The Edmonton Oilers have a weak prospect pool comparatively. It is one that will continue to get worse with the lack of high draft picks and with players continuing to graduate from their prospect pool.
This past year, the Oilers injected multiple rookies into their lineup with players like Matt Savoie and Josh Samanski making a big impact. Also, top prospect and 2025 Hobey Baker winner, Isaac Howard playing with the Oilers and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
Next season, Howard is expected to play a more permanent role with the Oilers and same with Samanski. As well, prospect Maxim Berezkin whose KHL season has come to an end, is expected to sign his entry-level contract and join the Oilers and should be able to win a top-nine spot next year.
Assuming all goes to plan, that would make at least four players that will be officially graduated from the Oilers prospect pool to full-time NHL jobs since the start of 2025-26. There are even more who could be up for NHL jobs with players like Connor Clattenburg, Roby Jarventie, Quinn Hutson, amongst others being standouts for the Condors this past season and all having gotten a cup of coffee at the NHL level.
As we approach June 1st, 2026, there are two players whose rights the Oilers will let expire should they not ink them to entry-level contracts. They are Petr Hauser and Albin Sundin.
Two prospects whose rights are set to expire
The Oilers acquired Hauser in a three-team trade for the Oilers to acquire Trent Frederic at the 2025 trade deadline. Originally drafted in the fifth round at the 2022 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils, he was sent from the Devils to the Boston Bruins and then to the Oilers.
The 22 year old Czech winger has struggled to carve out a permanent role at the top level men's league in his native Czechia until this season. He started off the year hot but finished having played 41 games with HC Vitkovice where he scored three goals and seven assists. Listed at 6'4 207lbs, Hauser plays a translatable style with elements of a power forward and defensive responsibility.
The other prospect that the Oilers are choosing to walk away from is one of their own draft picks, right-handed Swedish defenceman, Albin Sundin. He was selected as a sixth round pick for the club in 2024, drafted as a double overager at nearly 20 years old.
He has spent the past two seasons developing mostly in the top Swedish men's league, the Swedish Hockey League with a stint in the second-tier Hockey Allsvenskan. This past season, he played 51 games with Timra IK, potting four goals and five assists, logging significant minutes with an average time on ice of 18:33.
Walking away from Sundin does not make a lot of sense for an Oilers club that could use some depth in their prospect pool. The 21 year old blueliner needs refining and is viewed as having a much safer projection but he plays a defensively responsible game with some offensive potential.
It would make sense for the team to bring him over to North America and develop him in the AHL or ECHL for next season. However, as an organization the Oilers also already have 12 defencemen under contract for next season and beyond, which may simply not give Sundin a role.
Although the Oilers are choosing to walk away from these two prospects, it is not the end of the world and many teams do this multiple times a year. As well, Bowman has consistently added prospects through trades and free agency, indicating that he has not completely neglected this area, so far.
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