Top Oilers prospect will not play in Young Guns tournament: report
The Edmonton Oilers will be without one of their top prospects for the upcoming Young Stars tournament.
Defenceman Beau Akey will not be participating in the event per Oilers TV host Tony Brar.
Beau Akey will not be playing this weekend in Penticton, Head Coach Colin Chaulk confirms. #Oilers
— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) September 13, 2024
The 19-year-old Akey was expected to be one of the Oilers’ best players at the tournament. He played in the Young Stars event last season and was very impressive. Unfortunately, he suffered a shoulder injury shortly after the event, cutting his OHL season short after just 14 games.
It hasn’t been confirmed that Akey’s absence is related to injury, but that would make sense as he has not returned to game action since having shoulder surgery.
The 2023 second-round draft pick is a right-handed blueliner who has scored 56 points in his last 80 OHL games over two seasons. At 6 feet tall, he’s not the biggest, but he has the skating ability to make up for what he lacks in strength.
Akey signed an entry-level contract with the Oilers last October. He’s one of the top pieces in their prospect pool, and his puck-moving ability means he could be an exciting fit in the high-powered Oilers offence one day.
The Oilers kick off their Young Stars tournament with a game tonight against the Vancouver Canucks at 8:30 pm MT. All Oilers games will be streamed through OilersPlus. If you don’t have a subscription, the other three teams in the tournament are streaming the games for free in various places.
They’ll play a total of three games — one each against the Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Winnipeg Jets — before the tournament ends on Monday.