Oilers Prospect Noticeable For Wrong Reasons on Team Canada World Juniors

Two of his last three games against Finland and Germany he has barely managed 3 minutes a game which means long stretches of the hockey game he is sitting on the bench.

During the game against Latvia he saw a spike in his numbers which was a little under 14 minutes and 50 seconds.

This was likely due to Canada’s defenceman Matthew Schaefer was lost to injury. It’s clear that head coach David Cameron either does not trust Akey or has not shown but he has taken his game to another level.

The 19 year old prospect was drafted by the Oilers, in the second round, 56th overall during the 2023 entry draft. Having completed 2 training camps it’s clear that Oilers management feels he needs more time in the OHL.

During his 2022-2023 campaign with the Barrie Colts, he had played 66 games, scored eleven goals with 36 assists for 47 points which gave the Oilers management hope that he would become a fixture on their blue line within the next couple of seasons.

Since coming back from double shoulder surgery, this season has been more like the production he had done before with 25 games in, scoring four goals with 15 assists for 19 points.

It’s always a nice thought to see one of your prospects being put into the world juniors and even with the results that Akey has shown, the Oilers should not be alarmed as he is likely not acclimating well to Cameron’s system or perhaps, he not been given the proper chance.

He will continue to develop until the day that he can crack the Oilers lineup and become the defenseman they have hoped he would be.

The world juniors championship began on December 26th and will finish on January 5th where all games are taking place in Ottawa ON at the Canadian Tire Centre.