NHL Prospect Pool Overview '26-27: Who Do The Edmonton Oilers Have On The Way?
The Edmonton Oilers' prospect pipeline is a weakness, but trading for Devon Levi adds some intrigue in net, and there are other prospects with NHL potential. Tony Ferrari takes a closer look.
Video Transcript
Welcome back to another edition of the Prospect Pool Overview series that we do every summer here at the Hockey News, where we dive deep into every team's prospect pool, and today we dive into one of the most shallow prospect pools there is, the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, this is a team that's been competitive for quite some time now.
They went to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals just two years ago, and they're a team that's gonna be really, really fun to watch this season.
But they're also a team that has lacked that next guy coming up, and, and that's been a big important factor for them over the last couple years is not having that young player who's able to step up.
Matthews have always been good, and he was traded f- to the Oilers from Buffalo.
Isaac Howard was a player they acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he should be a player that comes up this year and really starts to impact the lineup.
But for the most part, Edmonton hasn't developed many players themselves.
They've made some draft picks that haven't worked out.
They've traded some of their prospects.
They've traded plenty of their picks.
But it really has left them with a bit of a barren pr- prospect pool.
Now, this summer they've done a f- a, a couple of interesting things.
They took some really interesting players in the draft, Rudolf Bur- Burse Collins among them, and then they traded for Devon Levi.
And while Devon Levi isn't technically a prospect anymore, he's a guy that hasn't quite solidified his role at the NHL level when he was playing in Buffalo, and now he comes to Edmonton hoping to be the answer in net.
Now, there's so many factors that go into that.
There's gonna be a need to be an improved defensive situation in Edmonton just for any goalie to succeed there.
But Devon Levi brings some of the highest upside of any goalie they've brought in so far of the last half decade.
Levi was a highly touted prospect coming out of college, went to Buffalo in a trade, and when he got to Buffalo, he was really, really impressive early on.
He was a guy that t- seemed to take over the hockey world for a small period of time.
And although he hasn't solidified himself as an NHLer, those flashes are still there when he gets to the NHL, and his AHL numbers have been pretty good over the last few years.
So he could be a legitimate answer in net for the Edmonton Oilers, which is a spot they've needed an answer for quite some time now.
Now, I talked about Burse Collins, the player they drafted in the second round this year, and he's a really interesting player.
He brings a, a lot of two-way mobility.
He's a smart player.
He understands how to play a good defensive game and really work the cycle, which is an area the Edmonton Oilers need.
He's not this flashy, high-skill guy, but he's gonna be a really effective NHLer probably one day.
The Edmonton Oilers also have Quinn Hudson coming up, who's a player that's really intriguing.
And while he's not his younger brothers Layne or Cole, who play defense for Montreal and Washington respectively, he's a guy that has a lot of talent up front, at least in terms of a utility role.
He's kind of a Swiss Army knife.
He's not gonna score a ton of goals, but he can.
He's not gonna be this elite playmaker, but he can set up guys.
He's a hard worker in the corners.
He plays a bit of a, a poor man Zach Hyman role.
So the Oilers will really like that.
Their back end isn't very good, to be completely honest with you.
Asher Burnett's a solid defensive prospect.
Paul Fisher might be something eventually.
But for the most part, they have a bit of a lack of talent on the back end coming up.
So that's gonna be an area they're gonna need to focus on moving forward when they add prospects.
The Edmonton Oilers are a team that's trying to win now.
They have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Raiji- Nugent Hopkins, among so many other high impact NHLers.
So their prospect pool's been ignored a little bit, and that's shown.
But they still have a number of intriguing prospects and guys that could be solid NHLers, even in a limited role down the line.
So check out the Prospect Pool Overview at thehockeynews.com, where we dive into the Edmonton Oilers prospect pipeline, even if it's not as full as it should be.
