2024 Edmonton Oilers prospects
Depth hopefuls #21-25
Last time around we introducedthe Cult of Hockey‘s fourteenth annual Oilers prospects series on a moderately hopeful note, pointing out that the ranks have been fleshed out significantly from last year’s paltry 27 hopefuls. In 2024 that number has risen to a much healthier 33, moreover many of the more recent additions will eventually be found near the top of the list.
Meanwhile we found many of the usual suspects near the bottom of it; indeed 6 of the bottom 8-ranked youngsters featured in our first post were among last year’s bottom 8 as well. Late picks for the most part who remain under club control for a while even as they don’t yet have contracts and likely never will.
We’ll step up a level this time to consider another five players, including a couple of 2024 draft picks and a pair of entry-level free agents along with an experienced minor leaguer. The “long shots” tag still applies to anybody outside the top 20, mind, but we’ve seen the odd one cash in the past and may again. All five featured here are playing in North America in 2024-25, three under contract to the Oilers.
What all seem to have in common, at least the four skaters, is a high-energy motor that makes them tough to play against.
#25 LD Noel Hoefenmayer
(last year #14) age 25, 6’0, 192 lbs, signed as an Entry Level free agent in 2023.
A five-year OHL vet, all with Ottawa 67’s, he was essentially a double-overager of 21 when he broke out for 82 points in his final season. From there he landed a minor league contract in Toronto Maple Leafs system, playing 91 games in the AHL and 69 more in the ECHL. After a promising 2022-23 season that saw him lead the Toronto Marlies blueline in goals, assists and points with 11-27-38 while posting an eye-popping 114 PiM in 65 games, the Oilers came calling with an NHL class contract. It was just a one-year ELC, limited in term by the player’s advanced age of 24 when he signed it.
Hoefenmayer was one of a trio of similarly-aged left-shot D who arrived in Bakersfield in 2023, including fellow signee Ben Gleason along with Cam Dineen who arrived as part of the Nick Bjugstad / Michael Kesselring deal the previous deadline. Due in part to phenomenal health of the Oilers blueline, all three of them spent the full season in Bakersfield, moreover they were joined by young Philip Broberg who gobbled up large chunks of ice time for much of the campaign. Broberg has since graduated to the Oilers, while Gleason and Dineen, both 26, remain under contract in Bakersfield.
All four lefties produced decent numbers last season, in fact they finished 1-2-3-4 among Condors’ blue in scoring:
Hoefenmayer’s 7-11-18, +6 in 47 games was respectable enough, but down a couple of notches from where he’d been in Toronto. He did deliver as hoped on the physicality side, collecting 64 PiM in the process. That said, he didn’t exactly run roughshod over the internal competition, where Gleason was deemed by most observers to being the closest to NHL-ready, and even got a call-up from the big club at one point though never did get beyond the pressbox.
Ira “Original Pouzar” Cooper watched a significant number of Condors games last season and provides the following observations on Hoefenmayer:
- Doesn’t really do anything great but doesn’t have any major deficiencies. He just kind of “is there” playing his role as a middle of the lineup AHL d-man. Was in the healthy scratch rotation when the team had excess d-men. He does have a good shot that can beat AHL goalies but he isn’t a plus passer nor does he have plus offensive instincts. A solid enough defender that gets by more on effort than skill – willing to get on shooting lanes, block shots and battle net front. Will stand up for teammates with no hesitation. 4-5 scraps last season.
The club liked him enough to to sign him to another year extension this past Jul 01, and will still hold RFA rights when it expires next June.
Expectations for 2024-25: Minor-league depth, possible NHL call-up if injuries hit.
#24 C William Nicholl
(new to list) age 18, 6’0, 183 lbs., drafted #196 in 2024
The seventh and last draft pick by the Oilers six weeks ago, Nicholl arrives on the scene with a thin résumé that includes just one full season of major junior. This with the London Knights hockey factory, not a bad place to be learning the ropes. In fact, Nicholl was the 199th member of the storied franchise to be selected in an NHL draft, the most of any organization in major junior.
As a rookie in 2023-24, the fledgling centre found himself down the pecking order behind Easton Cowan, a Toronto first round pick in 2023, and Sam O’Reilly, Edmonton’s own first rounder in 2024. He’s still slated to be behind the same duo in 2024-25, though it’s not impossible Cowan might make the jump to the NHL at 19 in which case Nicholl’s own opportunity in London could open wide.
He did OK with what scraps he got last season, posting 6-14-20 in 65 games to finish a modest 25th among OHL rookies, then finished tied for second among freshmen (behind only O’Reilly) in playoff scoring with 1-7-8 in 18 games. According to Knights’ coach Dale Hunter: “Will stepped up for us numerous times throughout the season. He played a big role for our team when we dealt with injuries and suspensions throughout the season.”
He was ranked #134 by Elite Prospects, who provided the following scouting report:
- Nicholl is a forward who shows unrelenting pace, textbook details, and flashes of high-level offence. He wins body positioning on everyone in every situation: Net front, along the boards, on the backcheck, on random opponents in open ice. His physical skills enable him to beat defenders off the wall, get inside, and fire off chances.
