Everything flows through Akey’s skating. He’s one of the absolute best skaters outside the NHL. The ten points in 42 games he accrued last season in the AHL don’t quite give a full picture of Akey’s offensive arsenal. He’s very good at either carrying pucks himself or passing out of the defensive zone, then blazing down the ice to join the rush. He’s incredibly well versed in defensive skating, his angles and agility are nearly picture-perfect. He can take repeated pokes and jabs at incoming attackers and recover in an instant. The physicality is where his problems in defense arise. He can hold his own reasonably well for his size, but he can get pushed around when it comes to standing his ground or being forced to engage physically. His offensive game could expand more. The skating advantage he has should allow for more, it’s like Akey doesn’t quite realize just how potent his skating is. Barring the physical problems completely overwhelming Akey in the NHL, he should manage to hold down a role and chip in some points, with his potential for offensive growth still leaving room for more. There won’t be many peripheral stats to speak of, so for virtually all fantasy managers, keeping track of his offensive game and whether it can click in the AHL will be the important part for the coming season.

Akey concluded his OHL career with a six goal, 26 assist showing over 52 games for the Barrie Colts. Bouncing back from an injury that saw him skate in only 14 games the season prior, it was a little less of an offensive output than he had shown previously in his OHL career. Akey will be ready to set his focus forward, as his Entry Level contract with Edmonton will begin in 2025-2026 and see him taking shifts on the Condor’s blue line in Bakersfield of the AHL. The puck-moving defender will look to usurp some of the older defensive depth and carve out a role for himself.

Akey was selected 56th overall by the Oilers.

Akey is a very fluid-skating right-handed defenseman who looks closer to 6-2 on the ice than his listed 6-0. He is quite lanky as of now, but his frame will be a big one once he fills out. He is a good pre-scanner, which makes him effective on retrievals, and his scanning with the puck on his stick is also a strength. When the play is in front of him, he sees all of his options and picks the right one most of the time. His puck skills are also quite good, and his offensive instincts have flashed this season, but they aren’t given the opportunity to truly shine as Barrie’s system keeps him stapled to the blueline during most offensive zone possessions. Defensively, he keeps a tight gap and is focused on protecting the slot with a consistently active stick, but his defensive processing speed is a bit inconsistent, and he can get caught puck-watching, especially in multi-variable situations. Overall, Akey is a similar tier of player as fellow OHL blueliners Cam Allen and Hunter Brzustewicz and looks like a mid-second or early third-round pick at this point in the season.