The end of the NHL season sees all thirty NHL teams restock and reshuffle their prospect cupboards, through a combination of drafting, college and junior free agent signings, and trades. The Edmonton Oilers have been notably active on all fronts over the last several years during whichever version of the rebuild you consider this to be.
For at least a couple of years, the team was considered to have among the top prospect pipelines in all of hockey, largely thanks to their three consecutive Number 1 Overall draft choices, but the team also made selections deeper in the draft from 2010 onwards that looked good at least at the time of drafting.
That status has slid somewhat, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t talent in the cupboards. In fact, the team has a very nice staple of young players looking to make the NHL, and their top-5 is particularly enviable.
The following list was chosen from all Oiler players still eligible for the Calder Trophy; as such, a player like Martin Marincin – whom I rate VERY highly – is ineligible due to his 44 NHL games last year. My opinions have been formed from my own viewings of each player, and scouting reports from various services and people around the game.
Also, if a player earns top prospect nods, the top positional spot will be filled by the next best at that positional group. So if Leon Draisaitl grabs Top Overall Prospect, he won’t grab top forward – gotta give someone else time to shine!
Top Overall Prospect: Leon Draisaitl
The Edmonton Oilers got their man. It was no secret during the course of the year that the team absolutely loved Leon Draisaitl, so it was no surprise when they announced his name at the podium come draft day. For a team so derided for their lack of depth at center, Draisaitl – like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins before him – is potentially a huge gift from the Hockey Gods.
While not excessively tall (reports suggest somewhere around 6-1 to 6-2), he is apparently in the area of 215lbs – in other words, he’s built like a brick outhouse. Scouting reports indicate that he has a great skill level, particularly when it comes to puck possession (as evidenced in the video above), earning him comparisons in some quarters to star LA Kings forward Anze Kopitar, and also his favourite player Joe Thornton. It’s not an overly flashy style of play, but rather one in which he slows the play down and controls it rather than a Taylor Hall balls-to-the-wall style. He doesn’t use his size in an overtly physical way, using it instead to protect the puck, but that doesn’t mean he shies away from contact by any means.
He has borderline-elite passing ability and hockey sense, perhaps not the same as fellow-Oiler Nugent-Hopkins, but it’s certainly one of his top assets, along with his shot.
He is not without his drawbacks, of course. Skating is an oft-mentioned area of concern. I haven’t seen mention of him being a Hal Gill level of slow, but it is something he needs to work on if he’s to keep up with potential line-mates such as Hall and Nail Yakupov. His defensive game is also not at the point where you’d consider him a two-way type – this is where he differs from Kopitar currently – and it remains to be seen whether he has the ability to learn that, though his possession style will certainly help limit chances against. ISS also reported that he was prone to inconsistency and disappearing at times, but that is something that should itself disappear with age and wasn’t a big concern of other scouts.
Projected Role: #1/#2 Center
Player Comparable: Anze Kopitar, Joe Thornton
Timeline: It would serve Draisaitl best to return to junior, or even, as reported, Sweden. As we are all too aware however, the Oilers have horrible depth at center, not to mention a disconcerting habit of hurrying their young forward stars into the league. It is highly likely he plays the full 2014/15 season in the NHL. Edmonton will have to be extremely careful to shelter the young man and make the transition to the NHL as easy as is possible. The fans are desperate for him to succeed. The team needs him to succeed.
Top Forward: Greg Chase
Another player with NHL bloodlines, Greg Chase has risen from an afterthought in the NHL Draft to a top prospect in little over a year. Thought of by many at the time of the 2013 draft as a 2nd/3rd round talent, the primary belief is that he fell to 188th overall thanks to concerns over his “on-ice attitude”, along with lack of consistency.
That attitude is certainly a part of Chase’s make-up, having built a reputation as a premier pest in the WHL, but there is not any immediately obvious evidence that this will effect his ability to be a good hockey player at the next level. He has good hockey sense, a large frame (6’0″, 205lbs), decent skating speed, good skills, a developing physical game, and this year he really kicked his consistency up a notch. Being a pain in the backside to play against doesn’t define him as a player, but rather it is just the cherry on top of an enticing package of skills.
He jumped from 17 goals and 49 points in 69 games in 2012/13, to an impressive 35 goals and 85 points in 70 games in 2013/14, earning himself an invite to the World Junior Camp in the process – again, impressive for a 7th round selection.
Projected Role: Middle Six Forward
Player Comparable: David Perron, Brad Marchand
Timeline: Chase will have to prove 2013/14 was no fluke – scoring 40 goals and pushing for 100 points would go a hell of a long way in convincing everyone that he was worth taking a flyer on. He’s not likely to push for an NHL spot for at least 2-3 years, but his scouting report reads like someone who could slot in almost anywhere in the lineup. I have a feeling the Oilers can’t wait for him to turn pro, and to be honest nor can I.
Top Defenseman: Darnell Nurse
He’s big. He’s nasty. He’s smart. He’s fast. He’s skilled. He’s everything the Oilers, and indeed every team, would ever want in a prospective blueliner. Drafted 7th Overall in 2013, the idea of what he can become – IF everything pans out – has Oiler fans everywhere drooling in anticipation.
The nephew of former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb and son of former CFL wide receiver Richard Nurse, Darnell has grown up surrounded by phenomenal athletes, and the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. He looks slight at ~6’5″ and ~205lbs, but make no mistake he is strong and a brute, with a huge wingspan that enables him to break up plays with ease. Combine that with borderline elite skating ability, and you have the basic tools required for an excellent defender. He can move the puck with ease, and run a powerplay too.
