Setting up the Edmonton Oilers' 2025 spring amateur signing season

Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has an opportunity to impact the prospect pool this spring with a successful signing season vital to the team’s future.

The club has been aggressively pursuing the Stanley Cup by sending away assets for an entire decade. In the moments after Connor McDavid was drafted in 2015, the team dealt two prime picks for defenceman Griffin Reinhart. That highly unsuccessful move signalled a flood of similar picks-for-now-help moves designed to give the Oilers a stronger NHL team each fall.

Bowman’s first few months have seen him working around the edges of the NHL roster. In adding Vasily Podkolzin, Ty Emberson and others (right up to the latest addition, John Klingberg), the asset and cap cost of each transaction has been minimal.

That will change at the deadline and that should increase the procurement urgency when the club starts signing amateur college and junior players this spring.

Bowman should aim high, and sign top-end amateurs to full NHL deals.

His predecessor, Ken Holland often signed players to AHL-only deals in the hopes those prospects would develop. That strategy worked with Vincent Desharnais and James Hamblin, but it also meant Edmonton was pushed out of the top end of procurement. Edmonton wasn’t spending enough to attract the top-end talent available each spring, and that has to change if Bowman is going to improve the prospect pool while continuing to trade draft picks.

What will it look like? 

Beginning in 2019, and running through his entire time with the team, Holland signed many prospects to minor-league deals. Bowman needs to aim higher than Holland, who brought in names like Yanni Kaldis, Graham McPhee, Blake Christensen and Devin Brosseau. It was an inexpensive way to stock the AHL team. None made the NHL, in a time when playing time was readily available (due to a lack of draft picks turning pro). Those AHL minutes need to be devoted to prospects with a real chance at an NHL future.

If Bowman uses NHL contracts and competitive offers, Edmonton should be able to acquire a higher level of talent for the fall. That will impact the AHL Bakersfield Condors, and eventually the Oilers.

Who turns pro this fall? 

Among signed Edmonton prospects who are eligible to turn pro this fall, there are three players who should find their way to AHL Bakersfield or the ECHL Fort Wayne Komets.

Beau Akey is an exceptional talent, with injuries during his junior career the only real obstacle to his NHL trajectory. He’s legit and should be able to find his way quickly into a feature role with the Condors.

Connor Clattenburg could return to junior, but his rugged style is a need for the organization at the pro level. Clattenburg’s progress offensively and leadership qualities may also contribute to a possible fast-track future for the 2024 draft pick.

Brady Stonehouse has struggled since signing as an undrafted free agent in October 2023, but he should get a full shot at finding the range offensively this fall.

Unsigned Oilers prospects who could turn pro this fall

The biggest possible signing among Oilers prospects is Russian power winger Maxim Berezkin. I ranked him No. 3 on the winter edition of Edmonton’s top-20 prospect list based on size, skill and performance. He has scored 11-21-32 in 46 KHL games this season, and his free-agent window opens this spring.

Right-handed centre Matt Copponi is playing this season with Boston University, after starring at Merrimack College in two of his three seasons there. His offensive impact is less with BU, but Copponi is an undersized skill playmaker with enough ability to sign and turn pro immediately. He turns 22 in June.

Shane Lachance is Copponi’s teammate at Boston University and a big part of the team. Lachance is a power forward who has cleared a point per game in his sophomore season. Bowman could help improve the pro prospect pool in a big way by getting Lachance to exit college early and signing a contract this spring.

Samuel Jonsson is a 2022 draft pick who has spiked in Sweden’s excellent second league (Allsvenskan) this season. His .932 save percentage is a monster total, and is the rare example of a backup outperforming a legit starter (veteran Lars Volden) over a season. Edmonton may need an AHL goalie next season (Olivier Rodrigue will have a chance to make the Oilers, or be lost to waivers) and Jonsson, 21, appears to be on an NHL trajectory.

Paul Fischer is a left-handed defenceman Bowman picked up in the trade that resulted from the St. Louis Blues’ offer sheets to Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. He’s mobile and has shutdown skills, and the organization is in dire need of lefty blue at the AHL level. He’s in his sophomore season, so he has options, but he would be a solid addition for the Oilers.

Luca Munzenberger is another lefty shutdown defenceman with good speed. He’s 22 and in his senior year with Vermont. This is a player the Oilers can probably sign with an NHL deal, and he addresses an area of weakness with the Condors.

There are other candidates who are unsigned but are in the Oilers prospect pool but this represents the top end. Some may be dealt for immediate help at the deadline, but there’s value here and the organization needs to secure as much as possible.

Who should be the targets?

Bowman will want to make a splash in this area, as the organization is not in possession of its own 2025 first-round selection. That pick was dealt at last season’s draft for the pick that turned into centre Sam O’Reilly.

Edmonton does have some attractive picks in 2025. Based on recent standings, the Oilers have selection No. 44 and No. 76 via St. Louis so there are reasons to have the scouts on the road.

While the scouts are flying in to cities and driving to rinks, there are undrafted free agents who Bowman might want them viewing this winter and into the spring:

Marc Lajoie is an impressive defenceman for the Alberta Golden Bears. He previously played with the WHL Edmonton Oil Kings, signed a tryout with the Condors and played a game there. He has also been in Oilers rookie camp. He’s 21, 6-foot-6 and has two-way skills.

The most expensive signing might be TJ Hughes, who will receive great interest from across the NHL.

Bowman could also go after AHL players hitting free agency (like Matej Blumel) who have not been able to find traction with their current NHL teams. There are several AHL-only contracts on other teams (Zach Metsa is an interesting player) available.

Bottom line

Bowman is unlikely to find a first-round talent among the U.S. college, Canadian and American junior or European leagues but he can find players who can help.

A strong spring would see management signing Lajoie and Sean Chisholm, adding Jonsson, Fischer, Munzenberger and Berezkin from the Oilers’ talent pool, and two effective draft picks with those early selections from the Blues.

Bowman isn’t dealing from a position of strength at the draft. NHL deals and significant contract offers will get him in more conversations and see him have more success than Holland in the procurement of free agents from various leagues across the hockey world.

When it comes to American college players, targeting Canadian kids is usually the path to success. The pressure is on the Oilers organization. Everyone knows this franchise can’t afford a false spring in identifying and signing quality amateur talent.

(Photo of Luca Munzenberger: AP Photo / Stew Milne)