Cult of Hockey prospect series 2026: #19, David Lewandowski
19 years old, 6’2, 177 lbs., drafted #117th overall in 2019
It’s not like we haven’t had our hopes up.
For 30 years we’ve watched the Edmonton Oilers draft and attempt to develop wingers taken outside of the first round of the NHL draft.
For 30 years we’ve hoped one of them would pop at the NHL level and become a skilled, aggressive Top 6 winger.
For 30 years we’ve been disappointed.
In the first ten years of this century, we had high hopes for the fast Finn Tony Salmelainen, big, fast Jean-Francois Jacques, skilled Russian Vyacheslav Trukhno and crafty Swede Linus Omark, slick Quebecois sniper Philippe Cornet and husky Finn Teemu Hartikainen.
In the 2010s, our lonely eyes turned to big, skilled major junior scorers Curtis Hamilton and Tyler Pitlick and Ryan Martindale, rugged Mitch Moroz, slick Marco Roy, promising Russians Anton Slepyshev and Bogdan Yakimov, fast Jackson Houck, local legend Tyler Benson, big Czech Ostap Safin, OHL and QMJHL scoring whizes Kirill Maksimov and Raphael Lavoie, and Czech attacker Matej Blumel.
More recently, our hopes have risen up for later round attacking prospects like Carter Savoie, Tyler Tullio, Maxim Berezkin and Matvey Petrov.
But not to be. No luck and not nearly enough skill in drafting and development.
Oilers wingers
Other teams found their late round gems, just not the Oilers, not when it came to promising wingers, and this for a team that regularly stole away Hall-of-Fame wingers outside the first round back in the day, starting with Mark Messier, drafted 48th overall as a left winger in 1979 along with Glenn Anderson, drafted 69th that same year. Next came Jari Kurri, taken 69th in 1980 and Esa Tikkanen, taken 80th overall in 1983,
The Oilers found Top 6 wingers David Vyborny 33rd overall and Miro Satan 111th overall in 1993, then Fernando Pisani 195th overall thirty years ago in 1996 draft. Pisani is the last such winger drafted outside the first round by the Oilers who has come anywhere close to being a Top 6 wingman. There’s been a few solid late-drafted checking wingers since then, namely Jason Chimera, and a few solid centres, such as Kyle Brodziak, Shawn Horcoff, Jarret Stoll and Ryan McLeod, but the Oilers have failed to steal away a solid attacking winger.
Lewandowski
Now comes a new crop, with a number of promising candidates to break the dry spell, including newcomer David Lewandowski, who played his first game in the Oilers organization for Bakersfield last season, a one-game stint on an amateur try-out contract.
Lewandowski has intriguing offensive ability.
In his draft year, writer Spencer Pomoty of Oilers Nation had this to say about Lewandowksi: “Even at the junior level, players are scared to use their backhands, but the power-winger in Saskatoon is as good on his backhand as he is on his forehand… This is by far the most intriguing part of the 6-foot-1, 176-pound winger. If he makes the NHL one day, I believe it’s because the playmaking tendencies he shows keep blossoming. That is Lewandowski’s biggest strength by far, but he has a couple of other traits that can translate to the NHL, and the next one I want to show is his ability to create contact, put pressure on his backside, and protect the puck.”
More recently, Oilers prospect expert Bruce Curlock wrote on his Substack about Lewandowski: “Taken in the fourth round, Lewandoski has two traits that project to professional hockey. First, he has a wicked release that overpowers goaltenders.It’s quick, hard and accurate. It helped him lead his team in scoring going 17-48-65 in 57 games. This for a team that was 16th in scoring in the WHL, these are impressive totals. The other element that is pro ready is his stature. Lewandowski is not filled out yet at 6’2″ and 177 pounds, but he plays and projects to be a power forward.”
But Curlock added: “However, he also has one hitch: skating… For Lewandowski, skating is the key. Hopefully his skating improvement continues. The focus now should be more crossover work to allow for an even higher tempo. Also, it will help him be more dynamic on the attack by being able to changes angles of attack on defenders.”
Reasonable expectations for 2026-27: If Lewandowski is going to earn an ELC, let alone break the Oilers dry spell of finding a Top 6 forward with a late round pick, he might well decide to focus on improving his skating every day and so dominate for Saskatoon of the WHL this year. He might well make up his mind to bring it every game and to practice with the intention of skating like a top NHLer. He can accomplish this. He’s improved year to year and he’s now close to a highly lucrative and interesting NHL career.
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