Oilers Prospect Update: NCAA season underway, huge night for Lewandowski, and more

Unfortunately, this was the winger’s only point of the weekend, but Park was creating chances. In the next clip, he makes an excellent move to get around the defender, and the goalie makes a great save.

It will be interesting to see how Park responds to playing the higher-end teams. I found his skating a little choppy, but he keeps up with the pace due to his hockey sense and ability to connect on plays. My main concern is that his ice time will start to diminish when they play in close games, but we’ll see when that time comes.

Asher Barnett – Defence – University of Michigan

Hey, would you look at that? Two prospects are playing for the well-regarded program in Michigan. Like Aidan Park, Asher Barnett is in his first season with the Wolverines. The fifth-rounder had two assists on the weekend and played around 17 minutes in each game. Barnett is on the third pair right now and is getting a healthy handful of penalty-killing duties; so far, he hasn’t seen any power-play time.

In the profile I put up of Asher during the summer, I outlined that he has a very simple offensive game and that going to Michigan could help him bring out a bit more offence. Below is a clip of Barnett’s best play of the weekend: he picks up a loose puck, skates along the perimeter, and makes a great pass to his teammate in the slot. Somehow, he didn’t get an assist on the play, but it was a great sign to see.

In the next clip, it’s a 10-1 game, but whatever. I like to see the freshman activating like this and making a pass rather than taking a low-percentage shot. Barnett gets rewarded with a secondary assist on the play.

Michigan wants their players constantly moving in the offensive zone, creating confusion, which means you have to be good with the puck because you’re going to get it on a handoff often when the forwards come up the wall. Barnett’s main knock for me is his puck skills, and playing a few years with the Wolverines should help immensely. Great opening weekend for Asher Barnett.

Dalyn Wakely – Centre – UMass Lowell

After four seasons in the OHL, the 2024 sixth-rounder decided to head to the U.S. and play his first season of college hockey. UMass Lowell is a young roster, and Wakely is getting a lot of opportunities early on. The right-shot centre played one game over the weekend and had two assists in a 4–0 win against Merrimack College. Below is the clip of his primary assist where Wakely shows off his patience to create the two-on-one, deceives the goalie and the defenceman into thinking he’s going to shoot, and then feathers the perfect pass to his teammate for a wide-open net.

Wakely had zero shots on the weekend, and you’d like him to have at least one, but the pass-heavy centre is an excellent playmaker who can see plays develop. In the next clip, it shows. Wakely makes a quick one-touch pass to the bumper on the power play for a great chance.

The former OHLer is a joy to watch because of the passes he’s able to connect on. The rematch against Merrimack goes down on Friday. This was a great first game for Wakely; he looked comfortable with the competition and made some excellent feeds that showed he was thinking the game a step ahead.

Bauer Berry – Defence – University of St. Thomas

The 2024 seventh-rounder played around 10 minutes, and I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw, but Berry is a defensive defenceman and struggled to move the puck under pressure. One of the main attributes I noted as a positive was his ability to shut down cycles with quick closeouts. Below is a good example of his closeout speed on the penalty kill.

Playing more minutes will be the route to progression in Berry’s game. Hopefully, the six-foot-four defenceman can get into more offensive-zone scenarios as well, but he seems to have a defined role on this team, even though it’s only been one game.

David Lewandowski – Winger – Saskatoon Blades

The German import played two games over the weekend, notching one goal and five assists. In the second game against the Brandon Wheat Kings, David Lewandowski had a five-point evening. Lewandowski is now up to eight points in four games since being sent down. For me, the play of the weekend for the fourth-rounder is in the clip below, where he shows off his defensive effort and then slings a beautiful pass to Hunter Laing for the primary assist.

Not only does Lewandowski get rewarded for backchecking, but he also gets rewarded for forechecking in the clip below.

After a five-point game, how can you describe Lewandowski’s weekend as anything other than incredible? The intensity he plays with is always a treat to watch. Whether it’s on the forecheck or backcheck, Lewandowski is giving it his all.

Tommy Lafrenière – Centre – Kamloops Blazers

The 2025 third-rounder doesn’t have the production of David Lewandowski right now, but Lafrenière is still generating a fair number of chances and is riding a three-game point streak. This weekend, he played two games, scoring a goal and adding an assist. Lafrenière also played around 27 minutes in the game against Seattle on the third. Below is the right-shot’s first point of the weekend, where he makes a great shot-pass, finding his teammate’s stick.

In the second game against Portland, Lafrenière scored on a one-timer to put the Blazers up two goals. Excellent job getting it off quickly, and it was one of his eight total shots on the weekend.

Lafrenière is still playing in every situation and getting a ton of ice time. The Hornby Island native is now up to 18 shots in his four games since being sent down and is boasting a 63% faceoff percentage on an average of 20 draws a game. At this point, I thought he would be a point-per-game player or better, and I think he’ll get there. Lafrenière is generating a ton of chances offensively right now, and once the luck goes his way, the points will come.

That’s the weekly North American prospect update! It’s starting to feel like hockey is finally back.