Edmonton Oilers fans are solely focused on the NHL team this year, but some attention should be paid to a prospect over in the KHL.
Much of the hype among Oilers prospects has been limited to players in the OHL. 2024 first-round pick Sam O’Reilly had a great NHL training camp, 2024 seventh-rounder William Nicholl is off to a fantastic start with the London Knights, and Beau Akey, Edmonton’s 2023 second-rounder, was recently named to Canada’s World Junior selection camp.
Yet, the most interesting prospect in the Edmonton pipeline may not be any of those players. It might be 23-year-old Russian forward Maxim Berezkin, who is currently playing with Yaroslav Lokomotiv of the KHL.
Ice cold double OT game-winner by Maxim Beryozkin 🥶#GagarinCup pic.twitter.com/REoHHoPdrx
— KHL (@khl_eng) March 16, 2024
Berezkin was drafted by the Oilers in the fifth round, 138th overall, of the 2020 NHL Draft. This was the same draft that saw the team take Dylan Holloway in the first round.
At the time, Berezkin was coming off a season in the Russian minor leagues (MHL), where he scored 25 goals and 54 points in 51 games. He had one KHL game under his belt and had not made that jump to professional hockey just yet.
Fast forward a few years, and suddenly, Berezkin has become a premier KHL player. He burst onto the scene last season, notching eight goals and 30 points in 62 games with Yaroslav. This season, he is already close to surpassing those totals with nine goals and 23 points in just 33 games.
That is good enough to lead Yaroslav in points and is tied for ninth in the entire KHL. He looks like a player who could potentially jump into the NHL next season, but there is one problem with that. He isn’t under contract with the Oilers.
Berezkin has been under contract in the KHL ever since he was drafted by the Oilers, preventing him from making the jump to North America. Edmonton merely hold his NHL rights.
The good news is that could soon change as Berezkin’s current KHL contract is set to expire in May of 2025, making him free to sign a contract with the Oilers if he desires. Considering Oilers GM Stan Bowman’s track record of bringing over Russian players, notably Artemi Panarin, this should be something he is well-equipped to handle.
Edmonton, historically, doesn’t have a great track record with drafting successful Russian players, but with the team desperately looking for young and cheap NHL-ready talent to complement its superstars, Berezkin offers up an alluring option that not a lot of people are talking about.