Highly competitive teams often have one thing in common: poor prospect pools.
And for the Edmonton Oilers, they’re no different, as Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis ranked their group of up-and-coming players the fourth-worst in the NHL. The only teams with worse pools were the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Oilers group is led by players like Matthew Savoie, Beau Akey and Sam O’Reilly, all of whom have entered the orgainzation in the last year. Savoie joined by way of a trade this summer with the Buffalo Sabres in which Ryan McLeod and Ty Tullio were sent back, while O’Reilly was also one of the most recent additions, seeing the Oilers move up into the end of the first round of the draft to select him 32nd overall.
Meanwhile, Akey was drafted by the team in the second round of the 2023 draft, missing most of last season with a shoulder injury.
Here’s what Ellis wrote about Edmonton’s group of players:
29. Edmonton Oilers (2023: 25th)
Notable prospects: Matthew Savoie, Beau Akey, Sam O’Reilly
The Oilers are built to win now, and they’re willing to move on from the future to make it work. But I did love the acquisitions of Matthew Savoie and Roby Järventie, as well as moving up to take Sam O’Reilly at the 2024 NHL Draft. If there’s anything this system has, it’s size. Savoie isn’t included, but Raphael Lavoie, Maxim Berezkin and Järventie give the team some beef potential in the bottom six, while Max Wanner could be a smaller replacement for Vincent Desharnais one day. But beyond Savoie, and maybe O’Reilly, this Oilers pipeline doesn’t have much going for it. In contrast to the early 2010s, Oilers fans won’t complain.
When it comes to the strengths of the Oilers system, it’s size, Ellis highlighted in a different piece breaking down the teams prospects. Despite that, Ellis doesn’t see any “impact, everyday player(s)” for the team beyond that of Savoie, but rather a group of potential support players in the future.
That’s not the worst thing for the Oilers, who have more than enough high-end talent on their roster now and for years. Having players that can fill out the bottom-six of their forward group and depth pieces on the blueline will be key for the next few years.
Here’s where the other Pacific Division teams ranked on Ellis’ list:
- San Jose Sharks, 1st
- Anaheim Ducks, 3rd
- Seattle Kraken, 9th
- Calgary Flames, 15th
- Vancouver Canucks, 20th
- Los Angeles Kings, 22nd
- Vegas Golden Knights, 28th
