Playoff season is here across North America and Europe. With that being said, lets take a look at five of the most underrated prospects within the Edmonton Oilers prospect pool from this past season.
To qualify for this list the players couldn’t have played for a World Junior team, (sorry Beau Akey and Paul Fischer), or have seen any NHL action this past season.
Samuel Jonsson (2003), G, BIK Karlskoga
The Swedish netminder has flown under the radar since going 158th overall in the 2022 draft, with few fans even knowing who he was coming into the 2024–2025 season.
Things have changed now, with Jonsson posting a stellar .922 save percentage and a 1.88 goals against average. Just to further articulate how solid of a season the young Swede had, he remained undefeated until December 27, and didn’t even collect a second loss until February 1.
Eventually winning the award for goaltender of the year, nothing gets athletes on fans radar like bling.
Jonsson continues to be a mechanically capable goalie that continuously checks up, has decent slot management, and uses his size to his advantage. If this past season is a sign of anything it’s that he continues to improve his tracking, quickness, and post-post movement ability.
Look for Jonsson to challenge for a SHL spot next season. As for his NHL ETA, well he first needs to clear the barriers of making it to the top Swedish league first.
William Nicholl (2006), F, London Knights
Few seventh-round picks show as much growth over the course of one year as Nicholl did. Much like his teammate, Sam O’Reilly, he also used his speed, energy, and physicality with a touch of soft skill to his advantage. This skill set meant he almost tripled his OHL career high of 20 points, with 57 this year.
It also helped that the young forward had a wealth of opportunity with 16:14 of TOI, and converted on 17% of his scoring chances, while showing some growth in offensive creativity, instincts, and awareness.
Nicholl was also relied on in his on zone and proved to be a larger penalty kill asset as well this season, regularly featuring in this spot for the powerhouse London Knights. This compete of a high energy motor, mixed well with his defensive responsibilities.
If this development continues the 2024 seventh rounder could find himself contending for a top-nine role at the NHL level in the next couple of years.
Damien Carfagna (2002), LD, Ohio State
The newest prospect for the pipeline, but also just as underrated. The Ohio State blueliner is a quality offensive minded transitional blueliner, who has notable offensive senses, deceptive puck skills, and a strong skating foundation.
Carfagna is constantly scanning both in offensive and defensive play, which leads to quality awareness, risk mitigation, and option idenification. What the defender did so well is he mixed these senses with higher end deception that made him generally unpredictable.
Carfagna was also a workhorse for Ohio State this past season playing a reliable 22:27 per game. Despite starting 54% of his shifts in the defensive zone, he was still able to generate 4.5 shots per game, and create 0.88 scoring chances per game with a 13% conversion rate. These are all numbers that continue to grow for the defender too.
Talk about play driving.
Not to mention with his angling, situational awareness, and acceleration he looked smooth on retrievals and pinches, which articulated itself in the form of 10 take aways per game, compared to his 4.9 give aways. He also boasted a 59% puck battle winning percentage too. Carfagna was solid on either end of the puck.
Is he undersized? Perhaps. Will he have to learn what it’s like at the pro level first? Yes. There’s time for that as the young NCAA product will likely join the Condors for the rest of the season.
Dalyn Wakely (2004), F, Barrie Colts
Few Oilers prospect articles can go without mentioning the Barrie Colts, and this one is no exception. Wakely, although having a down year in terms of point production (which still came in second on PPG of Oilers prospects), has done well to round out his game.
With 18:10 of TOI the 2024 sixth rounder became both an asset on the power play (2:40 per game), and on the penalty kill (1:55 per game). Which really explains his astronomical 85 puck touches a game (yes you read that right).
Offensively he still generated quite well with a 0.38 goals expected rate, on 2.6 scoring chances per game.
Look for the physical two way forward to find his footing at the AHL level next season, and depending on how he adjusts could dictate wether or not he sees any NHL action in the near future. It would also be unlikely that a team spends a pick on a over ager just to let him walk after one season.
Maxim Beryozkin (2001), F, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
The Russian prospect continued to impress this season. He cemented himself as a top-six forward on one of the bests team in the KHL, which just doesn’t happen everyday. At the base level the KHL product set career highs in goals, assists, and points with 42, while averaging 16:11 of TOI.
The ironic part is Beryozkin is known much more for his power forward skill set that includes quality puck skills, physicality, and compete. The fact that the forward is unlocking more offensive elements to his game is a bonus to every Oilers fan out there.
Some of these metrics include a highs in scoring chances per game (1.22, even if he only has a 9% conversion rate), dekeing frequency of 1.55 attempts per game, and 3.8 shots per game. This also helps explain his 2:15 power play time per game as well.
Puck skills also continue to remain strong with 88% accuracy, decent decision making, and pass ability.
He continues to show stronger physicality, (muscle mass, form, and board play), and a moderate compete level in terms of hustle, play engagement. One element of his play engagement that shined this past season was his risk assessment, as he routinely pervented chances against at a 1.36 chances saved per game rate.
Beryozkin still remains a strong contender to be a gritty, physical with a touch of soft skill bottom-six forward at the NHL level. It just depends on if the player wants to take a risk on North American hockey and with Oilers management.
The 2024–25 regular season was a long one, but it also had some showcase performances from some under the radar Oilers prospects. Who knows what’s in store next season for the late round pick of the Oilers organization.
Were there any other prospects we should have included? Let us know in the comments below.
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