The NHL regular season for the Edmonton Oilers begins Wednesday, so the long wait is finally over. Prospects-wise the NCAA has also started up, meaning even more hockey within the system is being played by Oilers prospects.
Let’s catch up on everything that has happened in the past week.
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 to go along with a feature one one standout prospect in Edmonton’s system. We have defined a prospect as a skater who has played fewer than 65 NHL games, and is born 2001 or earlier.
The players in the NCAA
This season the Oilers have five prospects, all with relatively high potential playing in the American NCAA—those being Paul Fischer, Bauer Berry, Aidan Park, Asher Barnett, and Dalyn Wakely. All of which have potential to wear an Oilers jersey at some point in the near future.
This is also a crucial point in the NHL developmental pipeline as a whole, because now that the option presents itself a large portion of top end CHL prospects are jumping to the NCAA earlier than their over age season. This could lead to a more of a college-heavy drafting focus for Oilers scouts in the future.
This new norm in the NCAA, means that the quality of competition has improved, and could produce a more complete development pathway both on and off the ice than in the past.
For the 2025–26 campaign Oilers fans should pay close attention to the seventh ranked (ESPN) University of Michigan, which has two Oilers draftees: Asher Barnett, and Aidan Park in the blue and gold this year.
Michigan does sport 12 NHL draftees and a handful of first-rounders, so both freshmen will have to fight for their ice-time this year.
Dalyn Wakely makes the move to the NCAA after a successful OHL Career with North Bay and Barrie. Wakely joins UMass Lowell as the sole NHL drafted forward on the team, and looks to play a key part in their offence this season.
Bauer Berry has also made his NCAA debut this season, and look for the physical bruiser to play a crushing role for the 19th ranked University of Saint Thomas.
Expect Team USA blueliner, Paul Fischer, to build even more momentum entering his junior year with the University of Notre Dame. The two-way defender, continues to unlock levels to his offensive and transitional game. It’s quite possible he is a Oiler in the near future.
Edmonton Oilers prospect updates
AHL
- The Bakersfield Condors have completed their preseason with a 3–2 shootout loss to San Jose on the 4, and a 3–1 regulation loss against the Barracuda the following day as well.
- The Oilers have been shorthanded due to illness, so James Hamblin, Connor Clattenburg, Josh Samanski, Viljami Marjala, and Quinn Hutson have appeared in more NHL preseason games then expected.
- The Bakersfield roster will likely get sorted out over the next day or two, as of writing on October 6, the Condors have five goalies on their roster, including recent addition Connor Ingram.
- The Condors regular season begins October 11, against the San Jose Barracuda.
Europe
- 2025 sixth rounder, Daniel Salonen, had a mixed week, as he appeared in three games, collecting two wins and a shutout, bringing up his season totals to a .878.
- Eemil Vinni collected his second win of the season against RoKi on October 4.
NCAA
- Bauer Berry appeared in his first NCAA game for St. Thomas this past week, in a matchup against St. Cloud State University, where he finished a +1 in a 4–3 win.
- Teamates Asher Barnett and Aidan Park appeared in a couple of games this past weekend, against Mercyhurst University, where Michigan had statement wins of 11–1 on October 3, and 7–0 on the October 4. Park scored his first NCAA goal and Barnett picked up a pair of assists both in the 11–1 win.
- Wakely appeared in his first ever NCAA game against Merrimack College, where he generated two assists in 13:59 of ice. Talk about starting off strong.
WHL
- Tommy Lafreniere played the Seatte Thunderbirds on October 3 picking up an assist, and the Portland Winterhawks on the October 4 where he picked up his second goal of the season.
- David Lewandowski had a strong week with his Blades picking up two wins. He picked up an assist at home, against the Red Deer Rebels on October 3. The big German then had an impressive five point outing against the Moose Jaw Warriors on October 5.
Russia
- Maxim Beryozkin had another quiet week, despite averaging 16–17 minutes per game. He appeared in three games, and posted an assist in his final game of the week against SKA St. Petersburg. Beryozkin remains a +5 on the season.
- Despite not appearing on the scoresheet, Nikita Yevseyev continues to carve out a role in Amur Khabarovsk’s top four/top six, and looks to be a relied upon defender for head coach, Alexander Galchenyuk.
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxim Beryozkin | RW | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0.31 | 4 | Yaroslavl Lokomitiv | KHL |
| Connor Clattenburg | LW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Jayden Grubbe | C/RW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Petr Hauser | RW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.13 | 4 | HC Vitkovice | Czechia |
| Isaac Howard | LW/RW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Edmonton Oilers | NHL |
| Quinn Hutson | RW/LW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Roby Järventie | LW/RW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Tommy Lafreniere | RW/C | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.75 | 2 | Kamloops Blazers | WHL |
| David Lewandowski | LW | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2.00 | 6 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL |
| Viljami Marjala | LW/C | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| William Nicholl | C/LW | – | – | – | – | – | – | London Knights | OHL |
| Aidan Park | C | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.50 | 2 | University of Michigan | NCAA |
| Matvei Petrov | LW/RW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Josh Samanski | C/LW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Matthew Savoie | C/W | – | – | – | – | – | – | Edmonton Oilers | AHL |
| James Stefan | RW/LW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Brady Stonehouse | RW/LW | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Dalyn Wakely | C | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 | UMass-Lowell | NCAA |
Defence
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beau Akey | RD | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Asher Barnett | LD | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.00 | 0 | University of Michigan | NCAA |
| Bauer Berry | LD | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | University of St. Thomas | NCAA |
| Damien Carfagna | LD | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Paul Fischer | LD | – | – | – | – | – | – | University of Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Albin Sundin | RD | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.11 | 6 | Timra IK | SHL |
| Nikita Yevseyev | LD | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.45 | 12 | Amur Khabarovsk | KHL |
Goaltenders
| Player | GP | GAA | SV% | Record | SO | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel Day | – | – | – | – | – | Fort Wayne Komets | ECHL |
| Samuel Jonsson | – | – | – | – | – | Bakersfield Condors | AHL |
| Connor Ungar | – | – | – | – | – | Fort Wayne Komets | ECHL |
| Daniel Salonen | 9 | 2.58 | .878 | 4–3–1 | 2 | Lukko | Liiga |
| Eemil Vinni | 4 | 3.22 | .865 | 2-2-1 | 0 | HIFK U20 | U20 SM-sarja |
