Edmonton Oilers' prospects Ryan McLeod, Raphael Lavoie may be on the fast track to the NHL

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The Edmonton Oilers are stuck in hurry up and wait mode these days. On Wednesday night they sat out a scheduled game for the sixth time in just over three weeks, with just one of those postponements having been made up to this point.

So with the big club sidelined yet again, these lonely eyes turned to the American Hockey League for a little Oilers content, watching the club’s top affiliate Bakersfield Condors play the back half of a two-game set at Colorado Eagles. After seeing parts of Bakersfield’s convincing 6-2 win on Tuesday, I watched from start to finish on Wednesday as Colorado returned the favour by that exact same 6-2 score. In fact the Eagles led 6-0 late in the third period before the Condors finally broke through with a couple of consolation goals deep in garbage time.

Not a great showing by the visitors, who saw a 3-game winning streak come to an end with barely a whimper. Coach Jay Woodcroft’s “needs improvement” list will include items like poor puck management, soft defensive zone coverage, and less-than-stellar netminding on a night his group wasn’t quite clicking. But even this underwhelming performance was not without its bright spots, so let’s focus on those. Namely, the club’s two youngest players, forwards Ryan McLeod and Raphael Lavoie.

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The two have quite a few things in common:

  • Both were drafted in the second round, McLeod at #40 overall in 2018 and Lavoie at #38 a year later.
  • Both were among the oldest first-time-eligibles in their respective draft classes, with birthdays of 1999 Sep 21 and 2000 Sep 25, respectively.
  • Both were ranked as mid-to-late first round selections that slid to the second round.
  • Both are already big men who are still thickening up. McLeod is listed at 6’2, 207, Lavoie at 6’3, 205. Both have the wingspan of a (ahem) Condor.
  • Both played in Europe last fall, developing their skills in Switzerland and Sweden respectively and posting solid results in the process.

Both took advantage of the latter to springboard to a quick start in the AHL. McLeod had the head start there, leaving Zug in the Swiss League in mid-season, but in time for NHL training camp. Lavoie was commited for the whole season to Vasby in Hockey AllSvenskan, the second tier league in Sweden, so had a late arrival in Bakersfield.

More importantly, McLeod is a full year ahead of Lavoie on the development curve, and is at least that much closer to the NHL at this moment in time. But there is plenty to like in the AHL performance of both.

McLeod is in his second season at that level, where he posted a respectable rookie season of 5-18-23 with an even plus/minus on a struggling Condors side a season ago. But in 2021 he has taken it to another level entirely, soaring to 12-12-24 and an impressive +20 through his first 25 games. That places  among the AHL leaders in goals (3rd), points (6th), and plus (1st).

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McLeod has found himself in a sweet spot in Bako, centring the first line between third-year Condors Tyler Benson and Cooper Marody, both of whom are also among the league leaders in various offensive categories, with the entire line ranking 1-2-3 in the AHL in plus. They’ve been a force.

But in addition to clicking with those guys at even strength and on the powerplay, McLeod is also a key contributor on the penalty kill. In all three game states, he relies on his plus skating ability which was always the lead item in his prospect profiles. That speed and general mobility on such a large frame makes him a hard man to handle. He’s got decent hands and is beginning to show a strong grasp of some of the nuances of body positioning and puck distribution.

While capable of playing both centre and wing, he has blossomed at the tougher pivot position. He has added improving performance on the faceoff dot to a strong overall game that was readily observed on Wednesday to cover the full 200 feet of the ice, occasionally in a single bound.

Take for example one sequence when he was able to handle a pass into his skates in front of own net, kick it up to his stick, skate it out of danger and into the neutral zone, dish it off, then nearly finish the sequence moments later with a tip of Benson’s pass while driving the net. Another time on the powerplay he took it end-to-end, splitting the defence but just running out of room as he deked Eagles netminder Adam Werner and bounced his shot off the short-side post.

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He made a number of fine passes during the game, twice setting up Benson for good looks from the slot, making a nifty dish to veteran defenceman Kevin Gravel on a back-door play that nearly worked, and ultimately feeding Lavoie for the shot that finally broke the goose egg with 6 minutes to play.

I especially liked one sequence where McLeod dragged his leg to stay onside, then received the pass, stickhandled into traffic before making a perfectly timed drop pass and running a little interference for its recipient all at once.

Shining through all of this is McLeod’s growing confidence. He clearly wants the puck on his stick, to challenge defenders one-on-one or even one-on-two, and to dish it off or let fly with a shot at an opportune moment.

On Tuesday he scored a gorgeous goal by first providing strong puck support deep in his own territory, helped to create the turnover, then slipped behind the defence to take Benson’s (superb) pass, deke the netminder and make the backhand deposit. Watch for yourself, noting the starting position of McLeod (#29) as the lowest forward in the zone:

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As for Lavoie, there isn’t quite such a range in his game and likely never will be. What he does bring to the table is plus size, decent top-gear skating speed, a little physical edge, and a nose for the net. Above all of those, an excellent shot and a strong desire to let it fly as often as possible. Lavoie is the embodiment of the shoot-first-ask-questions-later forward which the Oilers have generally lacked in recent times.

He’s been in the line-up for just 6 games since making his North American pro debut on March 30. He didn’t hit the scoresheet in his first couple of games but led the Condors in shots both nights (4 each time). He broke through in his third game with a goal from the edge of the crease, then earned his first assist the next night. He followed up with a goal in each game in Colorado, with deadly-accurate snap shots first from the left circle:

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…and then from the right:

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In between times he literally rattled the cage of Werner with a wicked drive, made a strong rush with wide speed and fired a good backhand shot on net, made a good pass to Marody for a shot from the slot, drew a penalty, and, oh yeah, got promoted to the first line in the third period. Once again he led the team with 4 shots on net while generally being a pain in the side of the Eagles.

Lavoie’s game at this point lacks the two-way polish of a more mature prospect like McLeod, but he is a year behind so that is to be expected. He’s a full-time winger whose game is better described as “direct” than “subtle”. He’s got rough edges to work out, especially on the defnive side of the puck, but with two full years left on his ELC has plenty of time to work on that. For now he is in the exact right place.

From this distance both have elements in their respective games which would be welcome indeed on the big club. Neither is ready to make the jump tomorrow, but McLeod is closing in rapidly and Lavoie is clearly on the rise.

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Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy

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