The pain of the first round exit for the Edmonton Oilers is gone for most of us and now we look towards NHL draft day and a critical look at our prospect pool. Toronto will be picking first in the draft and will most likely pick Gavin McKeena but there are two defensemen ranked second and third, Chase Reid and Carson Carels. San Jose has the second pick and will get an awesome addition to their team, a team that almost made the 2026 playoffs.
The Oilers have traded their first round pick to the Sharks who will also pick 20th. Liam Ruck sits at that position and has had a great junior career so far with 45 goals and 102 points in 68 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. The Oilers will not pick until the second round. The Oilers 3rd round pick is retained but they have traded away their 4th and 5th round picks.
So, it is very clear that they will not be getting anything significant from the 2026 draft and will be forced to look with the system for “diamonds in the rough” while they decide what to do with Darnell Nurse who has seen his name in trade rumours. Championship teams can be created by large scale change…just look at what the Avalanche did 2 years ago changing out 11 players including both their goalies. That worked to get the team to round 3 in the 2026 playoffs. How many players will leave the current roster and how many will be newly acquired in this off season?
As many remember, we lost Codi Ceci, Ryan McLeod, Brett Kulak, Phillip Brobeg and Vincent Desharnais. These players were critical parts to our penalty kill that was at above 90% during the 2024 run to game 7 against the Florida Panthers. We need to find pieces to our penalty kill to regain a dominance we had during the 2024 NHL playoffs. Let’s look at what the Oilers have for prospects and how they might fit in the 2026-2027 edition of the team that will be under a new coaching staff.
Oilers top forward prospects
It will be a tumultuous off season this year that began with a first round exit from the NHL playoffs, the comments from their captain, Connor McDavid on the “average team” they have and now to the firing of their coach. That is a lot within a month and I think there is more to come. The Oilers bottom-six lacks scoring, size and defensive reliability. We all hope management can find some solutions to their issues from players within the system but trades will happen in the off season for underperforming players. Let’s look at some top center/wingers in the Oilers system and how they may fit into roles needed by this team.
Tommy Lafrenière
Tommy Lafreniere is a 19 year old center prospect playing for Western Michigan University in the NCAA. He has put up 45 goals and 79 points in 72 games in the WHL/AHL so far and could be an interesting addition to the bottom line. Scouting describes him as being engaged every time he is on the ice putting a lot of effort to get into open spaces when the puck arrives and heavy on the forecheck.
Heading into the season, he was the Oilers fifth ranked prospect. Can he fit well with Jason Dickinson or Josh Samanski? The Oilers lacked players that hustled to found open ice in the 2025-2026 season and really battled well on the forecheck. He could be a welcomed player to training camp this year.
David Lewandowski
David Lewandowski is a 19 year old left wing from Germany. At every level since U15, he has had over 1.00 point a game playing in Düsseldorf and has continued that trend playing for the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL with 17 goals and 65 points in 57 games. Like Lafrenière, he has statistics that would suggest that he will fit into the style of the Edmonton Oilers. He appears to be defensively minded with a minus-5 rating in 57 games.
Lewandowski ranked ninth in our rankings, boasting a mature game and and at 19 he can only improve. Leon had 19 goals and 53 points with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL before he made back to the Oilers in his second year and never looked back. Both David and Tommy have better statistics than Leon in year 1 after being drafted by the Oilers and both may be ready to play next season.
Veit Oswald
Veit Oswald is a 21 year old 6” 2’ left winger from Germany that was recently signed from posting 12 goals and 26 points in 38 games and a plus-26 rating in the past season. Veit Oswald is a fast, highly skilled, creative German winger with real NHL‑upside — built around elite skating, strong puck skills, and growing two‑way ability. He has explosive acceleration and handles the puck at top speed, making him a constant rush threat. Uses his body well along the boards and can play aggressively. Has penalty‑kill potential thanks to his mobility and defensive engagement. Hi hard hitting play will fit a niche that is needed by the Oilers.
Quinn Hutson is the brother of the elite defenseman, Lane Hutson, who is playing for the Montreal Canadians. He has been a point a game player for most of the levels he has played at and had a 30 goal 63 point season in 67 games with the Bakersfield Condors this year with a minus-5 rating. He is a skilled, fast, creative right‑winger with elite offensive instincts, a deceptive release, and middle‑six NHL upside, but who still needs to add strength and refine his defensive game.
He has the effort but physical matchups and board battles can be challenging due to his size. He may not fit into what the Oilers need for the 2026-2027 season but his breakout season in Bakersfield will label him as a valuable asset to trade this off season.
Isaac Howard
Isaac Howard has been in and out of the Oilers line up this year playing 29 games with only 5 points (Leon has 9 points in 37 games in his first year!). But in Bakersfield this year, he has had 24 goals and 50 points for a solid first year. His skills were well recognized by Team USA as he is a member of that team for the World Hockey Championship in Zurich this year. His upside is that he now has NHL experience and is a dynamic offensive left winger with elite skating posture, strong puck handling, and a proven scoring track record at the NCAA and AHL levels. His defensive game is improving but several sites report that he is a prospect to push for a permanent top‑nine role on the Oilers this coming season.
Others that may make it training camp this year may be Samuel Poulin (25 years old, 6'2 and 227 pounds with 12 goals and 29 points in 49 games for Bakersfield), Roby Järventie (23 years old at 6'3 and 209 pounds with 23 goals and 47 points in 61 games) and James Hamblin (27 years old at 5'9 and 185 pounds with 27 goals and 41 points in 64 games).
