{"id":818673,"date":"2026-07-22T13:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/818673\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T13:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:37:28","slug":"oilers-goalie-prospect-ryan-camerons-steady-climb-to-the-nhl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/818673\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers goalie prospect Ryan Cameron\u2019s \u2018steady climb\u2019 to the NHL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Cameron<\/a> had a much different NHL Draft experience than most prospects. He didn\u2019t get called on stage to try on his new team\u2019s jersey. He didn\u2019t get a phone call. He didn\u2019t even get selected in his first year of eligibility.Instead, the six-foot-two goaltender heard his name called by the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> while watching the seventh round of the draft on TV.\u201cI found out through the ESPN broadcast that I got picked by the Oilers, and I couldn\u2019t have been more excited,\u201d Cameron told OilersTV\u2019s<\/a> Tony Brar during Oilers development camp. \u201cMy parents and my brother were there, so it was pretty cool being with them, and it was very surprising that it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameron had a long and unconventional path to the NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

In 2024\u201325, he had a dominant campaign for the Lone Star Brahmas in the NAHL, posting a 21-6-1 record, with a 1.24 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage. That was good enough to earn him the NAHL\u2019s Goaltender of the Year award, but not enough to get his name called on draft night.<\/p>\n

Last season, he graduated to the USHL, where he went 24-11-5 with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, posting a 2.92 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage. Cameron said that the adversity he faced while adjusting to a better league was a great learning experience that he believes will help his development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my hockey IQ has gotten a lot better, and obviously, as you go up levels from the NAHL to the USHL, it\u2019s a lot faster,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cI think it\u2019s just been a slow and steady climb. Everything\u2019s getting better a little bit at a time, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to try to keep doing until hopefully one day I\u2019m in that locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Ryan Cameron caught the Oilers\u2019 eye<\/p>\n

Cameron\u2019s growth over the past year, both in ability and stature, caught the attention of Oilers\u2019 scouts.<\/p>\n

The US-born netminder\u2019s involvement in international events has grown over the past several years, as he took part in both the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and last year\u2019s World Junior A Challenge for the United States.<\/p>\n

The organization is in search of some late-round surprises after trading away most of its premium draft capital<\/a> in recent years. Director of Amateur Scouting Rick Pracey believes that with a little patience, Cameron could become one of those surprises.\u201cWe think there\u2019s a little bit of growth there, in terms of size and potential, and we like him from an ability standpoint,\u201d said Pracey in a debrief<\/a> following the draft. \u201cHe moves well. He\u2019s quick. We like his pushes, we like the structure in his game, and we believe there\u2019s value here again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the pitch count of games played by goalies. We\u2019re not in a hurry. We liked that he wasn\u2019t. There\u2019s a future growth at the NCAA level as well in terms of taking that next step. No time frame on it. But just probably the patience and efficiency that he learned, maybe from being undersized, that he\u2019s a pretty talented kid in terms of the position and holding his ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameron to play for Sioux Falls StampedeJust one week after the draft, Cameron earned a spot on USA Hockey\u2019s list of invitees for the World Junior Summer Showcase<\/a>, as the national program looks to narrow its roster for next year\u2019s tournament. He\u2019ll be joined by fellow Edmonton prospect Asher Barnett<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This summer may mark Cameron\u2019s first invite to the World Junior Showcase, but it\u2019s actually not the first time he\u2019s attended an NHL development camp. He was invited to the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 development camp a year ago despite going undrafted.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a different experience this time around, though, now that Cameron is officially drafted to an NHL organization. One that he is excited to be a part of.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrant Fuhr\u2019s number is retired up there. He took my number 31, so I gotta try to find a different number now,\u201d he joked. \u201cJust the rich history here, everything that has gone through this building, all the Stanley Cups. It was kind of a surreal moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameron will return for his second season in the USHL next year, this time for the Sioux Falls Stampede<\/a>, who acquired him in a trade earlier this summer. In 2027\u201328, Cameron is committed to Boston College, where he is expected to play alongside fellow Oilers draft pick R\u016bdolfs B\u0113rzkalns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The road is mapped out for him over the next couple of years, but Cameron isn\u2019t looking too far ahead. He\u2019s focused on improving every day, in the gym and on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day at a time. That\u2019s kind of my mentality now.\u201d<\/p>\n

PRESENTED BY VIVID SEATS\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Cameron had a much different NHL Draft experience than most prospects. He didn\u2019t get called on stage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-818673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}