As we near the start of the 2026-27 NHL season with training camps set to open in the coming weeks, many draft experts and public scouts are releasing their various prospect lists for each club. This has even started here at Oil on Whyte as we recently released our honourable mentions list as a precursor to our top 10 prospects list.
New York Times' The Athletic is no different with prospect writer Corey Pronman releasing his always controversial lists, ranking each NHL club's prospect pool and highlighting some of the top prospects from each team.
Unsurprisingly, the Oilers were ranked near the bottom, second-last actually sitting 31st out of all 32 NHL clubs. In what many claim to be a controversial list, this aspect makes sense given a variety of factors.
The Oilers have a poor prospect pool
Over the past three seasons, the Oilers have made the Stanley Cup Finals twice, having to give up multiple picks and prospects in order to buy at the deadline to supplement their team. The club has traded away multiple first round picks in recent seasons, acquiring players such as; Mattias Ekholm, Adam Henrique, and Jake Walman using those picks. In addition to these trades, the Oilers have traded away other picks to add to their club, which has directly impacted the quality and quantity of draft picks that the team has at their disposal.
As a result, since the 2023 NHL Draft, the Oilers have had just one selection in the first round over four entire drafts. In total, the team selected just 20 players out of 28 picks which they begin with, meaning that they on average trade two picks away each draft over the past four seasons.
This is not exactly a drafting strategy that lends itself to having a highly regarded prospect pool and makes it hard to properly replenish your cupboards. So, to give credit to Pronman, he did get this right overall but how did he do at assessing the Oilers' top players.
Oilers top prospects according to Pronman
According to the author, his eligibility for what consistutes a 'prospect' is this; "Player eligibility is determined by age. A player is eligible if he is 22 years old or younger as of Sept. 15, 2026."
This immediately disqualifies a number of notable players in the Oilers' system like; Josh Samanski, Connor Ungar, Quinn Hutson, and Viljami Marjala.
Of the players eligible, Pronman picked five players naming two as 'quality pro prospects' but points out "The problem is that after them, there's next to nothing in this farm system." Which is a scathing indictment on the club's pool. This aside, here is how Pronman ranks the Oilers' pool:
1. Matt Savoie
2. Rudolfs Berzkalns
3. Asher Barnett
4. Ike Howard
5. David Lewandowski
Given his criteria, this does make some sense with Savoie already showing he can hold his own at the NHL level and flashes true potential to be an impactful player who could breakout in his sophomore season. However, after him is where things start to get murky. Rudolfs Berzkalns next is a choice, although he does have some real NHL potential.
Placing Howard below both Barnett and Berzkalns seems like an interesting choice given what he has shown so far. Despite his struggles at the NHL level, he had an incredible rookie season in the American Hockey League and he could very well take a step next season and become a top-nine secondary scorer. While Berzkalns has potential, he is a much safer bottom-six type player who does not show the higher end potential that Howard shows.
Asher Barnett is a mobile two-way defenceman who seems like an interesting player who projects as a No. 4-6 defenceman at the NHL level. David Lewandowski is another intriguing piece who could become a middle-six power forward winger, who can flash his size and strength to create space with the skill to execute.
Althoguh there is not a lot to argue about given his criteria, the placement of some of the players is questionable in this list. As well, the list lacks a few names with players like Tommy Lafreniere and Samuel Jonsson showing potential in their development this past season. Of course, we will not know who is right or wrong for years to come and by then, nobody will remember, as is the nature of the beast.
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