Oilers Defence Prospects
The Oilers really struggled defensively this year and that bled into the playoffs and was a significant reason why the Ducks eliminated them in 6 games. If the Oilers need to improve defensively this year they have to get players that are defensively minded and can play physical to complement their puck‑moving core. Bouchard had an elite season this year that should put him as front runner for the Norris Trophy.
But, despite his elite skills, he does make 1-2 defensive blunders each game for reasons no one really knows. To balance his elite scoring, the Oilers need to find defensively minded players to play with Bouchard. Here are some prospects for defenseman in the Oilers system.
Atro Leppanen
Atro Leppänen In his first season with the Bakersfield Condors, Atro had 11 goals and 38 points in 53 games and finished with a -5 rating. Although 27, he has demonstrated this year he can play the North American game after playing more than 10 years in the Finnish league with > 1 point per game for most of those seasons. Although a dynamic and offensively gifted left‑shot defenseman with high creativity, his defensive game needs improvements. Can the Oilers trade him to a team such as Toronto, San Jose or New York (who are in need of defensemen) in return for a defensive defenseman?
Damien Carfagna
He is 23 years of age and played in 66 games this year with 7 goals and 22 points and a +18 rating. He has been described as a mobile, defensively reliable, puck‑moving left‑shot defenseman whose game is built on high hockey IQ that control entries of offensive players. He isn’t flashy, but he is extremely effective, and his profile is unusually consistent across scouting sources. He ensures that attackers have no room to breathe when he’s on the ice. Elite Prospects describes him as having the ability to “outright eliminate players” and “keeps his gaps tight, drives plays to the perimeter, then swings across and gets the break up”. He may be what the Oilers need to be paired with Bouchard or Walman against the top offensive lines of other teams.
Paul Fischer
He is 21 year old at 6'0 feet tall and 203 pounds that spent his season in the NCAA University of Notre Dame hockey club scoring 7 goals and 23 points in 33 games. Paul Fischer is a steady, defense‑first, mobile left‑shot defenseman whose game is built on strong positioning, physical engagement, and simple but effective puck movement. He isn’t flashy, but he is reliable — the kind of defender coaches trust in tough minutes. He sounds like a good fit this year or the next year for the Oilers. He should have his first season with Bakersfield this coming season or the next or maybe the Oilers give him a tryout during training camp?
Other notables are Asher Barnett, Alex Regula, Riley Stillman. Some of these players will be at training camp and a chance at making the team.
Oilers top goalie prospects
As we head into the off season, the goalie position is still an issue that has been NOT been resolved during the tenure of McDavid. Several GMs later since we picked McDavid, the Oilers are yet to stabilize their goaltending. Many now think that the Skinner/Jarry trade was made hastily and not well thought out. Neither goaltender has had better seasons after the trade and Jarry actually got worse. He was given a chance to improve and did not. Can he improve in the off season? My gut says no and we need to move on from him. Connor Ingram certainly took the number 1 position away from him in the regular season and the playoffs and gave us hope that we have a good quality goaltender in Ingram.
Connor Ungar
I have written before about how good Connor Unger has played this year. He is 24 years of age and sits at 6” 2’ and 205 pounds. He is an athletic, technically sharp, late‑bloomer goalie whose game is defined by elite puck tracking, calm positioning, and consistency under chaos. Across multiple independent reports, he shows a very clear identity: a composed, efficient, reads‑first goaltender who keeps beating out internal competition. He consistently has a GAA of under 2.50 and save percentage above 0.910 with 0.940 in some games this year. I hope management and coaches give him a shot in training camp as he could be a Jarry replacement to play with Ingram when the season starts in September/October 2026.
Samuel Jonsson
Samuel Jonsson is 22 years of age at 6” 5’ and 201 pounds that has played mainly in Sweden until this year when he played for the Fort Wayne Komets. He had a GAA of 2.38 and save percentage of 0.0901 in 33 games for Fort Wayne. He is even more impressive in the playoffs with a GAA of 1.50 and a save percentage of 0.958 in 6 games
Entering this season, Jonsson was ranked seventh in the Oilers pool. He is noted to rarely scramble and beats players by his positioning and patience. Skinner was often scrambling when there was chaos close to him and several times caught out of the net that resulted in a goal. Positioning is sometimes Ingram’s weakness especially during breakaways and shootouts. Samuel Jonsson’s goalie style could be great for the next iteration of the Oilers goaltenders.
Other notables are Matt Tomkins and Ty Taylor, both have GAA < 3 and save percentages > 0.9. Matt Tomkins played more than half the games in Bakersfield and may get a chance to join training camp this year.
The road ahead
The Oilers have to look within to build a team tin order to be competitive for the Stanley Cup in 2027. They know what they need and Stan Bowman has to find those needs either by trading underperforming current roster players or give up players from the prospects above. More than half of the 16 teams in the current hockey playoffs have goalies players in years 1-3.
Teams are going with younger goalies that they have drafted that are now NHL ready. We should give the younger players an opportunity to show us what they can do. A different approach is now needed to recruit players to Edmonton as the clock is ticking in the last two years of the McDavid contract - it is truly cup or bust! I am optimistic that we will find new players who can all contribute to the winning formula in 2024 NHL playoffs.
We still have many of the winning pieces led by McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard, RNH and Hyman with Savoie emerging as an important new piece. Scoring goals is not a problem; preventing goals is and they will need to tighten up their defensive play in the upcoming season as well as get better goaltending. If we have all of that, we will stand a chance of being a playoff contender in the 2027 NHL playoffs.
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