It is the time of year when most minor pro and junior teams have reached or about to reach the midway point of their season. I thought it would be a good time to have a review of the Edmonton Oiler prospects year to date. We will focus on the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-1-forward-matthew-savoie">top twenty prospects</a> that were done last summer, starting in reverse order, and provide comments on other notable prospects.
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<h1>Nikita Yevseyev (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/14/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-20-nikita-yevseyev/">#20</a>)</h1>
Nikita Yevseyev has easily one of the most bizarre development profiles in some time for the Edmonton Oilers.

Yevseyev is a strong skating left-shot defenceman who is playing in Russia. After <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-select-d-nikita-yevseyev-190th-overall">being drafted in 2022</a>, Yevseyev made the jump to the KHL and put up <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2023/07/30/the-edmonton-oilers-prospect-report-nikita-yevseyev-2022-23-season-review/">incredibly good numbers</a> as an 18-year-old scoring seven points in 48 regular season games with four more points in 22 playoff games. Then the KHL happened.

This is not a young players league and it is not a league that takes a lot of pushback from young players and this is exactly what happened to Yevseyev. Since his rookie season, Yevseyev has played a total of 52 more KHL games in two seasons. It was so bad, Yevseyev filed a lawsuit against his team and this has not endeared him to the organization. The young man will still be 20 years old when his contract expires in the KHL, which makes him intriguing. He's a good, but not great prospect at this time, so I am uncertain whether the Oilers would make a play to have him come over.

There is no question he has AHL size, skating and defending ability. However, it is simply too murky to get a strong read on this player at this time. The only encouraging sign is that Yevseyev is back playing 10 minutes per night in a 6/7 role with AK Bars in the KHL. The more games he can play down the stretch, the better for Oilers management to get an understanding of this player.
<h1>Bauer Berry (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-19-bauer-berry">#19</a>)</h1>
Berry was another interesting pick. Berry is a big left-shot defenceman who is playing in the USHL with Muskegon after being an <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-select-defenceman-bauer-berry-218th-overall-in-the-nhl-draft">Oilers seventh-round pick</a> this year. He had 14 points in his rookie season in the USHL. Although the calling card is as a defensive defenceman, I thought maybe there was a little more offence to his game. Regrettably, that has not shown itself this season with Berry only accumulating two points year to date. Berry is a commit to St. Thomas University so this player has time to develop for the Oilers.
<h1>Albin Sundin (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-18-albin-sundin">#18</a>)</h1>
Sundin was also an <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-18-albin-sundin">overage draft pick by the Oilers in 2024</a>. Sundin is a very smooth skating right-shot Swedish defenceman who played 18 games in the SHL with most of his time with the U20 Frolunda team. It was hoped that Sundin would make the jump full-time to the SHL this season, but that did not work. Sundin has played equal time in the SHL and Alsvensken, which is a league below. He has registered no points in 17 games in the SHL and 9 points in the same amount of games in the Alsvensken.
<h1>Brady Stonehouse (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-17-brady-stonehouse">#17</a>)</h1>
Stonehouse was a player who was also an<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-sign-forward-brady-stonehouse-to-entry-level-contract"> overage free agent signing</a> coming off a very strong prospects tournament in Kelowna in 2023. Stonehouse had a below-average year after signing failing to replicate his point totals from the prior season (.67 pts/g v. .84 pts/g). Stonehouse had shoulder surgery in the off-season which gave me some thought that he wasn't healthy for a portion of the season.

However, this year has not been better. Stonehouse has tallied only 14 points in 25 games as a 20-year-old. He even was <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-prospect-brady-stonehouse-traded-to-ohl-peterborough">dealt to the Peterborough Petes mid-seaso</a>n, which is unusual given Peterborough is last in its division behind his former team, Ottawa.

Stonehouse will turn professional after this season and his scoring ability and motor skills are something I believed could translate professionally. However, his last half season of junior will need to show significant improvement to give me confidence in my forecast.
<h1>William Nicholl (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/23/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-16-william-nicholl/">#16</a>)</h1>
This was easily <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-prospect-report-aka-the-william-nicholl-weekly-update">my favourite pick</a> by Edmonton Oilers management in this past draft. Nicholl was a very young draft eligible who was stuck down the roster on a deep London Knights team. Nicholl is a true centre who was required to play left wing most of the season because of the talent ahead of him. Only in the playoffs was Nicholl given a true shot to play centre and he succeeded in scoring eight points in 18 games after tallying only 20 points in 65 games in the regular season.

Coming into this season the question was how much would Nicholl move up with graduations. It didn't start promising when all of Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey and Kasper Halttunen returned to London. However, that didn't deter Nicholl.

He started in a third-line centre role with some penalty-killing duties. He has moved up to second-line centre on several occasions and now is getting regular penalty kill minutes as well as second powerplay work. His point totals have exploded with these additional earned responsibilities. Nicholl has 38 points in 43 games and for most of the season before a minor injury caused him to miss time he was a point-per-game player.

