Highly ranked Oilers prospect trying to break concerning patterns

Petrov has been ranked the 10th best Oilers prospect by OilersNation, a decrease from being ranked 4th last year, but due to trades from Jeff Jackson's front office. The Oilers selected the skilled Russian-born forward in the 6th round of the 2021 Draft, and Edmonton has almost never had success drafting either Russians nor skill players in late rounds.

Bruce McCurdy in the Edmonton Journal recently focused on the Oilers lack of success drafting Russians, and Bruce Curlock of OilersNation wrote on the difficulties drafting skill in the late rounds. However, there's reason to believe Petrov can break that pattern.

Petrov is a 6'2 skilled forward who scored prolifically in the OHL with the Brampton Battalion, notching 93 points in 65 games in 2022-23. Last season he struggled to produce his first professional season with the Bakersfield Condors, but Curlock stressed that he was given minimal opportunity in the lineup, and was often punished for mistakes of inexperience. In 53 AHL games, he only scored 9 goals and 14 points.

The Oilers have a skilled prospect and legitimate promise with Petrov, but they completely failed to further his development in his first professional year. The team absolutely needs to prioritize developing young players in the AHL for the next few years to call up younger players on cheap, entry-level deals. Petrov could be a part of that group, but he'll need to show much more in Bakersfield.

Source for player stats: HockeyDB - Matvey Petrov