Oilers draft Muskegon forward Rūdolfs Bērzkalns 58th overall

The Edmonton Oilers bet on Rūdolfs Bērzkalns’ size, scoring touch and postseason resume Sunday, taking the Muskegon Lumberjacks center 58th overall after moving down from No. 52 and picking up No. 133 in the process. Edmonton used the second round of the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo to add five players on Day 2, and Bērzkalns was the club’s first selection of the class.

For Muskegon, the pick put a sharper spotlight on a player who turned a solid junior season into a strong pro projection. Bērzkalns, an 18-year-old center from Cēsis, Latvia, played 48 USHL games in 2025-26 and produced 13 goals and 12 assists. USHL postseason coverage credited him with 16 goals and 24 assists across 52 regular-season games, then four goals and 10 points during Muskegon’s 16-game playoff run.

That production came in the middle of another long run for the Lumberjacks, who captured their second consecutive Eastern Conference title and returned to the Clark Cup Final after winning the franchise’s first title on May 20, 2025, with a 4-3 overtime victory over Waterloo in Game 5. Muskegon’s back-to-back championship appearances gave Bērzkalns a stage that NHL teams value, because he logged important minutes in a pressure-heavy environment and showed he could keep producing when the games tightened.

Tony Granato’s evaluation matched the draft slot. In Muskegon’s release, Granato said Bērzkalns has “really good hockey sense and awareness on the ice” and added that he “can play anywhere at 6'4.” That combination of size and versatility helped push him from intriguing prospect to a top-60 pick, especially with Boston College already in the picture for his next step.

Bērzkalns’ path also added to the appeal. He represented Latvia at both the 2025 and 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships, giving him experience against elite peers, and Latvia’s 2025 roster included four players born in 2008, a reminder of how young that group was. The USHL also noted that 45 league-tied players were set to participate in the 2026 World Juniors, underscoring how Muskegon continues to sit in the middle of the junior hockey pipeline. Edmonton’s move on Bērzkalns showed it wanted a player whose game had already been sharpened by winning, international hockey and a demanding USHL season.