Akey’s understanding of how to create lanes using his feet is sublime. You can even see his teammate on the goal recognize the seam he created for him. He follows this up with being an excellent passer of the puck. Again, in this play he makes two ridiculous passes to create options for his linemates.

Here is another example from a game this week on the 4v4. Watch Akey in this clip read the forechecker net front.

The second that forechecker goes, Akey immediately steps out and attacks up the ice. As soon as the heels of the defender go, he follows him right up the ice. The defender knows he’s instantly in trouble because watch him scramble to recover defensive position. By then it is too late. Akey has created chaos by moving quickly up the middle of the ice. He gives himself multiple options and makes a great pass to set up a goal.

In this case, Akey used his smarts, skating ability and passing all in the same 5 seconds to create a goal. This doesn’t happen enough especially when it could.

In terms of defending, Akey will need to put on weight. He’s fairly tall, but also sleight at 185 pounds. He will need to put on some muscle to net front defend and to work on the walls. However, he also has some sublime fundamentals that help him. His four-way skating ability makes it very hard for attackers to beat him with speed and/or lateral attack moves. He also has an excellent stick and uses it to turn pucks over and defend passes against. Here is a great example of how Akey defends. It isn’t earth shaking, but it is very effective. Notice him play the entry like a 2v1. Once the puck is rotated outside watch his ability to turn while keeping pace and closing distance. This is high skill skating. He forces the play back up the wall faster than the opponents wanted and it results in a turnover and a goal for Barrie.

This type of defending is likely to be underappreciated by some, but it is highly effective and it will translate to professional hockey.

For the rest of the season, I just want to see more from Akey. I want him to be more assertive. Attack more and create more because he has the tools. It’s really a question of confidence and will to do so. If he can add that to the portfolio, Akey’s game should take off.

Shane Lachance

Lachance had one game this week and it was a strong one. He had a goal and an assist along with eight shots on net. It was against a lower-quality team, but still impressive. I only have one highlight of Lachance this week, but it is an important one. The reason Lachance was a low draft pick was his skating. To say it was poor would be truthful and maybe even understated. However, he’s clearly worked very hard on this part of his game. Let’s watch this clip in detail.

Lachance is on the forecheck here. He attacks the puck carrier until he sees full control and the puck starts to head back across the zone. Watch his first two strides to get back into a high offensive zone position. This is really solid work. His body is in a great position. Chest up for the most part. The lower body is in a great position with hips, knees and toes all in good position to provide great balance.

Once the puck goes back down, watch him hunt the puck with speed. Again, this man is 6’5″ so it will never look smooth, but it does look powerful. Really good skating mechanics here.

The final part is a slow-motion view of his turn. This is the part that still needs work. Here Lachance could have helped his teammate by pivoting instead of using a slalom turn. The pivot would have opened his chest to his teammate and the pass would have come quicker. Instead, he has to wait a bit while Lachance completes the turn.

It works out in the end because Lachance has a ridiculous wrist-shot release.

This is a very encouraging development. Lachance already had size and great hands. If his skating can come even remotely close to NHL average, he becomes a top-flight Oilers prospect.

Matthew Savoie

Another three games, another three points. Matthew Savoie is off to the AHL All-Star game as the much deserved selection for the Bakersfield Condors. This week he showcased his excellent one timer on the powerplay.

He also demonstrated his underrated defensive game that turns into offense. Watch his work providing pressure in his zone until the opponent turns over the puck. Savoie tried very hard to make the pass here, but ultimately had to shoot. The shoot was good enough to create a rebound and Cagguila finished it off.

Savoie’s game might not be seen by Oiler fans until next season. However, he continues to make it harder and harder on Oiler management to ignore what he could be when he pulls on the Oiler jersey.

News and Notes

William Nicholl seems to be turning the corner with three points in his last three games. He remains a little hesitant in his physical play and I wonder if he is still a little banged up.

Samuel Jonsson, the Oilers goalie prospect taken in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, is lighting up the Alsvenskan. Jonsson has a .921 save percentage and a 1.90 goals against average in Sweden’s second-best league. Jonsson is only just 21, so has lots of runway in front of him.

That’s it for this week’s Oilers Prospect Report. Stay warm everyone and see you around the rink.