Raphaël Lavoie

September 2023 – The soon to be 23-year-old has been as streaky as can be during his two full seasons in the AHL. In both seasons, he has rattled off some strong hot streaks as well as some extreme cold snaps. Lavoie finished last season with 25 goals and 45 points in 61 games but it is his 21 points in the final 24 that has fans excited. There is a path to the NHL this season but he needs to seize the opportunity or risk being passed on the depth chart by younger prospects. Jameson Ewasiuk

June 2022 – There was a time last season when it looked like Lavoie was putting it all together. Then the Condors’ coach, Jay Woodcroft, got called up to the NHL and everything seemed to come crashing down. In the 16 games prior to Woodcroft leaving, Lavoie had 15 points. In the three games after, Lavoie still produced at an excellent rate scoring five points. Then in the final 19 games, the goal-scoring winger recorded just three points, which included going pointless in the final 10. To be fair to the new coach John Anderson, Lavoie did put up just three points in the first 18 games of the season before seemingly turning the corner in mid-December. So, what did all the inconsistency lead to? It led to a pedestrian 13 goals and 26 points in 56 games – not exactly encouraging numbers for one of the Oilers’ top forward prospects. With that said though, this was the young winger’s first full season in the AHL, so there were bound to be some ups and downs. If Lavoie can find some consistency to his game and produce at a top-six rate in the AHL next season, then we can start to talk about what his NHL upside looks like. Jameson Ewasiuk

October 2020 – In August it was announced that Lavoie would play this fall in the Swedish Hockey league for Rögle but he was later released by the team after presumably not being ready to make their deep team. The young forward still found a team to play on in Sweden as he is currently playing for Väsby IK of the Allsvenskan. To date, he has played one game for the team and has recorded two penalty minutes. Lavoie may take some time to adjust to the pro level but he should still be seen as one of Edmonton’s top forward prospects. Jameson Ewasiuk

January 2020: Overall, it has been a successful season for the Lavoie. The young winger recorded a strong 18 goals and 44 points in 30 games for Halifax before being moved to Chicoutimi where he has added six goals and 11 points in seven games. His 55 points places him 15th in the QMJHL and his 1.45 points per game is 11th. He is also third in the league with 229 shots on goal. Lavoie was a member of Canada’s gold medal-winning world junior team and he recorded two assists in seven games at the tournament. He did not have a big impact on team Canada and was utilized in a bottom-six role. The big right winger does not have the best stride and he can be inconsistent in terms of his compete level but his combination of size and goal-scoring is intriguing and something Edmonton could use in their top six. Jameson Ewasiuk  

June 2019 – You won’t find many people criticizing this pick for the Oilers. Lavoie was seen as a consensus first round pick and ended up 19th on Bob McKenzie’s final so at the moment selecting Lavoie at 38th seems to be a strong value pick. Lavoie possesses an impressive tool set that includes his size and strong finishing ability. He has the ability to take over games but one of the biggest concerns with his play is his lack of consistency from game to game which has some people calling him a boom/bust prospects. His 32 goals and 73 points in 62 regular season games is solid but he really turned it on in the playoffs where he finished with 20 goals and 32 points in just 23 games. He followed the playoffs up with a respectable two goals and three points in four games at the Memorial Cup. Lavoie checks off a lot of boxes for the Oilers in terms of needs in their top six so there will be high hopes with this player moving forward. Jameson Ewasiuk