Which one of these Edmonton Oilers top prospects will make the biggest impact first: 9 Things
With the Oilers squarely in their Stanley Cup Window, which one of these young, fast forwards will make the biggest impact…and by when?
That and more in this edition of…
9. The Oilers' 2025 Seventh Round pick Aidan Park has been invited to the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase for USA Hockey. It will go July 25-August 2 in Minneapolis.
8. Some jersey number changes to take note of: Trent Frederic will wear #10 this upcoming season. Andrew Mangiapane will don #88. Curtis Lazar will pull on #20. And Isaac Howard will suite up in Jeff Skinner's old #53.
7. The UFA Skinner has signed in San Jose for 1 year at $3m. I liked Skinner and thought his time spent in Edmonton was a classic case of a General Manager (a Jeff Jackson hire, Stan Bowman was not yet on the scene) and Head Coach seeing a player in a very different way.
6. Oilers goaltender Collin Delia has signed a contract with Brynas IF in Sweden. The 31-year-old was also a UFA. Delia was an o.k. depth guy, fifty-some games of NHL experience and posted a .906 SV% for the Condors last year. But the cold, hard facts are that guys like him are almost always available.
5. There is surely little surprise that no one in the NHL scores more goals from the right-hand side of the net (between the faceoff circle and the goal line) than Leon Draisaitl. It is confirmed in a brand, new vicinity chart produced by NHL Edge. The player with the same advantage on the opposite size of the zone is Tampa Bay's Brayden Point.
4. PuckPedia recently did a fascinating calculation of how the newly minted Playoff Cap Hit would have worked in the final game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers' cap hit would have been $80.6m. The Panthers would have been at $93m. And hey: Florida played by the rules, such as they were. But it will be interesting to see if this changes anything going forward
3. I have written before how having their farm team located in Bakersfield presented the Oilers with certain challenges. It was magnified as clubs in the same division like Vancouver and Calgary had their AHL teams in Canada. Now, the new CBA all but eliminates 'paper transactions' and forcing demotions to play at least a game before being recalled. If Edmonton's farm team was instead in Red Deer, Saskatoon or right in Edmonton it would level that particular playing field.
2. Rogers Sportsnet has announced a hike in the annual fee for its streaming service. It is up 30%, to $324.99 per year. I do not hold it against any broadcaster in 2025 to find new sources of revenue. I like the Edmonton Oilers' broadcast crew and content they provide. But in my experience as a customer, the app itself at times barely functions. The feed freezes multiple times per game, goes to commercial in the middle of overtime, etc. Then there are the blacked-out games, Monday Prime games, etc. I am unsure what corresponding value added there is that goes along with a hike like this. The release they sent customers said not a word about that. In the end, I feel most for the fans on the margins who find it increasing expensive to support their favorite teams. Here is where I remind you…that radio is free.
1.Much ink has been spilled in the past few days since the Oilers acquired prospect Ike Howard from Tampa Bay. And why not? Howard is an enticing prospect who shows signs of being able to jump right into an NHL lineup and contribute in a role that Edmonton has not been flush with candidates for: The pure goal scorer. It was a good bit of business by Stan Bowman, who basically advanced the arrival of a key prospect to the big club by two years over Sam O'Reilly. I am excited about what this kid may be able to deliver. Really excited.
But I personally will pump the brakes before I promote him all the way to the top of the lineup. Not because I do not think Ike Howard has the skills to get there someday. I actually do. But even the AHL is a jump for most players coming from the NCAA. The NHL is yet another big jump from there. In terms of development, I would sooner he make the inevitable mistakes that all rookies tend to make at the American League level instead of the National Hockey League. Especially when we are talking about a city like Edmonton.
Take Matthew Savoie as an example. This Oilers prospect benefitted greatly from spending a year in the AHL, playing against men ad in all situations. And relatively speaking, out of the glare of a Canadian market. By the end of his season, Savoie did look NHL-ready both on the attack and on defence. Could have he played more than four games in Edmonton this past campaign? Probably. But then would Savoie be where he is now? Knocking loudly at the NHL door. Hard to say just yet.
Which Oilers prospect was it in the past twenty years that really, truly benefitted from being pushed directly into NHL action? I am having a bit of a hard time remembering who that guy was…
Look: I do believe Ike Howard should be put in a great position in training camp. Put him with your best guys. It will help tell you in a hurry how close or how far away he is.
Perhaps unlike some, I have zero issue with the promotion if indeed Howard grabs that brass ring, tears it up and earns it.
But I do think he should earn it, first.
Now on Bluesky @kurtleavins.bsky.social. Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social.
This article is not AI generated.
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