How much have injuries impacted Edmonton Oilers prospect Beau Akey?

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Beau Akey and the Edmonton Oilers should be a perfect match.

He’s a brilliant skater, has some draft pedigree and is a positional unicorn (a right-handed defenceman) who also embodies many of the skills associated with playing defence in this era of the NHL.

As recently as the winter of 2023, he was the No. 2 ranked player in the entire system. At the time, I wrote “Akey’s improvement defensively, along with his offensive ability (15-41-56 in his 80 most recent OHL games) and his impressive speed project him as a possible top-four defenceman in the NHL in the years to come.”

Akey suffered a major shoulder injury in November 2023. Both shoulders were repaired in an effort to get him completely healthy, although the rest of the 2023-24 season was lost completely.

He remained a top prospect (No. 4 in the system winter 2024) mostly due to offensive talent and terrific skating ability.

However, for a teenage hockey player to miss what amounts to a full season of development can have an impact.

We are now at the point where Akey has played a full season after the injury. He didn’t spend the season as the sole power-play quarterback with his OHL team (Barrie Colts), so his offensive numbers don’t tower over his last healthy season (2022-23) before the injury derailment.

What do the Oilers have in Akey?

Offence

Since we’re dealing with a player with far fewer power-play opportunities in 2024-25, comparing seasons in this area is difficult. However, we might see any progress by viewing his numbers split into all game states. Here’s a look at his career, using points per game:

Points per game, via CHL.ca

This is an encouraging look at Akey’s career progression.

At even strength, he has delivered consistent offence over the past three seasons. The Colts, like every OHL team, delivered a range of offensive seasons (from 234 to 284) in the years Akey was a regular. His individual stats showed good production in the team’s best and worst offensive seasons.

On the power play, Akey didn’t enjoy a full season as the top power-play defenceman for the club. That means we don’t know his offensive ceiling with the man advantage. What’s more, the men who played before him (Brandt Clarke, Kashawn “Kash” Aitcheson) are exceptional talents. Akey’s skills are impressive, but losing power-play time to first-round picks (and in the case of Clarke, a top-10 pick) doesn’t indicate failure.

It’s unfair to assess defencemen purely from the offensive side, but it’s a big part of Akey’s game. These numbers suggest that he didn’t lose much (if anything) in even-strength offence, and the power-play totals are lower due to opportunity.

Oilers scouting director Rick Pracey was quoted last summer saying, “He’s an excellent skater, so we think it’s just going to be a matter of time before he gets back up to speed within his environment and pushing along.”

Those words proved prophetic, at least offensively. Akey is signed to an NHL deal and is eligible to turn pro this fall. If he does, his puck-moving ability, speed, even-strength offence and power-play potential shouldn’t be in doubt based on his junior resume.

Defence

In the season leading up to his draft summer (2022-23), Akey was shy in on-ice even-strength outscoring for the Colts. His on-ice goal percentage (49 percent) trailed Barrie’s team total (58 percent) when he was off the ice.

The Colts were better with Akey at rest. The available information from the OHL is less than ideal, but we can conclude that the “chaos” reputation for Akey was well earned in his 17-year-old season.

What do those numbers look like this season?

Akey missed some time for the World Junior Championships (he played a limited role for Team Canada), but was an effective outscorer at even strength in the OHL all season.

He delivered a 58 percent goal share with the Colts, who were 50.2 percent when Akey was off the ice. The numbers flipped from his draft year. The pre-Christmas run was the most successful, Barrie dominating at even strength and outdueling opponents routinely overall.

Akey earns plenty of credit for a much-improved goal share at even strength. However, there are some realities that need to be acknowledged.

He was an inexperienced 17-year-old in his draft year, getting run over by older players who had been in the league for two seasons. This past season, Akey was the older player, and dominating younger talents meant he was likely pushing the river in all areas.

Is that progress, or man-strength?

What we can say is that if this is his final OHL season, and that’s likely, Akey leaves the league on a high point offensively and as an outscorer.

The future

Akey’s first seasons of pro hockey will likely be spent in Bakersfield with the AHL Condors. The organization will want to make sure he can deal with the rigours of the physical style in the league. Bakersfield’s coaching staff will ease him into power-play time, as that’s an area he should be able to help once acclimated to the new level of competition.

Akey’s exceptional skating will give him an edge at the AHL level in time. His ability to recover on plays should be an early feature of his game.

Offensively, there’s no real evidence that the injury impacted progress. His maturation accounted for some of the impressive increase in outscoring, but it’s fair to give the player some credit for improving in this area.

As for power-play time, we have never seen Akey with a complete OHL season in the role as top QB from the point. That could be an area that presents itself in a positive way with Bakersfield next season.

As is the case with all puck-moving defencemen, the pro level is going to be an education about winning battles against bigger, older players and taking care of the puck.

The injury and subsequent pedestrian boxcar numbers in 2024-25 have taken all of the buzz out of Akey’s projection as a prospect. If he shows well in Bakersfield this fall, the organization will trumpet his accomplishments and pencil him in as the next top-flight prospect for the right side of Edmonton’s future defence.

It’s a big year ahead for Akey and the Oilers.

(Photo: Perry Nelson / USA Today)

This news was originally published on this post .

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