August 14, 2024 by Spencer Pomoty

Edmonton Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson continued to upgrade the team’s prospect pool since taking over as the acting General Manager at this summer’s draft.

The Oilers dealt Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward prospect Roby Jarventie and a 2025 fourth-round pick on July 15. Oilers fans had high hopes for Bourgault after he was picked in the first-round in 2021, but after a sophomore slump in the AHL, Jackson decided to move on from the player.

Who is Jarventie? What kind of player does he project to be? Here’s my analysis of the Oilers’ newest prospect:

Statistical Profile

Selected 33rd overall in 2020 NHL Draft by the Senators, Jarventie was born on August 8, 2002, making him one of the younger players in his draft year (he was just over a month away from being eligible for the 2021 NHL Draft). The 6-foot-2, 214-pound left winger had no goals and one assist in seven NHL games with the Senators last season. The Tampere, Finland native also put up nine goals and 20 points in 22 games with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, unfortunately, his season was cut short due to a knee injury. He has 38 goals and 86 points in 136 career AHL games, and has seen his points per game average increase in each of the past three seasons in North America. For this profile, I watched all seven of Roby’s NHL games and 13 more of his AHL games. In the 20 games I watched, one thing that stood out to me was that he played all three forward positions in these viewings.

My Approach to Scouting

As I stated in my previous profile about Matthew Savoie, I always reference Gus Katsaros’ “Four S’s of Scouting”. I also look for how a player can create space for themselves, Matthew Savoie and Jarventie both have different ways in accomplishing this.

Skills

This is a quality aspect of the former second-round pick’s game. His reception range can be remarkable at times. He uses his hand-eye to knock down passes that are in the air, or catch a tough pass on his backhand. Even when a pass in his feet, Jarventie can typically do something with it. There are times where Jarventie will bobble a hard pass, but it’s not often. The Finnish winger displays great shooting mechanics, as he gets the top hand to come straight down and snaps the puck instead of sweeping it. He effectively uses the pucks momentum for a catch-and-shoot on his strong side, and he generates a ton of power on his one-timer, while being able to keep his lead foot pointed at the net. His accuracy can still a bit spotty, but that can be figured out with a little more seasoning in the AHL. Jarventie uses his body very well to protect pucks on the perimeter, but needs to get more adapt at putting the puck in his hip pocket to utilize his size and long reach. Every once in awhile you will see him try a fancier move on a defenceman. However, in my viewings, it was quite seldom.

Skating

There is still an area for improvement in the big forwards game, but not much. Jarventie sits down low with little back hunch, able to get his knees over his toes, his legs extend horizontally, but he could get to his starting point a bit quicker. His first two-steps are decent, but he takes a bit to get to full flight, and he doesn’t necessarily have a pull away gear. When faced up against a fleet-flooded skating defenceman, he will defer to using his teammates instead of trying to push past or using linear crossovers to get his opponents feet jammed. His outside edge use is great when he uses it, but he can rely a bit much on using the inside edge of his blade. The soon to be 22-year-old can vary pace utilizing his cutbacks to gain space on opponents and finding teammates. One thing I would like to see more of, is Jarventie playing East-to-West and getting into the middle of the zone by using his edges and speed differential. When he did this, he was making good plays, but it wasn’t used enough. Another area of improvement is his balance. There were a handful of times he would get knocked off the puck quite easily but other times he was able to keep control under pressure and put the opponents on his back.

Smarts

In his draft year, this was an area of his game that needed to be addressed, especially away from the puck. This is a big area of growth I saw from him throughout my 20 viewings. Jarventie reads pinches very well and will cover for the defenseman jumping up. He’s often the first forward back, and has no problem playing the centre role in the defensive zone. One of the most intriguing aspects of his game comes from his board play (this is why I prefer him as a winger). He understands he needs to get position before he gains possession of the puck, he gets to the inside of the opposition and will use his size and reach to his advantage. He will skate into their route and force them to the boards where he does an amazing job at sealing off. The versatile forward is then able to use his small area puck skills and his shoulder checks/micro scans (more consistency here will also go a long way) to find the centre of create a battle and buy time. It was seldom he would turnover the puck along the wall and this part of his game is what intrigues me the most. His board play habits are extremely translatable and can help all of his teammates get up to gear in transition. In one my AHL viewings against the Cleveland Monsters, he pulled the puck from the boards into a between-the-legs pass to his defenceman on the point. It was a remarkable play. Another massive positive for the young power forward is the way he limits skating himself into a corner. Jarventie is very tactical when it comes to using his teammates, give-and-go plays are a big part in his game, and he rarely sees a pass he can’t make. In the offensive zone, he’s alright at finding the quiet ice, when he comes up near the point in a F3 role he can find himself in a great spot for a pass and quick shot, but Jarventie likes to play on the boards. In the future, he’ll have to use his cutbacks and reach to his full advantage to get into the middle of the ice with the puck. A small thing to note was that majority of his shifts are quite short, he doesn’t overextend his shift time, but sometimes he did put teammates in a tricky position coming back to the defensive zone. Continued reps and growing confidence will do wonders, if he’s able to utilize his cutbacks, put the puck in his hip pocket, and use his reach I believe he’ll find a way to play in the middle of the ice more often.

Speed

This is another area of his game that could use a bit more development. The former second-round pick likes to slow the play down and play a bit more methodical. Roby excels when he can bring the defenders down a notch. This isn’t to say he can’t play at a high pace, but when the puck is on his stick he looks to cutback and make a pass rather than pick up speed and try to make a play around a defender. Off puck he is able to hang with the pace and play within the speed differential. As I stated earlier, Jarventie’s board play can help the swinging centre by catching him at full speed. He is able to let other players play fast while being able to do his own thing within the speed differential he helped create. If he can start utilizing some linear crossovers and push opposition back when the puck is on his blade, it could really breakout his game fully. He already has the proper cutback habits, but if he can add that one element it’ll take those little habits to even another level.

Summary

Jarventie is such an intriguing prospect to me due to the board habits, the playmaking ability, the size and reach he possesses, as well as the skating mechanics. I think if he keeps trending positively, he will be a good third line winger that will ramp up transition play his teammates but also able to grind it out along the wall and make the small area plays that are needed in the modern day of hockey where you get very limited time and space. If he doesn’t make the Oilers on opening night, I would like to see him on Matthew Savoie’s line from the start in the AHL, especially if they plan on playing Savoie down the middle. At the bare minimum, I believe the Oilers got a fourth line winger that will chip in offensively every once in awhile that can get under the opposing teams skin a bit.

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