At the end of every prospect list, are the players that may never see a single NHL game. The Oilers have had a strong amount of these players. We will look into the new Milan Kytnar’s, Alex Plante’s, Colten Teubert’s, and Alexei Mikhnov’s.
The Oilers saw a draft-for-need mentality during the Tambellini years, and that’s why decently high picks were used on the likes of Troy Hesketh, Cameron Abney and a player on this list; Travis Ewanyk.
Here is the finale of the list.
THE FILLERS & BUSTS
#26 RW John McCarron, 2012 Draft 153rd overall
Cornell University (ECAC) 31GP 4-8-12, -8
McCarron has a lot of things the Oilers need. He’s a huge body at 6’2 225 lbs, and he plays a very physical game. The Oilers took a chance on the player hoping he would develop into a strong power forward in the mould of Milan Lucic or Chris Stewart. His point totals suggest he stepped back in his development and he’s unlikely to improve.
UPSIDE: JF Jacques
WORST-CASE: Uses his degree to start a regular job
#27 C Travis Ewanyk, 2011 Draft 74th overall
Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) 64GP 3-4-7, -23
Steve Tambellini droppped the ball by trying to draft the next gritty bottom six forward when there was still a ton of talent on the board. Players still on the board at the time include Reid Boucher, JG Pageau, Andrew Shaw (cough), and Ondrej Palat.
Ewanyk plays a solid role and is willing to be a pest and drop his gloves, but his lack of production implies he can’t score at the NHL level. He would be a good 7th round pick, but as a 3rd round pick, he’s a waste
UPSIDE: Zack Stortini
WORST-CASE: Extra for Goon 2
#28 LW Kale Kessy, Trade w/ARZ
Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) 17GP 3-3-6, -7
Kessy’s progress will always be overshadowed by the fact that the Oilers dealt Tobias Rieder for Kessy. They were selected only three picks away from one another, and it seems as if he was the Oilers first choice had he fallen to 114.
Kessy is a big body and he seemed to be putting up decent offense. After scoring 2-4-6 in 54 games last year, Kessy was on pace to score 19 points in 54 games so that shows he had improved this season. Still, it seems like it’s a long road to the NHL for this kid while Rieder is playing in the NHL.
UPSIDE: JF Jacques again
WORST-CASE: Already reached his ceiling.
#29 LW Daniil Zharkov, 2012 Draft 91st overall
Nizhy Novgorod Torpedo (VHL) 39GP 4-5-9
Zharkov went Josh Ho-Sang on everybody after his draft year claiming he would be better than Nail Yakupov. Well cue the Maury Povich meme, because that has been determined to be a lie.
Zharkov is a bust in the biggest form. I thought his worst-case would be becoming a start in the KHL, but Zharkov has yet to impress even at the VHL (KHL’s version of AHL). Nothing to see here.
UPSIDE: Pavel Brendl
WORST-CASE: Can it get any worse?
#30 G Tyler Bunz, 2010 Draft 121st overall
Wichita Thunder (ECHL) 17GP 6-10-1 2.97, .890
Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) 2GP 5.00, .839
Tyler Bunz ended his junior career on a tear and he earned a contract looking like a real bonafide NHL goaltending prospect. Bunz however hit a brick wall upon turning pro and is not likely to see another NHL contract. He hasn’t been able to improve even in the ECHL and his pro-career is pretty near over.
UPSIDE: ECHL backup
WORST-CASE: Pursues other interest.
TOO EARLY TO TELL
Upon making my top 30 list, I found I couldn’t rank a few players, either because of my little knowledge on them, or the fact that it really is too early to tell what we have here.
Tyler Vesel is currently playing in the NCAA championship and is looking like he may be a notable prospect in the future. It will be a couple more seasons before we see him in the prospect camp as he will probably continue his college career for two more seasons.
Evan Campbell and Aidan Muir are players I don’t really know anything about. Lowetide has highlighted their statistics. Campbell scored a reasonably intriguing 27 points in 34 games for UMass-Lowell and could see a contract should he decide to leave college. Muir had a highlight-reel goal early in the season, but his 15 points in 36 games for Western Michigan aren’t anything to write home about.
Liam Coughlin was close to being on the list as a bust, but he is still only 20. The fact is that he plays in a junior “B” league, and those players hardly ever turn out. He is scoring at a point per game rate so not all hope is completely lost. Wish he played WHL this year however.
Goaltender Keven Bouchard has horrid numbers for Val d’Or, so i’m not expecting a bounce-back season. He was a 7th round pick in a weak draft so it’s not a huge loss.
Roman Horak is a prospect of note, but due to his NHL experience he didn’t qualify for my list. He’d be an interesting player to track next year, and hopefully he returns to the big league.
THE LIST
1. Leon Draisaitl
2. Darnell Nurse
3. Laurent Brossoit
4. Bogdan Yakimov
5. Kyle Platzer
6. Anton Slepyshev
7. Joey Laleggia
8. Greg Chase
9. William Lagesson
10. Brandon Davidson
11. Marco Roy
12. Iiro Pakarinen
13. Jujhar Khaira
14. Tyler Pitlick
15. Curtis Hamilton
16. Dillon Simpson
17. Jordan Oesterle
18. Mitch Moroz
19. Jackson Houck
20. David Musil
21. Ben Betker
22. Martin Gernat
23. Andrew Miller
24. Frans Tuohimaa
25. Zach Nagelvoort
26. John McCarron
27. Travis Ewanyk
28. Kale Kessy
29. Daniil Zharkov
30. Tyler Bunz
Prospect Depth Chart
(LW-C-RW)
Slepyshev-Draisaitl-Chase
Roy-Yakimov-Pakarinen
Pitlick-Platzer-Hamilton
Moroz-Khaira-Houck
Kessy-Ewanyk-Miller
McCarron-Zharkov
(D-D)
Nurse-Laleggia
Lagesson-Davidson
Simpson-Oesterle
Musil-Betker
Gernat
(G)
Brossoit
Tuohimaa
Nagelvoort
Bunz
SUMMARY
The Oilers have shored up their centre depth, and the possibility of Yakimov and Draisaitl keeping that group strong is very high. It would be in the Oiler’s best interest to add prospect depth to their defense and goaltenders. Players from the 2013 Draft entering their first pro-seasons next year should be able to bridge the gap and slowly develop in the NHL with the Oilers finally understanding (to a certain extent) that having depth in the NHL is essential to all means of success.
If the Oilers are able to land Boston College netminder Matt O’Connor, then the goaltending depth looks much better than it does today. O’Connor and Brossoit are both good bets to develop into NHL goaltenders, and it’s never a bad thing to have ample goaltending depth.
Looking ahead to the upcoming draft, I strongly believe the Oilers would be best suited to select Noah Hanifin and develop him and Nurse slowly (or until they can’t hold them back anymore) and focus on adding a strong staple of defensemen in the pipeline. Greg Chase, Kyle Platzer, Mitch Moroz and Marco Roy should be able to hold the line in Bakersfield, while AHL vets add in leadership (like Jason Williams and Matt Ford).
Now that my prospect list is complete, i’ll start to focus on college free agent signings and the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
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