Which Edmonton Oilers prospects have the best opportunity to impress?

The Edmonton Oilers will welcome a new coach this fall. Mike Babcock will observe a roster heavy with veterans and just two NHL contributors (Vasily Podkolzin, Matt Savoie) age 25 or under from last year’s team. The club had seven players 32 or over last season, and is looking to marble youth throughout the lineup in the season to come. This means opportunity for young players in the system. Based on Babcock’s established past, can we identify a group of young prospects with the best chance to impress? Here’s a look. Oilers fans would be wise to observe training camp and preseason closely, but also be aware that roster changes will come during the season. In October 2015, just before the regular season began, Babcock sat down with TSN’s Darren Dreger for a conversation. Babcock had observed the team, made his decisions and was ready to start the regular season with his hand-picked roster. He left the door open for changes on the roster: “I’ve come to lots of conclusions, but what we’re going to do is we’re going to find out if my conclusions are right. In other words, in the short term, right now, they can trick you a little bit, but not over the long term. The NHL is too hard. It’s just too hard. It exposes you every night.” In 2015-16, rookies were rare early on. For Toronto’s opening-night roster, defenceman Scott Harrington dressed and would play 15 games during the year. Not dressed, but destined for recall from the Toronto Marlies were William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen (both 19), Zach Hyman (23 and acquired over the summer of 2015), Connor Brown (21) and others. The Maple Leafs were in a different competitive cycle, having missed the playoffs in 2014 and 2015, and destined to do it again in 2015-16 under Babcock. The long recall list from the 2015-16 season shows Babcock’s willingness to deploy young players with and without draft pedigree. The watershed moment for the franchise would take place in 2016-17, when Auston Matthews joined the team, and Toronto’s offence increased by more than 50 goals. In Edmonton, the top-end talents have been on the roster for 11 years or more. Babcock will need to help in finding strong support players among the group arriving in camp this fall. Babcock was a puck possession coach in 2015 and will be in Edmonton in 2026-27. In a conversation with Maclean’s magazine in October 2015, he gave his view of the possession game. “I’m a big believer that you don’t want to play defence. Having the puck is way more fun, playing in the offensive zone is way more fun. So let’s build a structure and habits so that we can do that. If you don’t work, if you don’t execute quick in the [defensive] zone, if you don’t slow people down through the neutral zone, you can’t be on offence. I call our end the work zone, neutral ice, the speed zone, and their end the fun zone. Let’s figure out a way to get in it.” The best way for us to cipher puck possession quality in the AHL (from publicly available sources) is via even-strength goal share. The Condors scored 167 and allowed 161 goals (51 percent goal share) at even strength in 2025-26. Here are the players who beat the average last year: This is probably the most significant list in terms of roster players in Bakersfield who could make a difference given the opportunity. The top name is defenceman Damien Carfagna, the No. 3 prospect in the system. Signed out of college (Ohio State) 16 months ago, he was pro-ready in 2025-26 and should get a taste of NHL play this season. Carfagna is a left defenceman, and the Oilers are deep at the position, but Carfagna’s speed and puck-moving ability are made for the modern possession game. Beau Akey, a right-handed defenceman, is second on the list and has a similar skill set. Among forwards, Ike Howard is the most famous name and should get a full shot this season in Edmonton. If he struggles or is a victim of a roster crunch surrounding waiver worries, Howard should still see plenty of action with Babcock as coach. He’s the top prospect in the system and a fine goal scorer. Oilers fans, who have seen incredible young talent arrive over the last decade, may be a more productive goal scorer than Savoie, who scored 18 as a rookie last season. Josh Samanski’s two-way ability is so strong that he made it from the German league to the NHL in a single season. Babcock may fade him in favour of a more experienced centre, but if Samanski shows as well this fall as he did during last season’s recalls, Babcock will find room for him. Max Jones is an older player who also impressed once recalled by Edmonton in 2025-26. Two of the names on this list have moved along. Roby Jarventie signed with HC Ambrì-Piotta of Switzerland’s NL (National League), and James Hamblin signed a two-way deal with the Anaheim Ducks over the summer. The key players to watch from this list are Howard, Samanski and Carfagna. All three could have an impact in Edmonton during the 2026-27 season In his first season with the Maple Leafs, Babcock fretted over many things. He was often unhappy with his team’s second period (something Oilers fans have issues over with the team in Edmonton), but generally happy with the young players and the build. “I was very impressed with Carrick, I was impressed with Valiev, I was impressed with Hyman, I was impressed Brown, I was impressed with Soshnikov,” Babcock said three games before the end of the 2015-16 season. Hyman, Brown, Soshnikov. Not one of them was chosen before the fifth round of the NHL Draft, but all had talent. Hyman and Brown found their way to long careers, and that kind of success (fifth- and sixth-round picks playing significant roles) is exactly what the Oilers need to supplement the stars on this roster. Edmonton’s system lacks first-round selections, but there are some talented two-way types who may be able to find their way with Babcock this season. Carfagna and Samanski are NHL-ready or close; Owen Michaels is a right-handed centre from college who has two-way ability in an area of extreme need for the organization. Eduards Tralmaks may be the ultimate outlier. The Oilers increased the pool of talent available to them 25 years ago when hiring Craig MacTavish as coach. He embraced the skills of Fernando Pisani, Shawn Horcoff and other young players who could play a 200-foot game and thrive. This season will offer opportunity to first-round pick Howard, but also to several players in the system who were either drafted late or not at all. Increasing the talent pool in this way may be a key component of what Babcock can bring to the Oilers.