Edmonton Oilers: Tracking the 2019 NHL Draft results
Here’s a look at how the Edmonton Oilers 2019 NHL Draft has panned out so far
Here we are – the final blog in the draft series. In case you’re just joining me at the 11th hour, 2015 is here, 2016 is here, 2017 is here, and 2018 is here. As this is the most recent draft, with a top 3 pick, you might suspect we don’t have anyone from this draft on the roster yet. This is a more typical draft, let’s see what happens with these folks in a few years.
Round 1, 8th overall – Philip Broberg
Left D Broberg has been rated as the 2nd best defensive prospect in the system next to Evan Bouchard. We might be looking at a future top-pairing between the 2 of them. Broberg split last season between what I assume is the Swedish pro league minors – Swe-1 – for AIK, putting up 2-7-9 with 14 PIMs and a -1 in 41 games with them.
He then went up to the SEL roughly halfway through the season, putting up 1-7-8 and even with 6 PIMs in 45 games. The Swedish pros have already started (let’s try and avoid talk of COVID-19 politics between Sweden and Canada, shall we?) and short sample size of course. But it looks like Broberg is off to a good start, going 1-2-3 in 1 game with Skelleftea AIK so far with a +2 and no PIMs.
Last season’s stats weren’t exactly eye-popping for Broberg, but if he keeps going at that rate he’ll have a breakout season. I can’t project as I don’t know how many games a full season in Swedish pros is – and I don’t want to check as I have a feeling it’ll just be written in Swedish which I can’t read.
He spent some time during the play-in series earlier in the year riding the pines but as expected didn’t get into any games. Tough to say what happens with players just drafted last year, but it looks like so far so good with this player. Scouting report is here.
Going forward: IIRC the plan with Broberg was to keep him in Sweden for now and bring him over to Bakersfield when the AHL resumes play – around December at the time of this writing – so we’ll see what happens. I can’t find any information confirming that, but it’s the next logical step.
Trending: Up
Round 2, 38th overall – Raphael Lavoie
When I look at right center Lavoie’s numbers, it amazes me that he was actually still available in the 2nd round last year. Lavoie started out in junior with the Halifax Mooseheads, going 6-3-9 in 32 games with 26 PIMs and even in +/-, then following that up with another 1-1-2 and 6 PIMs in the QMJHL playoffs in 6 games. That’s not bad at all in a pretty small sample size.
It only took 1 more season, however, for the lightbulb to come on for Lavoie. The next season in Halifax he finished 30-33-63 in 68 games for the Mooseheads, with a +10 and 43 PIMs to boot. Then he went 3-2-5 with 5 PIMs in 9 playoff games for Halifax.
He followed that season up with an even better encore, getting to the point per game echelon for the first time. going 32-41-73 with 31 PIMs and a crazy hardcore +36, then in the playoffs piled up 20-12-32 and 22 PIMs in 23 games.
Unfortunately, the Mooseheads fell short in the QMJHL final. It looks like the Mooseheads were a much worse team last season, as Lavoie was traded to Chicoutimi midway through the season. He did great individually, though, going 18-26-34 with 36 PIMs and a +4 in 30 games before the trade, and 20-18-38 with 12 PIMs and a +3 in 25 games for Chicoutimi after the trade.
Neither team made the playoffs last season, so that was the wrap on Lavoie’s junior career. It’s a pretty good one and bodes well for his future. Scouting report is here.
Going forward: Like most of our prospects, Lavoie will be headed to Europe to start the season then come back to Bakersfield probably around December when the season starts. Whenever he makes the Oilers expect him to spend his career at RW as no one is unseating the McDrai duo.
Trending: Up
Round 3, 85th overall – Ilya Konovalov
Remember the 2018 draft when I talked about goalie Olivier Rodrigue? Well, now you get to meet the goalie who will compete with him for ice time on Bakersfield at some point, maybe even this season. The 22-year-old has played in the KHL for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv for the past 3 seasons and for the most part, has had himself a pretty stellar career in the 2nd best pro hockey league in the world.
In 2017-18 as a rookie in 7 games he finished with a .933 sv% and a stingy 1.56 GAA. The next year, in many more games – 45 – he finished with numbers almost as good – .930 sv% and a 1.89 GAA. He followed that up last season with a bit of a dip in stats to a .912 sv% and a 2.45 GAA.
However, if history is any indication we can write that off as 1 bad season in a career that thus far is looking pretty good with only 1 blemish on it. Scouting report is here.
Going forward: KHL players can’t necessarily translate their skills to the NHL – just ask Anton Belov – but it looks like so far so good with Konovalov. I can’t find any sort of official word on what the Oilers are doing with him yet, but from what I’ve heard in the past he’s going to stay in the KHL for this season and the team will bring him over to Bakersfield for the 2021-22 season.
