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The Howard, Roslovic, and Savoie line deserves an opportunity to be the Oilers’ full-time third line
Edmonton Oilers Issac Howard
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 7, 2026, 15:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 7, 2026, 15:46 EST
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The Edmonton Oilers may have figured out their third line.
On Tuesday evening, Adam Henrique went down with an injury, playing just two shifts. That meant the Oilers needed to be creative as they were down to 11 forwards. One line that was put together in the second and third period was Ike Howard, Jack Roslovic, and Matt Savoie.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio played about six minutes of five-on-five time, attempting 12 shots to the opponents’ four, while actually getting off six shots. Moreover, they had six scoring chances to the Nashville Predators’ two, and had two high-danger scoring chances to none.
It may only be six minutes, but it’s nonetheless an encouraging sign for a team that has lacked scoring in the bottom six. In fact, Savoie even picked up just his second assist in his last nine games, granted that it was with Curtis Lazar and Mattias Janmark. That line generated 0.84 expected goals in just two minutes and 15 seconds, a pretty good indication that both Janmark and Lazar should remain in the Oilers’ lineup on the fourth line.
Both Savoie and Roslovic have gotten extended looks on the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. Savoie has found success, while Roslovic’s time with the line hasn’t been so great when looking under the hood. With the return of Kasperi Kapanen, who scored and picked up an assist, it looks like he’ll play on that line for the time being.
With their top two lines being established, that leaves one option for the two players: Play them together on the third line. With Howard, the line is rather small, as both he and Savoie stand under six foot, but the line also has a ton of speed. That’s a breath of fresh air for what has been a rather slow bottom-six in 2025-26.
You can overlook size, but one downside of this line is that they won’t be shutting anyone down. For as good as Roslovic has been this season (12 goals and 20 points in 30 games), he’s much better suited to playing on the wing. Roslovic has experience playing centre, most recently playing it on a regular basis in 2022-23 with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but by no means is he a strong defensive centre. The same goes for Savoie, who has basically played wing throughout his professional career.
Still, the trio should get a long leash together for the time being, at least until the Mar. 6 trade deadline, or until the results start to go the other way. That opens up a whole other can of worms as to do with their fourth line. 
In an ideal world, Andrew Mangiapane and Trent Frederic will continue to sit in the press box, the Oilers will call up Quinn Hutson to play on the second line, and Kapanen drops to the fourth line with Janmark and Lazar, but that may be asking for too much. Hopefully, Kris Knoblauch gives the Howard/Roslovic/Savoie line a fair shot, because they may finally get some bottom-six scoring this year.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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