Lots to like there. He’s a competitive type with some similar attributes to O’Reilly, and plenty of time to develop.
Expectations for 2024-25: An elevated role in his second year in London.
#23 LW Brady Stonehouse
(new to list) age 20, 5’10, 194 lbs, signed as entry-level free agent in 2023
Undrafted in both 2022 and ’23, the sparkplug winger was invited to Oilers’ Dev Camp last summer, then to Rookie Camp in September and from there on to NHL camp. The 19-year-old made enough of an impression to earn a contract offer from the NHL club just after returning to Ottawa 67’s of the OHL to play his third full season in the league. Alas, he didn’t come close to repeating his breakout 2022-23 campaign which saw him score 37 goals in 68 games, dropping back to 20 tallies.
Still, he’s got something that many recent Oilers draft picks only wish they had — a 3-year Entry Level Contract. After sliding for a year, that pact will take effect in 2024-25, when he will most likely turn pro, be it with Edmonton’s AHL squad in Bakersfield or their ECHL affiliate in Fort Wayne.
Elite Prospects provides this scouting report from his original draft year:
- If he’s first on the puck, he establishes body positioning and keeps the defender on his back. If he’s second, he traps the feet of the puck carrier – if they’re lucky, because he’s usually looking to squish them into the boards. Non-stop pressure on the forecheck makes disruptive on his worst days, and a puck-thieving force on his best.
More recently, yours truly provided these impressions from the Penticton Young Stars tournament last September:
- “Built like a fire hydrant (5’10, 192) he plays a power forward game, robust along the walls and in puck battles… Feisty player, involved in the action both before and after the whistle… Lots of breadth to his game.”
Expectations for 2024-25: While an over-age season of major junior remains an option, expect him to join the pro ranks, most likely with Fort Wayne. Job One is to establish himself as a capable player at that level.
#22 LW Connor Clattenburg
(new to list) age 19, 6’2, 198 lbs, drafted #160 in 2024
Hit, hit, hit. Virtually every mention of this fifth-round draft pick speaks of his hitting prowess, such as this from Steven Ellis, prospect analyst for Daily Faceoff:
…while Jared Brown of The Hockey News summarized:
- He’s a gritty, aggressive forward who isn’t afraid to mix it up with his opponents and drop the gloves. In his rookie season, he had 115 penalty minutes, which was 50 more PIMs from second place… If you’re a defenceman and Clattenburg is on the ice, you better keep your head up, because he is a heat-seeking missile.
There’s not a lot in the statistical record to suggest that he’s apt to make it as a scorer. Splitting the season between Soo Greyhounds and Flint Firebirds, Clattenburg produced just 13-16-29 in 60 OHL games before getting drafted from off the board in his second year of eligibility. Identical boxcars that Zack Stortini had in his own pre-draft season a couple of decades ago (62 GP, 13-16-29), although Stortini was fully 16 months younger at the time and already captain of his team.
Edmonton has been spending (mostly late) draft choices on truculent types for years, and history suggests that every once in a while a bet on a Stortini or a Kelly Buchberger pays off. In the current case, I have started referring to him as “Con Clattenburg” in hopes that will somehow make him the next Cal Clutterbuck. The Oilers, meanwhile, may be hoping he’s the next Kurt Brackenbury.
Expectations for 2024-25: A cameo at Oilers rookie camp, then back to Flint for a third full OHL season to round out his game. Not impossible he’ll get an over-age season there as well, given the Oilers don’t have to reach a contract decision on this player until mid-2026.
#21 G Connor Ungar
(new to list) age 22, 6’2, 196 lbs, signed as an entry-level free agent in 2024
Edmonton’s lone signing from this past spring’s crop of college free agents was a goaltender from Brock University. Not often do players from Canadian universities make the grade as NHLers, but netminders from Brock have a better than average chance, given the surprise success of current Washington Capital Logan Thompson. As I noted upon Ungar’s signing, the two had had nearly identical seasons at the exact same age in Brock, five years apart. Thompson was in the NHL within three years.
The school’s own hockey page summarized Ungar’s campaign in glowing terms:
- Collecting two major awards, first-year Connor Ungar took the league by storm, as he was named both the OUA West Goaltender of the Year and OUA West Rookie of the Year. On top of that, the Calgary product also earned a spot on the OUA West First Team and the OUA West All-Rookie Team. Ungar set a program record with 20 regular season wins, placing him first in the OUA and U SPORTS in that category. His 2.15 goals against average (GAA) and .932 save percentage (SV%) were both fourth in the province during the regular season, with his SV% placing him fifth in the country.
He turns pro this fall with a two-year ELC, giving him some highway to establish himself in the pro ranks.
Given he currently ranks the #5 stopper in the system, it’s most likely his first opportunity will come in the ECHL, but that’s standard fare for this organization. Oilers have started future NHLers Devan Dubnyk, Laurent Brossoit and Stu Skinner in Double A, ensuring each saw plenty of game action right off the hop. Indeed, Thompson went the same route, playing his first pro season in that same loop before moving on up the ladder.
Expectations for 2024-25: A prominent role in rookie camp with a couple of starts in Penticton, then an opportunity to play against experienced pros and earn the #1 role in Fort Wayne.
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