A note about the criteria of to be included in this countdown. The player must be 25 or younger when the season starts and he must have played less than 50 NHL games. As such, a player like Noah Philp is excluded because of his age.
Beau Akey
Position: Right Defence
Shoots: Right
Nationality: Canada
Date of Birth: February 11, 2005
Drafted: 2nd round, 2023
Height: 6’0″ / 183 cm
Weight: 174 lbs / 79 kg
Ranking last year: 3rd
I am certain this ranking will have some readers convinced that my judgement, if not my intelligence, should be questioned. Beau Akey played 14 games this past season. He underwent surgery for a dislocated shoulder that, according to Akey himself, had given him trouble for some time. The surgery ended his season and left the 2nd round pick in 2023 behind in his development curve.
So, how can I grade him this high in terms of Oiler prospects? Some of that is certainly the weakness in prospect depth in the organization, but most of it relates to the fact this is a very good prospect. When I hear people talk about what “type” of player would be ideal to partner with Darnell Nurse, I think of Beau Akey. Now, don’t get all yelling and screaming at me — I don’t mean tomorrow or even the following year. What I mean is this is a player who has really great feet and hands, making him an excellent offensively gifted defence prospect.
Watch this example of Akey’s offensive instincts and his feet and hands.
Here is another example of his offensive skills. In this case, it is his passing skills. He has great vision and deception in his passing game. In fact, his passing skills would rank quite highly amongst Oilers defencemen, not just prospects.
Finally, watch his lateral mobility and understanding of how a change of direction can open up lanes and angles for him and his teammates. This is the part of his game that Oiler fans will really enjoy when he arrives.
The part of Akey’s game that will need work is defending along the walls and net front. Akey is only 6’0″ and is under 180 pounds. He needs to get more engaged physically and make life harder for the opposition in his own zone. Here is an example from early last season of what you sometimes do with Akey.
Now, I would not be surprised if some of this was related to the bad shoulder. However, Akey needs to get a stronger base to his body and then use that to get a better position on players and use his great feet and hands to shake pucks loose from the opposition.
Akey will return to junior this year and will surely play top pairing minutes on his team. Oilers fans need to see him be the first priority in all high leverage situations and succeed in them routinely. Could Akey jump straight to the NHL after this season? Doubtful, but his skills sets are exactly what the Oilers need on their second pairing for years to come.
Previous names in the countdown
- 20: Nikita Yevseyev
- 19: Bauer Berry
- 18: Albin Sundin
- 17: Brady Stonehouse
- 16: William Nicholl
- 15: James Stefan
- 14: Dalyn Wakely
- 13: Luca Munzenberger
- 12: Shane Lachance
- 11: Jayden Grubbe
- 10: Matvei Petrov
- 9: Eemil Vinni
- 8: Maxim Beryozkin
- 7: Olivier Rodrigue
- 6: Max Wanner
