We are going through the list that I consider to be the Oilers’ top 10 most important prospects. This is not strictly a list of the most skilled young or unestablished players in the organization. In the first instalment I explained my thought process and I’ll be including that paragraph in each one of these posts just so I don’t have to figure out 10 different ways of saying the same thing.
I plan on going over the top 10 most important prospects in the Oilers’ organization. This is a little different (though not by much) than going through what I consider are the 10 best prospects in the organization. The key difference is that their ranking is determined both by their potential as well as how much the NHL club needs them to succeed. For example, I believe Iiro Pakarinen is a better prospect than several players on this list but as another winger in an organization flush with them I don’t have him in my top 10 most important prospects.
We are moving our way forward and as we do I expect we will see a lot of the anticipated names but perhaps not in the order you might have them because of the criteria I’m using or maybe because I’m not as high on Player X as others. Below will be the ever growing list of names we’ve covered in this series. The next player is Kyle Platzer.
10
Jujhar Khaira
9
Kyle Platzer was drafted in the 4th Round 96th Overall by the Oilers in 2013. At the time he was a skinny kid with unimpressive scoring totals. Today he’s a modestly sized kid (6’0” 185 lbs) with significantly better scoring totals. He is a right handed centerman and that goes a long way in the NHL to help make you stand out but he’s probably going to find himself on the wing for most of his pro career. If he makes it to the NHL with the Oilers that will almost certainly be his destiny.
I don’t expect every player on this list to bloom into their full potential as we might see it today. Sadly, most prospects never do. But with Edmonton’s high end drafting and some good luck we should see a good number of these players in Oiler uniforms. Maybe they spend years in them, maybe it’s just a couple of games. Like Khaira before him in this series, Platzer faces an uphill battle.
He was ranked 110 in North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting in 2013 but the Oilers saw something they liked and picked him ahead of that ranking. He only scored 5 times in 65 games during the 2012-2013 season with the London Knights but it was also just his first full season in the OHL. Platzer split his next season with London and Owen Sound but he scored 22 goals. In his final year in Major Junior the total rose again to 34.
Below are the primary scoring summaries for Platzer from 2011-2012 to 2014-2015 courtesy of Hockey DB.
2011-12 London OHL 4GP, 0G-1A-1P, 0 PIM
2012-13 London OHL 65GP, 5G-17A-22P, 15 PIM
2013-14 London OHL 39GP, 9G-8A-17P, 14 PIM
2013-14 Owen Sound OHL 27GP, 13G-6A-19P, 12PIM
2014-15 Owen Sound OHL 68GP, 34G-47A-81P, 46 PIM
2014-15 Oklahoma City AHL 4GP, 2G-1A-3P, 0 PIM
Platzer not only started to produce offensively, he took massive strides over that time. From 22 points to 36 points all the way up to 81 points. In fact, he lead the Owen Sound Attack in scoring in the 2014-2015 season and was 1 goal away from tying for the lead in that category as well. His NHL equivalency
as per CHLStats is 29 points. That’s not even close enough to expect him in the NHL soon but it was tied for 25th in the OHL for NHLe last season. So his progress keeps him on track for a probable career.
Promisingly, he then played in 4 AHL games where he picked up 3 points. It was a very auspicious pro debut for the young man. With many of the Oilers’ best offensive prospects graduating to the NHL so quickly the farm team has had to rely on veterans for their scoring. Platzer has the chance to step onto the farm club and contribute to a scoring line. His progress to date has been impressive and it’s certainly one of the biggest reasons he’s on this list.
Beyond that, having players like Platzer who can play Center or Wing is vital to the organization. Versatile players who can score are not common in the Oiler prospect pool, especially in its 2nd tier of players. He’s going to be the kind of player the team desperately needs to keep progressing. And, given his already happy start to the AHL there’s plenty of hope for Platzer right now.
One thing extra to note about Platzer is that only 9 of his 34 goals last season came on the PP and 4 of them came shorthanded. Zach Nastasiuk, who beat Platzer by one goal for the team lead, scored 17 of his goals on the PP. Why this is good news is that it seems Platzer is able to produce at even strength and obviously has some wherewithal on the PK. If he’s going to progress through the AHL and perhaps one day play on the Oilers it will likely not be on their top 2 scoring lines. The odds of him getting juicy PP time if he ever gets to Edmonton is low. His ability to score goals away from the man advantage is a great attribute in a prospect.
For Platzer, he ranks in at number 9 on the list of top 10 most important Oilers prospects because of his excellent offensive progress and overall versatility. Having this player develop into a NHL player over several others will potentially give them a right shooting C/W who can play on the PK and chip in offensively.
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