This past season was a critical one in Matt Savoie’s career. He was originally drafted ninth overall in 2022 by the Buffalo Sabres, who expected him to become an impact player in their organization. But for the first two years after the draft, he remained in the WHL, and was eventually traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Ryan McLeod. The move shook up Savoie’s development path, but it also gave him a fresh start with a new team.

After spending one season with the Bakersfield Condors, Savoie earned his first opportunity to play in the NHL full-time last fall. Admittedly, the transition wasn’t entirely smooth. He got off to a shaky start, producing just five points in his first 23 games while playing a bottom-six role.

But as the year progressed, Savoie earned opportunities to play in the top-six and broke out offensively following the Olympic break. He finished the regular season with a hat trick against the Vancouver Canucks, bringing his season totals to 18 goals and 37 points.

While he wasn’t able to parlay that late-season surge into the playoffs, Savoie’s breakout inspires optimism for the future. The 22-year-old might just be getting started.

According to All Three Zones, Savoie ranked in the 85th percentile in scoring chances and the 95th percentile in shots off high-danger passes. He excelled at finding soft areas in coverage and generating shots from the inner slot. His finishing ability lagged, though, and he ended the season below league average in shooting percentage.

Savoie’s lack of a finishing touch stunted his production, but over time, that began to change. Prior to the Olympic break, Savoie’s shooting percentage was 7.2 per cent at five-on-five, and 11.4 per cent in all situations. After the break, he shot 9.1 per cent at five-on-five and 15.3 per cent in all situations.

Savoie’s offence trended in the right direction last season, and his defensive game followed suit. While he was superb on the penalty kill for most of the season, earning him the second-most PK time on ice among Oiler forwards, defence didn’t come as easily at five-on-five. Savoie’s high motor wasn’t translating into results early on, and the Oilers allowed 2.9 goals against and 2.9 expected goals against per hour in his minutes over the first five months of the season. Post Olympic-break, however, it dropped to 2.4 goals against and 2.5 expected goals against.

Whether it was overall production, shooting, play-driving, or defensive impact, everything seemed to start coming together for Savoie during that post-Olympic glow-up. All he needed was some experience under his belt and more opportunities to play with Edmonton’s top talent.

It was an exciting progression, but how big a jump can Savoie make in 2026-27?

Toward the end of the season, he seized a role next to Connor McDavid — one that’s belonged to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for some time. But Nugent-Hopkins is 33-years-old and has shown signs of decline over the past couple of years. Savoie will have a strong chance to play in the top-six throughout 2026-27, alongside McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.

Considering his talent, trajectory, and results in a top-six role so far, Savoie will certainly produce with Edmonton’s elite players. And his success in generating shots from the middle of the ice could eventually land him a promotion to the bumper position on the top power play unit. If he can earn Mike Babcock’s trust early on, all signs point to Savoie taking another meaningful step this season.

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