It’ll be interesting to see the competition between Rodrigue and Konovalov in Bakersfield. Rodrigue better make a name for himself this year before the competition gets fierce the season after. Either way, Stuart Skinner’s pro career is on life support right now, so if the expected happens and he fizzles out, there’s room for both prospects in Bakersfield. Also, unlike Broberg and Lavoie, Konovalov doesn’t have an ELC as of yet, but expect Holland to change that at some point in the next year. We hold his rights indefinitely so there’s no hurry.
Trending: Up, despite 1 off season out of 3
Round 4, 100th overall – Matej Blumel
Czech dual winger Matej Blumel took the unusual route of the USHL to start his career. In his rookie season in 2017-18, Blumel put up 8-10-18 with 10 PIMs and a -2 in 50 games for the Waterloo Black Hawks, then put up no offence or PIMs in 2 playoff games in the same season.
He followed that up by exploding the next year, putting up 30-30-60 with 22 PIMs and a +4 in 58 games for the Black Hawks. That momentum continued in the playoffs as he put up 3-1-4 and 2 PIMs in 4 games.
He went back to his native Czech Republic last season to play in the Czech pro leagues for Pardubice HC and put up 4-1-5 in 31 games with a +4 and 18 PIMs to boot. Not an earth-shattering start to his pro career but not a bad one either.
Going forward: Judging by his scouting report, I’m assuming his career ceiling will be as a bottom 6 forward. It’s hard to say what will happen with only 1 pro season under his belt. Sports Illustrated seems to think pretty highly of him. Maybe he might be a top 6 forward if he can maintain the early momentum in the current season?
Apparently, he has 4 points in 6 games in the Czech leagues. I can’t find a development path for him, so I’m assuming the Oilers leave him in the Czech league for at least one more full season before deciding whether or not to bring him to Bakersfield.
I’m guessing he makes his way there eventually, though. It’s important to keep sample size in mind and the fact that the Czech league is not the NHL. Lots of Europeans can’t hack it in the NHL, and if Blumel is one of those guys he’s not the first and he won’t be the last. But, we’ll see what happens. Could be a guy to watch. We have until June 1, 2023, to sign him.
Trending: Hard to say. We need to see more data from him in the Czech league before we know for sure.
Round 5 – No Pick
Round 6, 162nd overall – Tomas Mazura
There’s not much information on right center Mazura, except that he’s a project – which explains the 6th overall pick. He spent four years at a private prep high school in the US. The highlight of his career was last season when he put up 13 goals and 73 points in 35 games.
He followed that up with four games for the Omaha Lancers in the USHL, with 2 PIMs and a +4. A Czech national, it’s tough to know what we have with Mazura. I had to dig pretty deep to find this, but I discovered that Mazura is playing with the Finnish minor leagues this season, putting up 1-2-3 in 3 games and 14 PIMs so far. Next season he’s slated to go the US College route, playing for Providence College in the NCAA. Scouting report is here.
Going forward: Mazura is a bit all over the place in his development. The Oilers probably could’ve loaned him to the Czech leagues so he can play in a country he’s familiar with but I guess this guy has chosen otherwise. I guess you can’t really blame him for going the college route – seeing as how a 6th round pick is unlikely to make it to the NHL.
Scouting report says he’s a top 9 player, and on the Oilers if he makes it I guarantee you he’ll probably be a winger unless more prominent prospects like Ryan McLeod don’t work out at 3rd line C. He’s moved around a lot so far playing here there and everywhere, so with such a small sample size in the pros it’s tough to say what we have with him.
Trending: Hard to say due to inadequate sample size. There’s potential there, but right now that’s all it is. The next four years of his US College career will probably tell us more. We hold his signing rights until Aug. 24, 2024.
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Puck Prose
Round 7, 193rd overall – Maxim Deneszhkin
When you dig deep into the story of Russian left center Deneszhkin, you see a longshot project that deserves to be a 7th round pick.
He’s been a pro player for about three seasons in the KHL but has spent much of that time being a KHL bubble player.
He’s mostly been going back and forth between the KHL and their minor league, the MHL. He can produce points in the MHL but thus far has played two KHL games over two seasons and produced no offence in either game.
It might be hasty to crucify him based on two pro games, but at this point, it looks like he’s a Linus Omark type who can put up points in the minors but not in the majors.
Is there a chance he could end up as a 4th line energy player in the NHL? Maybe. He finished -1 in both of those games, so at least he seems to have some ability without the puck at the KHL level, again albeit in a short sample size. Scouting report is here.
Going forward: He’s only 19-years-old so there’s no need to declare him a bust just yet. He’s slated to be a teammate of Konovalov’s on Lokotomiv this upcoming season. He’s a longshot to make the NHL but he could surprise you. We need to see him play more in the KHL before we know for sure, which is what’s going to happen.
Trending: On the surface, it appears he’s trending down but not enough sample size to declare that for sure.
Bottom line
As this is the most recent draft until the 2020 draft is held, we don’t know much about how most of these players are going to end up, especially the picks at the bottom. However, it appears Broberg and Lavoie will be the prize can’t-miss guys from this draft. Everyone else below them might surprise us, there’s good potential in all the picks after that.