The Oil seem to have a wealth of great young players in the system that could possibly make it to the NHL this season, but there are only so many spots. The forward lineup this up coming season will have maybe 4 spots for these guys, one of the spots on the top 2 lines, but there are probably 9 players that could fill in these 4 spots. It will be interesting to see who makes the team, and its not as easy as you might think, I mean you can’t just pick the 4 most talented players or the players with the most potential.

The player first of all needs to be ready to compete at the NHL level or he’ll just end up getting hurt, and the player needs to fill the role that is needed. I would rather see a great young prospect like Sam Gagner play big minutes and big situations in the AHL than playing 4-5 minutes a night on the fourth line in the NHL. So as I see it here are the prospects that have a shot at the team this season, where I think they’ll be and why. Of course all of this will change when Fernando Pisani returns or if Kevin Lowe signs another UFA or makes a trade.

• Andrew Cogliano, C – This kid is fast and talented. An offensive player that needs to be in an offensive role. For this reason I think he will be on the Falcons in the AHL where he will play a major roll. Could see him if there are injuries on the Oilers.
• Rob Schremp, C – Disapointing season in the AHL last year. Now he has an opportunity to exceed expectations. I think he will start in Springfield on the Falcons but could get called up if players are not performing to expectations or there is an injury on the Oilers.
• Marc-Antoine Pouliot, C – Needs to play more consistently in the NHL than last season but I think he has a spot to lose as third line center and will start the season on the Oilers.
• Ryan O’Marra, C – With a good training camp he may just take the third line center spot from Pouliot, but I believe he is more likely to start on the Falcons.
• Robert Nilsson, LW – So much talent, already has some NHL experience. Possible second line RW as a setup guy for the Stoll and Torres shots.
• Kyle Brodziak, C – Needs to step it up to make it to the NHL level. I think with a good training camp we could see Kyle start the season on the Oilers fourth line. May eventually replace Reasoner.
• Zack Stortini, RW – The team needs a tough guy right? I think Zack will start the season in the AHL as he does not provide enough offensive skill for the NHL.
• Jean-Francois Jacques, LW – More talented than Stortini, he can fight, but can he score a goal in the NHL? Will start on the Oilers fourth line LW but may lose the spot to Stortini if he does not perform.
• Sam Gagner, C – The brightest star in the sky that is the Oilers prospects, but a year in the AHL may be of more benefit for the player and the team. I will predict a full AHL season for Gagner unless the Oilers see injuries to the extent they did last season.

So the four prospects I see on the Oil for the beginning of the Season are Nilsson, Pouliot, Jacques, and Brodziak. Mind you Brodziak and Jacques may split games with Thoresen and Stortini. I see the lines as follows:

1. Penner – Horcoff – Hemsky
2. Torres – Stoll – Nilsson
3. Moreau – Pouliot – Sanderson
4. Jacques – Reasoner – Brodziak

There are other great prospects as well that I haven’t mentioned here that will be pushing in the next couple of seasons, guys like Slava Trukhno and Colin McDonald. Thats not even to mentions the Defensive prospects like Taylor Chorney, Jeff Petry, Tom Gilbert, and Denis Grebeshkov. As you can see the Oilers have a very bright future if some of these players can meet their full potential.

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