Edmonton Oilers Prospects Roundup: A dependable defender in the making with Damien Carfagna

With European regular seasons wrapping up over the next couple of weeks, expect to see extra intensity in the Edmonton Oilers prospects playing in the Scandinavian, European, or Russian leagues. With the reassignments of Andrew Mangiapane, Calvin Pickard, and Alec Regula, there will certainly be more veteran leadership in Bakersfield.

Let’s take a look at the past week within the Edmonton Oilers system.

Welcome to the TOR Edmonton Oilers prospect update. We have defined a prospect as a skater who has played fewer than 65 NHL games and was born in 2001 or later.

Damien Carfagna, Defence, Bakersfield Condors, AHL

Carfagna was one of the flurry of NCAA signings that the Oilers completed near the end of last season. The 2002-born undrafted NCAA product initially played with the University of New Hampshire in the 2022–23 campaign before transferring to Ohio State for the following two seasons.

Across three seasons in the NCAA, the 6’0” defender accumulated 50 points in 107 games. In his college career, Carfagna also unlocked a more two-way transitional game that complemented his defensive structure and responsibility, despite initially entering the league known more for his defensive upside.

Carfagna’s season so far

Carfagna has carved out a steady role for himself on the Condors’ blueline, and largely plays in a top-four second pairing role. He averages 20:52 of TOI, and is a consistent member on both special teams units.

Carfagna remains a solid three-zone defender and has transitioned his NCAA game to the AHL quite nicely with good hockey sense, puck skills, and skating. Carfagna has also developed a consistent compete level in his latest season as he is always engaging in plays, and shows good hustle throughout.

The former Ohio State defender’s in-zone play is more consistent as the season has gone on, demonstrating more effective decision-making, tie-ups, and play reads. Carfagna has steadied in terms of defensive responsibility and instincts with better risk/reward processing, without sacrificing any of his pace generation.

Offensively, the defender also regularly employs offensive instincts, through activations, aggressive positioning, and play-driving, which is further aided by the likes of Quinn Hutson and Viljami Marjala.

Expectations of Carfagna

The defender is more of a depth insurance policy for the Oilers. Expect the American to compete for a spot with the Oilers at their next training camp, and if he does make the team, it would likely be as a sixth or seventh defender.

Edmonton Oilers prospect updates

AHL

• The Condors had middling results this past week. The AHL affiliate went 1–1–1 this past week, collecting a 3–2 overtime win against Colorado on February 25, a 3–2 shootout lost to Coachella on the 28th, and then a 4–2 loss to Ontario on March 1.
• The Condors have slipped to fouth in the AHL’s Pacific Division now with a 28–17–9 record, which is good for 65 points on the 2025–26 campaign so far.
• Samuel Poulin has adjusted to his new club and has posted 16 points across his 31 games with the Condors since the trade from Pittsburgh in December.
• Matthew Savoie was recalled to the Oilers after a short one game stint during the Olympic break on the 25th. Alec Regula and longtime NHL forward Andrew Mangiapane were assigned to the Condors after clearing waivers on March 2.
• Forwards Josh Samanski and Isaac Howard have been called up to the Oilers on March 2.

ECHL

• The Fort Wayne Komets had a stellar week, beating the Wheeling Nailers on three separate occasions (February 25, 28, and March 1), and dropping a single game to the Cyclones on the 27th.
• These results improve the Komets’ record to 32–14–8, which keeps the club first in the ECHL’s Central Division.
• Oilers Goaltending prospect Samuel Jonsson has really turned around his season and has discovered some clutch factor recently, improving his save percentage to .911 from a sub-.900 mark a couple of weeks earlier.
• Defender Cole Beamin has left the Fort Wayne Komets, after being traded to the South Carolina Stingrays on the 26th.

Europe

• Goaltending prospect Emill Vinni has been a brick wall since his loan to Ketterä on February 14. In his four games with the new club, he has gone 2–1–1, posting a .951 save percentage and a low 1.23 GAA. With their regular season now finished, expect Vinni to get some playoff action against the 6th-seeded RoKi.
• Forward prospect Petr Hauser has been called back up to the top Czech league, with HC Vitkovice, and played in three games this past week.

