Consider him down, but not out.

It’s been more achy than anything for defenceman Beau Akey, who is no stranger to injury early on in his hockey career.

Dual shoulder surgery in November 2023 interrupted the trajectory the Edmonton Oilers expected him to be on after drafting him from the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League in the second round (56th overall) that year. And that wasn’t the last of his injury battles, either.

But the once-top-prospect is looking to get back on track after starting out the season in the ECHL, before getting called up to the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League.

He has two goals and seven assists in 22 AHL games, so far, both goals and three assists of which have come in his past 10 outings, where he’s been plus-9.

“When you’ve missed a lot of hockey with injuries, the one thing we don’t want to do is have people sit. I don’t believe in that,” Condors general manager Keith Gretzky said last week on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer. “If you’re young, we want them to play. With Beau, I explained it to him, our plan was for him to go down, play 25 minutes a game, first power play, first PK. Learn the game of playing against men.

“We called him up because we’ve had so many injuries, (Riley) Stillman getting called up (to Edmonton), he’s held his own. There are nights where you go, ‘He’s a boy, still.’ To me, that has happened, but I think he does a really good job of skating out of trouble.”

Long story short, it’s been a long process to get to this point. And it’s still ongoing.

“Now the big picture, ‘Is he going to stay in Bakersfield?’ Gretzky said. “Well, we’ve got a lot of guys coming back and we don’t want him sitting all but 10, 12 minutes a game when he could be playing maybe 25. I’ve liked the progression of him.

“He’s a little raw, he still has to get man-strength. I’m going to present a (training) plan for him for the summer and hope he takes a chance on it. He needs proper training to become a man and grow up. These kids are 20 years old.”

At six-feet, 172 pounds, the native of Waterloo, Ont., Akey still has growing to do. And not just in his game.

“His physical shape is light. Really light,” said Condors head coach Colin Chaulk. “He takes his shirt off and that kind of stuff, he’s got a lot of growing to do.

“On the positive side, he’s got some offensive upside, he can move the puck, he’s got great poise, he’s got good vision, he can shoot the puck, he’s got pretty good feet. He’s just got to grow, he’s got to learn and he’s got to grind. That happens in the American League. And then the player needs to meet the coaching staff and the player-development staff halfway, he’s got to do the work.”

Regardless of which league he finds himself assigned at any given time.

“Beau started in Fort Wayne (Komets) this year, the message was you’ve got to go play, and play a lot,” Chaulk said. “Him coming up here, he’s played well.

“The physical battles, he gets into those and he loses those, but he needs to lose those. And now with him seeing that, it’s the decision to make to learn how to manage those or to break the puck out more. So, control the player’s stick, or get stronger and crosscheck people. The way we coach here, we’re not saying it has to be one way, but you’ve got to do one of those things.”

It’s all part of both the learning curve and the growing pains that go with a player working to realize his potential.

And the potential has always been there with Akey.

“He was probably our best player two Penticton tournaments ago, and then the shoulder injuries paused his development,” Chaulk said of the Oilers rookie camp held in B.C. “That’s the biggest thing, he’s still got a long way to go as far as just becoming a man and playing a full season in the American league.

“Beau had some success early on and then had some injuries and now he’s getting his first taste of pro hockey every day. It took Dylan Holloway three years, it took (Philip) Broberg three years, that’s why general managers call it an entry-level contract.”

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On X: @StarkRavinMod

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