His scouting reports at the time of his draft revolved around phrases like “aggressive”, “gifted physical player” and “high character and intelligence levels” – the latter was manifested in 2013/14 by him being named captain of the Soo Greyhounds and dominating the OHL while playing the toughest competition (his GM was Kyle Dubas, now Toronto Assistant GM and noted user of analytics).
Criticisms? Well, reports on his shot range from “muffin” to “heavy”, quite a broad margin there. I haven’t seen consistent reports claiming he has anything approaching a howitzer, so while I’m sure it’s something he’s working on, it’s probably safe to assume it’s not one of his better strengths. There have also been some (very) mild concerns over his decision making ability, though most acknowledge that this is something that will come with time and he has the smarts to improve. While he impressed in flashes in a stint with Oklahoma City of the AHL at the end of last season, he also appeared overwhelmed much of the time.
Projected Role: Top-Pairing Defender
Player Comparable: Chris Pronger-lite
Timeline: There is little doubt that Nurse has all the tools to become an NHL player. Will he reach that potential? Everything about him suggests he is on track to become at minimum a top-4 NHL defender, with a very good shot at being a legitimate top-pair guy. There is little debate that he should be returned to junior for this season however, perhaps with a 9-game taster of the NHL to begin the year, in order to continue his development and not rush him into a position he’s not ready for.
Top Goalie: Laurent Broissoit
Errrrr, best you look away now… Let’s just say that the Oilers’ goaltending depth is not the envy of the league.
That’s not entirely fair to Laurent Broissoit. He certainly has a lot of talent – you don’t win WHL Playoff MVP by fluke, nor do you get drafted by an NHL club, nor do you post a 2.14 GAA and .923 SV% in your rookie professional season. He is a prospect of interest, and the Oilers have liked him for a long time – he played junior with the Edmonton Oil Kings, and although the other Alberta team nabbed him at the 2011 Draft, Edmonton still liked him enough to trade long-serving and highly popular Oiler Ladislav Smid and fellow goaltending prospect Olivier Roy for him and Roman Horak. With Horak now in the KHL, management’s hopes now lie solely with Broissoit.
Described as an athletic and highly competitive goaltender who has good size for the position and a long reach, not to mention a history of performing well in high pressure situations, Broissoit has all the tools necessary to be an NHL goalie. He does of course have his negatives, and like so many young goalies struggles with consistency and focus, with the occasional habit of letting in a soft goal.
Projected Role: Average NHL goalie. It should be noted here that projecting goalies is voodoo; players who have been mediocre for years can come out of nowhere to grab a starting role, and highly rated ones can crash and burn without ever making the NHL.
Player Comparable: Hell if I know. I asked fellow Oiler blogger and goalie expert Bruce McCurdy his opinion, and he didn’t know. I’ll take a guess. Decent size, athletic, aggressive, can give up bad goals… Jonathan Quick? I’ll say Jonathan Quick. And I don’t even really like Jonathan Quick.
Timeline: Broissoit will be expected to assume the role of backup in OKC this year, behind last year’s starter and AHL/NHL tweener Richard Bachman. Bachman is a very good AHL goalie, so while it will be hoped that LB can push him for playing time, it will be just as beneficial for him to learn the pro game from him. Assuming he performs well in that role, he will have to look to take over the starter’s duties in 2015/16, and probably into 2016/17 as well before even getting more than a cup of coffee at the big league level. If he makes it, it likely won’t be until the end of this decade before he truly establishes himself in the NHL.
Top Dark Horse: Dillon Simpson
The son of former Oiler star (and Destroyer of Powerplays as assistant coach) Craig Simpson, there were cries of nepotism when he was taken 92nd overall in 2011. However, Simpson, in four years at UND, has firmly established himself as an excellent NHL prospect.
He is slightly unusual of NCAA defenders in that he started his career at age 17, indicating not only that he had highly rated hockey ability but also a high level of academic ability – something that is clearly evident in Simpson’s interviews, where he comes across as mature and articulate.
Enough of the back-story, you say, on with the hockey ability! Simpson is not flashy, he doesn’t pile up the points, and he doesn’t dominate physically. Those who disliked Tom Gilbert and want to see the back of Jeff Petry (i.e. those who don’t like good hockey players) will likely not be enamoured with Simpson, as he plays a similarly smart, simple game.
He faced criticism for his skating in his draft year, but has reportedly improved to the point where, while not a strength per sé, is no longer a weakness. He can move the puck efficiently, and thinks the game very well. His increase in point totals each year at North Dakota indicate both an increase in powerplay responsibility and growth in his offensive game, and his being named to the NCHC First All-Star Team speaks to his all-round ability. He was also the youngest captain of the UND team in two decades at just 21, further evidence of his character.
His NHL upside is likely that of a 4/5 defender.
Projected Role: #3/#4/#5 Defender
Player Comparable: Jeff Petry
Timeline: The Oilers have a long and reasonably successful history with college defenders – Randy Gregg, Tom Poti (I said reasonably…), Tom Gilbert, Jeff Petry, Justin Schultz. Dillon Simpson is trending to being worthy of joining that group, though expectations may have to be adjusted depending on how he adjusts to the professional game. There’s no telling how he’ll perform in the AHL, but all expectations are that he’ll spend at least year there and will push for an NHL roster spot the following season.
