Oilers’ Olivier Rodrigue among Daily Faceoff top goaltending prospects

Olivier Rodrigue’s path as a prospect hasn’t been smooth, but the young goaltending prospect has started to shine.

So much so that he landed on Daily Faceoff’s Top 25 goaltending prospects list.

He just squeaked into the 25th spot on the list, his first appearance, with their prospect guru Steven Ellis noting there isn’t a clear path forward for him.

Rodrigue had an excellent season in Bakersfield and could have easily taken over as Stuart Skinner’s backup instead of Calvin Pickard. Rodrigue hasn’t played an NHL game yet so his lack of experience didn’t help, but he was a standout in the AHL last year with a career-best record of 19-21-5 and a save percentage of .916. Rodrique has excellent footwork and does a good job of reading passes, allowing him to get ahead of quality scoring chances. There isn’t a clear path forward for Rodrique to take the next step in his NHL career, but I think he has played well enough to warrant at least a chance to play a few games if one of Edmonton’s other goalies goes down with an injury.

It’s not the first time Rodrigue has gotten some recognition in recent days, landing as Oilersnation’s Bruce Curlock’s seventh-best Oilers prospect.

Drafted by the Oilers in the second round of the 2018 draft, he returned to the QMJHL for two years before turning pro. He split time between the Oilers’ AHL and ECHL affiliates, having more success in the ECHL than AHL.

He joined the Bakersfield Condors on a full-time basis in the 2022-23 season, with a 14-14-1 record across 29 game, posting a .912 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average. Rodrigue built on it last year, playing in 37 games, posting a 19-12-5 record, .916 save percentage and 2.73 GAA.

As Ellis highlighted, Rodrigue doesn’t have a very clear path forward. Stuart Skinner, 25, is just one year older than Rodrigue and locked in as the Oilers’ No. 1 goaltender. Calvin Pickard, meanwhile, secured himself the backup spot with the big club last year, signing a two-year extension with the team this summer.

The Oilers don’t have much in terms of organizational depth in the crease, but they did draft a netminder at this years draft in Eemil Vinni, one of the highest-rated goaltenders in the draft class.

Daily Faceoff also looked at the top 75 skater prospects this week, with just one Oilers player landing on that list, too: Matthew Savoie.