PROSPECTS TOURNEY

Yamamoto in, Puljujarvi out

Kailer’s in, Jesse’s out.

Just one of the Edmonton Oilers’ most recent two first-round draft picks will be travelling to the annual YoungStars prospects tournament in Penticton this week. Finnish winger Jesse Puljujarvi, the Oilers’ top pick last year, starred in it last fall but won’t attend, while 2017 first-round pick winger Kailer Yamamoto and highly touted KHL defenceman Ziyat Paigin will be on their roster for the four-team event.

Puljujarvi, who played half a season in Edmonton after being the fourth overall selection last June, won’t hit the ice until main camp opens next Friday morning. But the 6-foot-6 Paigin, who played for AK Bars Kazan last season and finished the campaign with the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate in Bakersfield, and Yamamoto, who should be on the U.S. world junior roster for the Christmas tournament in Buffalo, will suit up for the Oilers in Penticton.

The tournament, in its seventh year, features prospects from the Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers play the Flames’ rookies Friday afternoon, then the Jets’ prospects Saturday night. They’ll wind it up against the host Canucks on Monday afternoon.

Winger Tyler Benson, the Oilers’ 2016 second-round pick who has battled injuries, is on the roster, but he may not play any games as he rehabs from spring sports hernia surgery. Benson will play for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants this coming season.

The Oilers prospect roster includes hot-shot Western Hockey League defencemen Caleb Jones (Portland) and Ethan Bear (Seattle) along with William Lagesson, who will be playing in Sweden this season.

Up front, the lineup will feature Joseph Gambardella, a free-agent signee from this past spring out of UMass-Lowell who finished the season in Bakersfield, and two draft picks from June: 6-foot-5 Czech League winger Ostap Safin and Russian forward Kirill Maksimov, who played in Saginaw in the OHL.

In net, they’ll have Dylan Wells (Peterborough) and Stuart Skinner (Lethbridge), who both have a shot at playing for Canada in the world junior, and free-agent signee Shane Starrett (Air Force) who could be the starter in the ECHL this season.

As well, WHL Oil Kings forwards Davis Koch and Trey Fix-Wolansky and former Edmonton centre Lane Bauer among the 12 invitees who’ll get a look-see from the Oilers.