NCAA

• 2024 seventh-round defender, Bauer Berry, played at Bemidji State University on the 27th and 28th. In the first game, the physical bruiser scored St. Thomas’s only goal of the game. The high-physicality, compete-level defender has shown steady growth in his freshman season.
• Michigan played the University of Minnesota on the 27th and 28th. Aiden Park and Asher Barnett played in both games. Barnett had just his third multi-point game of the season in the latter matchup. Barnett has been a quietly solid shutdown defender and sneaky offensive finisher for Michigan this season.

OHL

• Despite the London Knights only putting up six goals across their three games this past week, Oilers prospect William Nicholl still found the scoresheet twice. Since the 2024 seventh-rounder’s returned, it has been a rocky, up-and-down road for the Oilers draftee as the Knights have gone into partial tank mode.

WHL

• It was a less busy week for the Saskatoon Blades, as David Lewandowski played two games and posted an assist in his first game against Penticton on the 25th. The big German also suited up for a game against Prince George, where the Blades got shut out 4–0 on the 27th.
• 2025 third-rounder, Tommy Lafreniere played a game against the Everett Silvertips on the 27th posting his 17th multi-point game of the campaign. He then played against the Vancouver Giants the following day, where he found the scoresheet with an assist. He enters Wednesday on a two-game point streak.

Forwards

Player	Position	GP	G	A	P	P/GP	PIM	Team	League
Maxim Beryozkin	RW	57	6	17	23	0.40	14	Yaroslavl Lokomitiv	KHL
Samuel Poulin	W/C	53	14	22	36	0.68	26	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Connor Clattenburg	LW	20	2	1	3	0.15	88	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Jayden Grubbe	C/RW	27	6	11	17	0.63	19	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL
Petr Hauser	RW	39	3	6	9	0.23	14	HC Vitkovice	Czechia
Quinn Hutson	RW/LW	49	24	22	46	0.94	66	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Roby Järventie	LW/RW	47	16	17	33	0.70	24	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Tommy Lafreniere	RW/C	58	33	33	66	1.14	20	Kamloops Blazers	WHL
David Lewandowski	LW	50	15	42	57	1.14	36	Saskatoon Blades	WHL
Viljami Marjala	LW/C	54	13	31	44	0.81	14	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
William Nicholl	C/LW	24	10	9	19	0.79	14	London Knights	OHL
Aidan Park	C	34	8	7	15	0.44	28	University of Michigan	NCAA
Matvei Petrov	LW/RW	25	4	1	5	0.20	16	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Josh Samanski	C/LW	44	8	23	31	0.70	40	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
James Stefan	RW/LW	38	17	17	34	0.89	10	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL
Brady Stonehouse	RW/LW	37	6	10	16	0.43	33	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL
Dalyn Wakely	C	32	6	12	18	0.56	34	UMass-Lowell	NCAA
Isaac Howard	LW/RW	30	14	18	32	1.07	6	Bakersfield Condors	AHL

Defence

Player	Position	GP	G	A	P	P/GP	PIM	Team	League
Beau Akey	RD	35	2	8	10	0.29	18	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Asher Barnett	LD	34	5	12	17	0.50	12	University of Michigan	NCAA
Bauer Berry	LD	33	3	8	11	0.33	16	University of St. Thomas	NCAA
Damien Carfagna	LD	48	7	10	17	0.35	18	Bakersfield Condors	AHL
Paul Fischer	LD	30	5	14	19	0.63	39	University of Notre Dame	NCAA
Albin Sundin	RD	46	4	5	9	0.20	16	Timra IK	SHL
Nikita Yevseyev	LD	56	4	12	16	0.29	36	Amur Khabarovsk	KHL

Goaltenders

Player	GP	GAA	SV%	Record	SO	Team	League
Nathaniel Day	29	2.84	.889	15-8-6	3	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL
Samuel Jonsson	24	2.36	.911	15-6-2	4	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL
Connor Ungar	7	2.58	.913	1-2-3	1	Orlando Solar Bears	ECHL
Daniel Salonen	27	2.37	.887	12-7-6	3	Lukko	Liiga
Eemil Vinni	21	2.65	,896	10-6-5	2	Kettera	Mestis