NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest recently laid out the Edmonton Oilers’ top prospects, and the list says as much about trade season as it does about the future. The five names at the top of the system give Edmonton some hope for impact down the line, but they also underline a blunt reality: the Oilers do not have a loaded stash of blue-chip assets to shop if they want to swing big.
That matters because outside of the stars, Edmonton’s roster doesn’t offer a ton of obvious trade bait. Matt Savoie may be one of the more sought-after players on the team, which pushes the conversation toward prospects and picks as the next best pieces the Oilers can put on the table. The question is whether anyone from Van Diest’s top five would actually draw real interest.
At No. 1 is Josh Samanski, a German forward who signed as an undrafted free agent and split last season between Edmonton and Bakersfield. He appeared in 24 NHL games and showed enough of a two-way game to project as an NHL regular this year.
Isaac Howard checks in at No. 2 after arriving from Tampa Bay in a 2025 trade. The Hobey Baker winner put together a strong AHL season in Bakersfield before a January recall. He’s a shoot-first scorer who, in the source’s view, just needs better luck and more open ice at the NHL level.
Quinn Hutson, the brother of Lane and Cole Hutson, comes in third after scoring 30 goals in the AHL. Connor Clattenburg sits fourth, a physical fifth-round pick whose rookie year was interrupted by an eye injury. Damien Carfagna rounds out the group as an undersized but mobile undrafted defenseman.
The problem for Edmonton is that none of these players fits the kind of profile that usually changes a trade conversation. They’re undrafted free agents, mid-round picks, or depth additions.
There’s no former first-round headliner here, no obvious franchise cornerstone. That makes them useful organizational pieces, but not the sort of prospects other teams circle as the centerpiece in a major deal.
Samanski and Howard are the two most NHL-ready names on the list, and both are projected to get chances in complementary roles this season. They’re also the players most likely to spend more time in the NHL than the AHL in the near term.
But for either one to become a true trade chip, they’d first have to break out. At that point, another team would be betting on projection, the kind of gamble that would be similar to how Pittsburgh felt about Ville Koivunen.
That isn’t a shot at Edmonton’s scouting or development work. It just means something practical for the next stretch: if another team comes calling for young, controllable talent to headline a deal, the Oilers don’t really have that sitting in the system.
So if GM Stan Bowman is going to pull off a meaningful trade, the real leverage probably won’t come from Bakersfield at all. It will come from the NHL roster or from draft capital. The most realistic path points to an established player on an expiring or movable contract, or an unprotected first-round pick that’s still a few years away.
In other words, if Edmonton wants to make a deal, the names to watch are already in the NHL lineup - not buried in the prospect pool. And a rebuilding team looking for futures is unlikely to get excited about a 24-year-old AHL scorer who projects as a middle-six piece.
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