<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-prospect-william-nicholl-listed-among-late-round-steals-from-the-2024-nhl-draft">His high-end motor</a> has been on display all year. He combines that with a unique ability to leverage himself into good positions on the boards to be a general pest all over the ice hunting pucks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDamC-pTCTY

His defensive game is really strong and he has an excellent understanding of where he needs to be. When he gets into trouble, he has a very good recovery ability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFBfn5RYe_w

What has jumped off the page this year has been his offensive ability. Nicholl flashed it some as a draft-eligible, but this year it has been consistent from game to game. His confidence inside the zone with the puck has been very notable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x65Wpd2J9Ac

The combination of this newfound confidence with the puck and his skating has turned him into a 200-foot threat on most shifts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTGhFCzw0PI

The most impressive part of this very good draft plus one season is Nicholl has scored all but four of his points at even strength. He is a true 5v5 threat and that will carry him a long way in his hockey future.
<h1>James Stefan (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/24/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-15-james-stefan/">#15</a>)</h1>
Another strategy employed by the Oilers this year was to sign overage junior free agents. <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/03/24/a-deep-dive-into-james-stefan-the-newest-edmonton-oilers-prospect/">James Stefan</a> came into the fold with the Oilers last spring coming off a very strong 20-year-old season with the Portland Winterhawks. Stefan, the son of former NHLer, Patrick, record a 50-goal season on his way to amassing 101 points in his final junior year.

The challenge for Stefan turning professional was that he's a smaller player who doesn't have much explosiveness to his skating and this has shown up frequently this year in Bakersfield. Stefan often looks a step behind the play which is in part due to lack of experience, but also his footspeed. He is also too easy to defend against because of his stature.

Both of these will require a concerted effort in the off-season to improve his chances at success professionally. One thing that is for certain is Stefan has a pro shot. Watch this goal from distance that he scored earlier this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21MRr1SX_wg

The release is quick and the shot is hard and accurate. If he can get some success on his skating and fitness, he does have some skillsets that can work professionally.
<h1>Dalyn Wakely (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/26/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-14-dalyn-wakely/">#14</a>)</h1>
Wakely was one of a trio of players the Oilers drafted this past summer who were overagers. In Wakely's case, he was a draft plus two-year eligible player. What made Wakely interesting was his breakout offensive season in North Bay as he scored 1.57 points per game in his 2023/24 season after averaging .62 points per game in his entire OHL career before that season. Wakely is a rugged right-shot centre who simply exploded offensively on a very talented line in North Bay. Ultimately, the package of a right-shot centre with toughness and scoring was too much to pass on for Edmonton taking him in the sixth-round of the draft.

The question was whether Wakely could repeat his season and establish this as part of his game as opposed to one season. To date, the season has been a decent success for Wakely, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/10/oilers-prospect-dalyn-wakely-traded-to-ohls-barrie-colts/">who found himself traded to the Barrie Colts</a>.

He is averaging 1.1 points per game in a stronger team in Barrie this season. He does see a lot of specialty team work, but is not always called upon first, which is a change from last year. Wakely still displays a lot of high skill and is scoring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJLOjMhscAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfe8pzy4HAw

Wakely will turn professional at the end of this year. He has some work to do on his pace of skating in particular with his lateral mobility and first step. However, he remains an intriguing player who should have professional success given all of his attributes.
<h1>Luca Munzenberger (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/28/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-13-luca-munzenberger/">#13</a>)</h1>
One player that should be signed after his collegiate season is Luca Munzenberger. For starters, Munzenberger is a senior who will be heading to the next phase of his career regardless. Secondly, Munzenberger is a great skating left-shot defenceman who is 6'3" and 210 lbs. This is an area of the organizational need for the Oilers.

The final reason the Oilers should sign him is this is his best offensive season by far. Munzenberger entered the year with a career-high season total of five points as a sophomore. In his senior season, Munzenberger is already up to eleven points and will certainly add to his totals in the last third of the season. Munzenberger has always had some offensive capability, but he has been caught in a program that has lacked offensive talent and systems to create offence.

Munzenberger has a legitimate wrist shot that can score from distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9z5pHSz1jg

He also has very good lateral mobility for a big man as well. He uses it effectively to create lanes for both shots and passes when on the attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I1pRe9_uCA

Make no mistake, Munzenberger will be a defence-first defender as a professional. However, he can do that and still help his team offensively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iey7m9ufY4

This is a player I feel strongly could show well as a professional. However, he doesn't have a history with this current Oiler management group. Whether he gets a contract is yet to be determined. I believe he would be an excellent addition to the Oilers organization.
<h1>Shane Lachance (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/30/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-12-shane-lachance/">#12</a>)</h1>
If I had to bet on a player who could sign with the Oilers and contribute professionally quickly it is Shane Lachance. He had an excellent rookie year with Boston University last season, but the question was whether Macklin Celebrini had zoomed his scoring totals by playing on the same line. Well, Lachance has more than removed any doubt year to date by scoring at almost a point per game clip. This compares variably to his .67 points per game last season.

