Maxim Beryozkin

September 2023 – The big Russian forward stepped into his first KHL season last year and did not look back as he recorded an impressive 26 points in 52 games. The power forward is not projected to come to North America for awhile but if he keeps developing at the rate that he is, he could push for an NHL spot when he does get on North American soil. Jameson Ewasiuk

June 2022 – A bit of a sleeper prospect in Edmonton’s system, Beryozkhin is a talented offensive player that knows how to put the puck in the net and is not afraid to play a gritty style. The problem? When was the last time the Oilers actually developed a Russian forward into a full-time NHLer? Yakupov does not count. Edmonton’s relationship with Russian prospects is not a good one and if/when they manage to get these players to come to play in North America, they typically go back to Russia after a short amount of time. Ilya Konovalov is the most recent example who just went back to Russia this month, despite likely being third on the Oilers’ goaltending depth chart for next season after Koskinen leaves. As for Beryozkhin, his 35 points in 22 games in the MHL was the second-best points-per-game in the league last season. In 30 KHL games, he recorded just a goal and an assist but knowing that league it is no surprise that he only averaged around seven minutes a night. With that said though, a lot of young Russian players struggle to make the jump to the KHL and until he earns a coach’s trust and starts to produce in that league, it is not fair to project if/when he could play in the NHL one day. Jameson Ewasiuk

October 2020 -Beryozkin was drafted 138th overall by the Oilers. The Russian forward was seen as a sleeper by many in the scouting community and it is nice to see Edmonton utilize a later round pick on a player with Beryozkin’s abilities as opposed to making questionable at best selections like they have in the past. The young Russian is a power forward who will need to work on his skating if he hopes to be an NHL player, but can be a force once he gets up to top speed. His playing can be described as average at this point but he is dangerous goal scorer with a strong release. Last year, with Yoko Yaroslavl of the MHL, Beryozkin recorded a solid 25 goals and 54 points in 51 games. His goal total ranked number one for first time draft eligible players in the MHL and his 1.06 points-per-game was second to Maple Leafs 2020 first-round pick, Rodion Amirov. We know Edmonton has seen a lot of this player as he often found himself on a line with the Oilers’ 2019 seventh round pick, Maxim Denezhkin. This season, he finds himself playing for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL where he has one assist in 10 games. Like most mid to late round picks, Beryozkin is a project but he has the potential to be a top nine forward on the Oilers in the future. Jameson Ewasiuk