3 Surprising Positives For Oilers Out Of Prospect Tournament

The very first Oiler games of the 2024-25 season went poorly.

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Thankfully, those games were exhibitions, part of the Young Stars Classic in Penticton. The Oilers rookie team lost all three of their games over the weekend, falling 2-0 to Vancouver, 3-1 to Calgary, and 2-0 to Winnipeg.

When you lose all your games and only score one goal, there obviously aren’t going to be a lot of positives to glean from the experience. This is, after all, one of the weakest farm systems in the league. Still, we got the opportunity to see how Oilers prospects match up to their peers, and who stands out.

Goaltending

The Oilers gave all three of their goalies the chance to start in Penticton. All three played well, but Nathaniel Day and Brett Brochu were excellent. Day, drafted in the 6th round by the Oilers in 2023, saved 28 of the 30 shots the Canucks prospects fired on him on Friday. Day has struggled in the OHL, putting up save percentages under .875 in back-to-back seasons.

After Connor Ungar allowed two goals on 20 shots against Calgary on Saturday, Brett Brochu wrapped up the weekend with 32 saves on 34 shots against Winnipeg yesterday. The undrafted Brochu signed a contract with the Bakersfield Condors after putting up a .920 save percentage in the ECHL last season.

The 22-year-old Brochu will have to fight for starts in Bakersfield behind veteran Colin Delia and 24-year-old Olivier Rodrigue, not to mention his Young Stars teammate Ungar, but he’s had good numbers everywhere he’s played so far.

Physicality

We saw a few prospect games get chippy over the weekend, and it was no different in the Okanagan. Defenceman Nate Corbet dropped the gloves in all three of his games, taking on Vancouver’s Joe Arntsen, Calgary’s Lucas Ciona, and Winnipeg’s Mark Liwiski.

He wasn’t the only one, either. 2024 5th round pick Connor Clattenburg fought Calgary’s Parker Bell, while Jayden Grubbe…