This in from The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, his low ranking of the Edmonton Oilers player prospects, putting them at 31 out of 32 NHL teams, with a particular focus on the shallowness of the pool.
Says Pronman: “The second-to-worst pipeline still has two legit pro prospects in Matthew Savoie and Isaac Howard, who should materially help the Oilers soon. The issue is that after them, there is next to nothing in this farm system.”
Pronman also projects Swedish goalie Samuel Jonsson, 21, as a solid option for the Oilers: “He’s trending in a positive direction with the potential to be a backup NHL goalie, and I can buy the argument that if everything goes right, he could be a starter.”
In related news Steven Ellis of the Daily Face-off has list of the Top 75 NHL affiliated prospects, with Savoie clocking in at 58th overall and Howard at 59th.
My take
1. This low ranking might hurt more save for the fact that the lowest ranked teams are all NHL powerhouse squads, all of them low on quality prospects because they a) trade away high draft picks at the NHL trade deadline to pick up quality veterans for the Stanley Cup playoffs and b) have low draft picks who don’t have the immediate and obvious potential of players drafted at the high end of the NHL draft.
2. Pronman’s bottom ranked teams when it comes to prospects are in order from bad to worse the Winnipeg Jets, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Ottawa Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Oilers and in last spot the Colorado Avalanche.
Hardly any of these teams have a player that Pronman now projects being in the Core 12 of their current team, the Top 7 forwards, Top 4 d-men or No. 1 goalie on any NHL team.
3. To compete for the Stanley Cup in the McDavid-Draisaitl era, the Oilers don’t necessarily need, nor can they expect given their draft position, to have prospects come up and take spots in the Core 12. it would be a huge bonus and it’s hoped that one or two of Savoie and Howard will make such a leap this year, but top players are most often taken at the top end of the draft.
The Oilers do need and should expect a steady stream of useful Bottom 6 forwards and bottom pairing d-men to bubble up, as well as hopeful prospects who they can deal away at the trade deadline for veteran help, as Mike Kesselring, Max Wanner and Shane LaChance were traded off in recent years for deals that brought in Scott Bjugstad in 2023 and Trent Frederic in 2025.
4. In Pronman’s view Beau Akey, Paul Fischer, David Lewandowski and goalie Eemil Vinni all have a chance to play in the NHL from the Oil’s pipeline, but I’ll suggest he’s missed a few promising players, such as strong KHL forward Maxim Berezkin, OHL forward William Nicholl and AHL winger Roby Jarventie, if healthy, as notable NHL prospects. But that’s just a quibble and Pronman knows more about all these prospects than almost anyone outside the NHL. I don’t quibble with his overall ranking of the Oilers, but take it as a sign of the times in Edmonton, which has made the Stanley Cup Final two years running.
5. In January the Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked the Oil’s prospects 29th overall, with Logan Horn of the Hockey Writers ranking them 28th at that same time, with Elite Prospects now ranking them 30th overall.
Most bullish on the Oil pipeline is Ellis of the Daily Faceoff who has them ranked 23rd overall just now. “Shoutout to the Oilers. Over the past two summers, they’ve made a pair of moves to acquire Matthew Savoie and Ike Howard, making their pipeline a bit more formidable. That’s not a high bar – and they still lack depth significantly. They’re focused on winning now and the future has taken a hit as a result. That’s normal. But adding one of the most dominant CHLers in recent years, and now the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner, is a nice haul without having to give up too much to get it.”
It’s worth repeating that if either Savoie or Howard can break in and be strong Top 6 wingers, the Oilers farm system will have hit a home run this year.
Let’s end on that positive note.
At the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: ‘Skinner gets waived’: Hottest takes about Oilers, Leafs, Habs heading into 2025-26 season
Cult of Hockey prospect series 2025
Forwards: Maxim Berezkin (3rd), William Nicholl (8th), Connor Clattenburg (13th), Tommy Lafreniere (14th). David Lewandowski (15th)
Dmen: Paul Fischer (16th), Nikita Yevseyev (18th), Asher Barnett (19th)
Goalies: Nathaniel Day (17th), Eemil Vinni (20th)