Edmonton Oilers Players and Their Up Coming Milestones

Prospect signings

The Oilers also announced recently that they have signed a few prospects to round out their ECHL and AHL teams. The first one is Ontario University level prospect goalie Connor Ungar, who comes into the system from Brock University having put up sparkling stats in his first Uni season and looks like he might be ready to go pro next season, however, it remains unclear who, if anyone, is coming out of the system. Ryan Fanti is rumoured not to be coming back to Fort Wayne, however, the obvious solution would be to either buy out or preferably trade Jack Campbell - that's a big-ticket item to be playing in the minors.

They also signed WHL RWer James Stefan, son of the infamous Patrik Stefan, who fanned on an empty net breakaway that Ales Hemsky turned into a goal at the other end. Stefan has outgrown the WHL, having put up a whopping 50-51-101 in 67 games for the Portland Winterhawks last season, plus 2-2-4 in 2 playoff games for them. Stefan will be a welcome addition to the Consors next season - having already played five seasons in the WHL and being 20 years old, he's graduating out of junior hockey and seems ready for the minors. As a team right now, the Condors are fairly anemic both offensively and defensively, so they need help on both sides of the ice. With a +47 to go with 101 points, there's no question Stefan can help on both sides of the ice - at least on paper.

The Oilers also re-upped their greatest prospect goalie Olivier Rodrigue for one year, who has taken another step forward in his development by putting up a .914 SV% and 2.76 GAA in 33 games this season. Word on the street is when the Oilers solidify a playoff spot with home-field advantage this might call up Rodrigue and give him a start just to see where he's at, but of course, we're not there yet.

Another boost to the forward ranks in Bakersfield will come as prospect Noah Philp, signed three offseasons ago as a free agent out of the U of A, will rejoin the Condors next season fresh off a year off for personal reasons. This is exactly why Condors GM Keith Gretzky issued the one-time RFA a qualifying offer despite the fact he knew he wasn't coming back for this season, so they could retain his rights and simply re-up him now. Philp put up 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games for the Condors in 2022-23, and will add even more scoring punch to a roster that needs it.

Former Oiler Jesse Puljujarvi re-ups with the Penguins - Remember this guy? Well, it looks like ex-Oiler Jesse Puljujarvi has resurrected his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After getting to traded to the Carolina Hurricanes from the Oilers at the 2023 trade deadline for "Future Considerations" - code for nothing but cap relief - Puljujarvi suffered a major injury for the Hurricanes soon after the trade and wasn't able to play much of the playoffs for them. He finished healing from that injury by the end of 2023 and the Pens, who were going through injuries themselves at the time, signed JP to an ATO (Amateur TryOut) for 10 days, after which he was sent down to their farm team to get back up to playing speed, then they re-upped him for $1.6 million over two seasons. He's doing not too bad for his new team, where he has 3-1-4 in 17 games for the Pens this season.