Lowetide: Three auditioning Oilers who are finding their groove and hope to find their place

What a difference a year makes.

Last December, I ranked Edmonton’s 20 best prospects and suggested Evan Bouchard (the top prospect at the time) was the only player in the group who could be considered a strong candidate to graduate to the NHL.

I also suggested four other prospects were close enough to push for NHL minutes in 2021: Ryan McLeod, William Lagesson, Tyler Benson and Stuart Skinner.

Each man has played in NHL games during the calendar year 2021, over two seasons: Bouchard (29) leads the way, with William Lagesson (19), Benson (five) and Skinner (four) unable to establish themselves yet as regulars.

This season, at the 15-game mark, McLeod, Benson and Skinner have all played and had varying degrees of success. For Edmonton, all three would be welcome additions for the next several years, but the past suggests one of three is a more reasonable bet when it comes to players chosen outside the first round.

Here’s a trio of young players that Dave Tippett has deployed so far this season and where they could land on the team long term.

Ryan McLeod

McLeod played six preseason games for the Oilers, almost playing his way off the opening night roster with a pedestrian performance. In 64 five-on-five minutes, he didn’t hit the scoresheet and his line was outscored 4-0 overall.

The young centre made the opening night roster but didn’t have much impact against the Vancouver Canucks or Calgary Flames and was sent back to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

Fans have seen that kind of early-season demotion many times and it often results in a prolonged stay in the minors, and a second chance may not arrive until the following year’s training camp.

In McLeod’s case, he delivered strong play in the minors, going 1-5-6 in seven games and demonstrating the ability to exit and enter zones with possession and set up for opportunities. All five points were at five-on-five and his line was easily Bakersfield’s best. McLeod played for the Condors from October 22 through November 6, earning a quick recall to Edmonton.

Since arriving, his game-by-game progress has been impressive, best expressed through five-on-five playing time and results.

McLeod entered training camp flat, floundered, found his game in Bakersfield and is now making a push for regular duty as the No. 3 centre on a contending team. There’s work to be done, but giving him these bigger minutes could pay off in a major way later in the season and into the playoffs. Most encouraging, his line is 2-2 goals at five-on-five since his return from Bakersfield.

McLeod landing the No. 3 centre job would be a massive deal for the organization, the more problems solved internally means fewer assets heading out for rentals at the trade deadline.

Stuart Skinner

In the 43 years the Oilers have been part of the NHL draft, the club has chosen 42 goaltenders. From that group, 13 have played at least one game in the NHL, four have played more than 100 games, and three (Grant Fuhr, Andy Moog and Devan Dubnyk) have been in more than 500 NHL games.

Skinner has played in four games so far in his NHL career, meaning he ranks ninth in games played as an Oiler already. He can move up to the top five if he plays 30 games in the league.

The odds of him reaching the heights of Jussi Markkanen (128 NHL games) are still not high, but his three recent appearances for the Oilers have been promising.

Skinner’s three appearances came right after a revealing article by Daniel Nugent-Bowman for The Athletic that offered some interesting insight into Skinner and the team’s assessment of him as a possible NHL player.

Nugent-Bowman wrote “a team source told me Skinner is “very, very close” to becoming an NHL goaltender. However, indications of late have shown the Oilers believe he’s further away than that” and against that backdrop Skinner played three games during the team’s most recent road trip.

The first game was impressive (Nugent-Bowman wrote about it after the game) and the second game featured a galling lack of attention to detail by Skinner’s teammates. The third came in the third period of the loss against the Jets.

Skinner impressed in all the games, and there may be more believers in Edmonton’s camp today than there was one week ago.

If Skinner develops from here, even as an NHL backup, it would give the team a valuable roster piece. An inexpensive, internal backup goaltender would be ideal for the Oilers next season when cap dollars will be tight.

Tyler Benson (Sergei Belski / USA Today)

Tyler Benson

Every few years a prospect will build toward an NHL career with handsome numbers in junior and the AHL, but struggle in taking the next step. An example in recent Oilers history is Rob Schremp, who posted huge offensive numbers but could not land regular work in the NHL.

There are multiple reasons for Benson’s struggles, the chief one being the team’s depth chart. His competition on the left wing saw an enormous upgrade over the offseason. Zach Hyman and Warren Foegele were procured over the summer, and when added to incumbent Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, there was no clear path to a top-nine role for Benson.

The Oilers kept him on the roster, and through 15 games Benson has played in five. There isn’t much offence, but that shouldn’t be a surprise based on role and opportunity.

Benson has one high-danger scoring chance and his line is 1-3 in goal differential at five-on-five. Should he continue to play at his current rate, expect 27-30 games and some offence from Benson over the course of the season?

He’ll need a break to get substantially more ice time. But, in truth, the player keeping him from playing time (Brendan Perlini) is also struggling to post offence so the opportunity is there.

What does it all mean?

In September, I laid out what reasonable expectations would look like for all Oilers skaters and goalies, arriving at some aggressive totals for these three young prospects.

Player	Totals	Points-Per-Game	Save Percentage
Ryan McLeod	57, 5-7-12	0.21
Tyler Benson	44, 4-6-10	0.23
Stuart Skinner	5, 3.20		0.903

It’s early days, but McLeod is 1-0-1 after seven games, Skinner owns a 2.66 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage in three games, and Benson has no crooked numbers in five games.

If any of these three men land jobs as NHL players it’s a bonus for the Oilers. McLeod’s role (No. 3 centre) represents high value, that’s a feature spot on an NHL team.

Skinner is showing well, his early numbers have exceeded projected totals and he is building his resume at a good time. Next season, he’ll be waiver eligible, so it’s important for Edmonton to know what they have by next summer.

Benson avoided waivers but has been unable to wrestle playing time away from Perlini (who played in his 11th game against Winnipeg on Tuesday night).

The Oilers need to invest minutes in all three players and so far McLeod and Skinner appear to be emerging as players with some NHL future. Benson is lagging and will need to post some offence in the days ahead.

(Top photo: Dave Reginek / NHLI via Getty Images)