three games.
- Brady Stonehouse had quite the game against Oshawa on the 24th, posting a goal, an assist, and a +1 rating. The forward appeared in a total of two games this past week.
- The London Knights duo appeared in three games this past week, with Sam O’Reilly posting a trio of assists, and Nicholls posting a pair of assists. Nicholls season performance so far might make him a draft steal if he can continue his growth.
Russia
- Denezhkin has built some trust with his coaching staff, appearing in 17:24 in his game on the 22nd against Avangard Omsk. He also found the back of the net posting his third goal of his four game point streak. His point streak ended in his second game against Lada Togliatti on the 24th.
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Berglund | C/LW | 33 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0.30 | 4 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Maxim Beryozkin | RW | 49 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 0.67 | 16 | Yaroslavl Lokomitiv | KHL |
| Connor Clattenburg | LW | 32 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 0.78 | 79 | Flint Firebirds | OHL |
| Matt Copponi | C | 23 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 0.70 | 10 | Boston University | NCAA |
| Maxim Denezhkin | C | 45 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 0.36 | 10 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | KHL |
| Jayden Grubbe | C/RW | 38 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.24 | 33 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| James Hamblin | C/LW | 17 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 0.88 | 10 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Roby Järventie | LW/RW | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.00 | 0 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Shane Lachance | LW | 23 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 0.91 | 18 | Boston University | NCAA |
| Tomas Mazura | C | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.44 | 0 | BK Mlada Boleslav | Czechia |
| Joel Määttä | C | 25 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 0.68 | 10 | University of Vermont | NCAA |
| William Nicholl | C/LW | 43 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 0.88 | 16 | London Knights | OHL |
| Sam O’Reilly | C | 43 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 1.00 | 18 | London Knights | OHL |
| Matvei Petrov | LW/RW | 31 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 0.45 | 8 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Matthew Savoie | C/W | 38 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 0.76 | 16 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| James Stefan | RW/LW | 33 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.06 | 8 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Brady Stonehouse | RW/LW | 25 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0.56 | 22 | Peterborough Petes | OHL |
| Dalyn Wakely | C | 37 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 1.08 | 32 | Barrie Colts | OHL |
| Cameron Wright | RW/C | 36 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 0.42 | 54 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Jacob Perreault | RW | 25 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0.40 | 31 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
Defence
| Player | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beau Akey | 34 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 0.68 | 24 | Barrie Colts | OHL |
| Bauer Berry | 35 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.06 | 14 | Muskegon Lumberjacks | USHL |
| Paul Fischer | 24 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 0.63 | 10 | University of Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Philip Kemp | 38 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0.21 | 28 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Luca Münzenberger | 23 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0.48 | 10 | University of Vermont | NCAA |
| Albin Sundin | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Frölunda HC | SHL |
| Maximus Wanner | 21 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.10 | 28 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Nikita Yevseyev | 34 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.06 | 2 | Ak Bars Kazan | KHL |
| Robbie Attard | 32 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0.25 | 40 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
Goaltenders
| Player | GP | GAA | SV% | Record | SO | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel Day | 40 | 3.19 | .885 | 17-16-4 | 2 | Flint Firebirds | OHL |
| Samuel Jonsson | 17 | 1.78 | .925 | 15-1-0 | 5 | BIK Karlskoga | HockeyAllsvenskan |
| Olivier Rodrigue | 25 | 2.82 | .910 | 13-9-3 | 1 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Connor Ungar | 19 | 2.83 | .901 | 12-7-0 | 1 | Fort Wayne Comets | ECHL |
| Eemil Vinni | 7 | 2.02 | .910 | 4-3-0 | 0 | HIFK U20 | U20 SM-sarja |
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