One To Watch: Edmonton Oilers

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Few teams have the prospects depth that the Oilers currently do and expectations are high that the club will eventually climb its way out of the NHL basement and back to contention. 

I had a number of valid players to pick from for this piece as a few prospects have be assigned to Oklahoma City for the first time so all of them have peaked my interest. How will players like Oscar Klefbom, Martin Gernat, David Musil and Travis Ewanyk perform as AHL rookies? Then there are the guys that fans want to see take major steps forward this year like Anton Lander, Tyler Pitlick, Ryan Martindale and Brandon Davidson. Will goaltending improve or become an issue? 

But there are also a number of interesting prospects still playing in junior or college worth following as well and I chose one of those guys today. 

2012 Choice: Dillon Simpson - Another strong season of growth and development at North Dakota for the local product. Simpson picked up 24 points in 42 games and he's not really expected to be an offensive guy moving forward. This year will be his final season at North Dakota and he's also been given the honor of being named captain of the club. As a senior at the age of 21 (not until February!), Simpson is barely older than some of the freshman coming in this year. 

My selection as One to Watch for the Oilers this year comes after the jump.

2012 Eligibles in the Memorial Cup

The 2012 Mastercard Memorial Cup begins on Friday night and while it is definitely about crowning a national champion, the tournament is also the last on ice chance some players have to showcase themselves before the NHL Draft. 

Three teams have players of note that scouts will still be keying on to see how they perform on the CHL's biggest stage. 

Here's a look at the guys ranked by NHL Central Scouting and International Scouting Services.

Oil Kings Finish Pre-Season With Loss

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It wasn't the record that they were looking for but the Edmonton Oil Kings have probably seen all they needed to through a 2-3 exhibition schedule to get ready for the 2011-12 season. With 9 players away for NHL rookie camps for half of the pre-season and a couple of others on the shelf, the brass got to see several top youngsters in plenty of action for the last ten days.

All that's left are the cuts.