Edmonton Oilers prospect pool is still ranked near the bottom despite big moves

NHL Prospect writer Steven Ellis of the Daily Faceoff ranked all 32 teams prospect pools, placing the Oilers near the bottom of the league
Michigan State v Notre Dame
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Plenty of ink has been spilled about the Edmonton Oilers prospect pool and the upgrades that the team has made, especially with a couple savvy trades by Jeff Jackson and general manager Stan Bowman.

The two men brought in forwards Matthew Savoie and Ike Howard, both highly touted prospects who now appear ready to open the season with the Oilers. Those two have helped the pool take big strides and improve their trajectory year-over-year.

Recently, NHL Draft and prospect writer Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff did a series of articles highlighting all 32 NHL teams and breaking down their top 10 prospects. Now that it has concluded, he has ranked every team’s pool from 1-32. The Oilers pool placed 23rd according to Ellis, which is a good leap from their ranking in 2024 at 29th.

Oilers prospect pool now

Ellis speaks quite candidly about what places the Oilers pool where it is; “Over the past two summers, they’ve made a pair of moves to acquire Matthew Savoie and Ike Howard, making their pipeline a bit more formidable.” Although the praise is short-lived, Ellis also cites the lack of depth as a reason he is not as high on the pool, adding “That’s not a high bar – and they still lack depth significantly.”

This makes sense, the Oilers were able to add Savoie, who projects to at least be in the Calder Trophy conversation and Howard, who many claimed was a steal, especially after winning the NCAA Hobey Baker award. We will see how he does in his first season as a pro, the expectations are high and he looks promising. However, the club's lack of draft capital in recent years especially at the top end of the draft has hurt them without a doubt.

Over the past five drafts, the Oilers have only had a selection in the top 100, seven times. Typically, teams would have at least 15 picks within the top 100 over that same length of time. This is normal for a team trying to win a Stanley Cup. Picks and prospects are used as currency in trade negotiations and traded with impunity by teams who are in win-now mode and making a run towards the ultimate prize.

If the Oilers can continue to make moves to upgrade their pool and keep replenishing talent, it will only help them in these rankings and of course, on actual NHL ice. As the team awaits signing what should be yet another landmark contract for superstar and team captain, Connor McDavid they will need to do everything they can to stay under the NHL salary cap ceiling and navigate the impending cap crunch that is sure to come as a result of their stars and their big contracts.

Luckily, they appear to be in good hands given the work that has been done to find a way to upgrade their prospect pool thus far.