Raphael Lavoie is a prospect to watch coming out of the Edmonton Oilers system. A goal-scorer who is proving he’s exactly what the Oilers expected he’d be when they drafted him 38th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Lavoie has been on an offensive tear of late, posting two more goals in game action on Wednesday.
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Lavoie now has eight goals and two assists for 10 points in 13 games played so far in the Hockey Allsvenskan, the second league in Sweden. He’s got a goal scorer’s mentality, shooting the puck often and his quick release is producing excellent results. He doesn’t mind going into the dirty areas and loves to drive the net. It may be a bit early to suggest he’s the next great Oilers winger, but he’s exactly the what the Oilers could use in their top six over the next couple of seasons.
This type of production isn’t a first and this isn’t the only league he’s scored in at this rate. In the QMJHL, Lavoie scored 90 goals in 185 regular-season games. In the 2018-19 playoffs alone he scored 20 goals in 23 games. What the Oilers are trying to find out now is if he can translate this type of production over to leagues where he’ll be facing bigger men and more reliable defense.
So far so good.
Other Oilers Notables
Other prospects to keep an eye on are Evan Bouchard had two assists today and is now 4-9-13 in 17 games. He’ll be hoping to crack the Oilers roster as a seventh defenseman. And, Jesse Puljujarvi, who will be joining the Oilers and looking for a spot in the top nine, had an assist today. He is 6-3-9 in 11 games.
There’s no expectation that Lavoie will make the Oilers out of camp this season, but if he continues on this pace, his numbers might be a bit hard to ignore and a closer look seems inevitable.
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