5 Oilers prospects to watch at annual B.C. rookie tournament

September 13, 2024 Canuck

The fruit harvest in British Columbia’s Okanagan is usually very much over (not much of one this year, though), but hockey players on their journey to the professional ranks will further ripen there starting Friday night.

At Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre starting at 8:30 p.m. MT, a rookie squad of Edmonton Oilers prospects and hopefuls is slated to face off against host counterparts from the Vancouver Canucks.

The annual prospects showcase typically features players from the National Hockey League’s organizations from western Canada: the Oilers, the Canucks, the Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets.

The Oilers rookies will play the Flames rooks on Saturday and the Jets’ ones on Monday morning. All Oilers rookie games will be livestreamed by the team on their online subscription site.

Here are five Oilers players to watch in the tourney:

Matthew Savoie

The principal piece the Oilers received in the June trade with the Buffalo Sabres that saw Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tulio depart Edmonton is now the organization’s top prospect.

Odds are the 20-year-old centre will start his first full professional season in the American Hockey League after a high-scoring major-junior career (256 points in 161 games over three seasons with two Western Hockey League franchises), but some say the five-foot-nine, 179 lb. St. Albert native could see time with the Oilers.

Savoie, the ninth overall pick by the Sabres in the 2022 NHL Draft, was considered one of the WHL’s top players last season, scoring 71 points in 34 games between the Wenatchee Wild and the Moose Jaw Warriors, with whom he went to the Memorial Cup.

Sam O’Reilly

The Oilers didn’t have a first-round pick at June’s draft in Las Vegas until chief executive Jeff Jackson pulled the trigger on a deal with Philadelphia during the event at the Sphere for the final selection of the round (No. 32), taking the six-foot-one, 178 lb. forward with it.

The Oilers said following the draft they not only have to pay attention to restocking their prospect pool, they also liked attributes of O’Reilly’s such as size, drive and competitiveness. Odds are the 18-year-old from Toronto will be heading back to the junior London Knights during/following NHL camp.

Beau Akey

This six-foot, 173 lb. defenceman was the Oilers’ top draft pick a year ago (second round, 56th overall), was impressive at training camp last year and subsequently inked a three-year entry-level contract.

The right-shot Akey injured his shoulder early in his Ontario Hockey League campaign on the Barrie Colts’ blueline, however, limiting the Waterloo, Ont., native to 14 games.

When he was drafted, the strong skater was coming off a 47-point performance in 2022-23 in 66 games with the Colts.

Connor Ungar

The old man of this group at 22, this undrafted former Western Hockey League goalie signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Oilers this spring after a year toiling for Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.

The Calgary native put up stellar numbers (a .932 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average) and helped lead the Badgers to an appearance in the national finals after a solid overage junior outing with Moose Jaw the season before (.925 save pct., 2.58 GAA).

He could either get starts in net for the Oilers’ ECHL affiliate in Fort Wayne, Ind., this season or back up 24-year-old Olivier Rodrigue in AHL Bakersfield. Or both.

Matvey Petrov

The 21-year-old Russian is heading into his second pro season, having scored nine goals and five assists for 14 points in 53 games with the AHL Bakersfield Condors in an injury-riddled 2023-24 campaign.

The winger displayed offensive pedigree in junior after the Oilers drafted him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, with two campaigns of 90-plus points for the OHL North Bay Battalion.

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