Lachance is a big human being who will still be a big human being as a professional (6'5" and 225 lbs.). This size combined with a very silky set of hands makes him intriguing. Lachance can score from in tight and from distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6UquQnOu-Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAZqdAupBqI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KhUZSl8bLE

The worry with Lachance is his skating. No question it has improved dramatically since he started his collegiate career. However, he remains top-heavy in his skating and it leads to some balance issues and a lack of power on transitions. He would certainly benefit from turning professional and working with the Oilers skills group on this area. Whether the Oilers can get a U.S.-born collegiate player to sign with them is another question.
<h1>Jayden Grubbe (<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/31/edmonton-oilers-prospect-countdown-11-jayden-grubbe/">#11</a>)</h1>
Grubbe was a player I thought might take a step under the coaching staff in Bakersfield. He is their style of player in terms of commitment to defence first and a very constant strong effort on each shift. Grubbe had been good defensively this season until recently when a stretch of bad play and bad luck has seen him fishing pucks out of his own net.

However, the bigger concern is his offence. With nine points year to date, Grubbe does not project to improve over his rookie AHL season. It appears that he does have skills that could translate to scoring, but to date, it hasn’t. Grubbe continues to see a lot of work on the penalty kill and in shutdown roles, but he needs to develop some offence and improve his footwork to help his chances of playing NHL games.
<h1>Honourable mentions</h1>
<h2><a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/06/29/edmonton-oilers-select-lw-connor-clattenburg-160th-overall-at-the-nhl-draft/">Connor Clattenburg</a></h2>
No question, the player who made the most noise in the first half not on my top 20 list was Connor Clattenburg. Clattenburg was also an overage pick by the Oilers in the 2024 draft and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/12/23/edmonton-oilers-sign-connor-clattenburg-to-three-year-entry-level-contract/">has already signed an entry-level contract</a>. Clattenburg is a rough-and-tumble forward who had 29 points in 60 games last season. He certainly brings a physical element to the rink, but his offence has been very spotty in junior.

This season has been somewhat of a coming-out party for him in that regard. Clattenburg, who has missed time with injury and suspension, has recorded 25 points in 32 games this season. He certainly will pass his season totals from last season and he has displayed some offensive flair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sBFdWp2j-w

He also possesses pro-style speed that he uses very well to make plays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ox7LGBgH0

What he’s is mostly known for his creating space on the ice for teammates. His lack of fear of the physical game makes him a bit of a loose cannon, but also quite intriguing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFEAHtfx1X4&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hockeyfights.com%2F&amp;embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hockeyfights.com&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE

I am not certain what his prospect of success is like professionally, but his skating and size package along with his toughness are interesting. For those of you who are more vintage in age, I can see a lot of Kelly Buchberger in his game when plays. The question for Clattenburg is whether he can do enough offensively to be a threat on the scoreboard and not just to the opposition players. So far, he is proving the Oilers right on this bet.
<h2>Matt Copponi</h2>
Copponi was a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2023/06/29/edmonton-oilers-draft-center-matt-copponi-216th-overall/">draft pick of the Holland regime in 2023</a>. He's had a solid collegiate career with most of the time at Merrimack College in Hockey East. However, this season he moved over to Boston University to become a teammate of Shane Lachance. Boston is a significantly deeper team and Copponi started lower down the line as a third-line centre with small amounts of specialty team minutes. However, Copponi has slowly worked his way up the depth charts to where he is the second-line centre and is being counted on in high-leverage situations with the exception of the first powerplay. Copponi has recorded 16 points in 23 games this year which is down from around a point per game at Merrimack College. However, he has seen less opportunity, so that is to be expected. He has shown some offensive flair this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUDwvW6EXqA

Copponi skates well and he is a right-shot centre. I think he is a little on the small side which is going to be a challenge for him. He reminds me a great deal of James Hamblin in terms of skating ability, smarts for the game and his stature. Copponi is unsigned by the Oilers and given it is his senior season, it is make-or-break time for him with Edmonton. How he finishes this

season may have a great deal to say about what happens with the Oilers.
<h2><a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/08/20/getting-to-know-paul-fischer-the-prospect-the-oilers-acquired-from-the-blues/">Paul Fischer</a></h2>
I feel bad that Fischer ends up here. It sort of reinforces the narrative that he was after thought addition to the Holloway/Broberg offer sheet mess. Fischer is a sophomore at Notre Dame University and has really taken a jump since his draft year in 2023. He was thought of as a defensive defenceman first with limited offensive upside.

However, since entering the college ranks, he has performed very well. The 6'1" 200 lb. left-shot defenceman has improved his offensive game. In his freshman year, he had 16 points in 34 games. This year in just 24 games, he has 14 points. He has evolved as an offensive defenceman even
leading the Irish PP1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j_8Fw5LK3U

Fischer is another intriguing prospect. His ceiling might be lower if his offence starts to plateau, but there is certainly a professional hockey player here. This was a solid addition by Stan Bowman to help make something resembling chicken salad out of another byproduct of a chicken.

That is it for our mid-season review. Hope you all enjoy the read. Leave your feedback here. See you around the rink.

&nbsp;

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