The Oilers stunned a lot of people last week when they traded Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio to the Sabres in exchange for prized prospect Matthew Savoie. I never saw this move coming, but after a week of thinking about it, this is the first time I’ve been this excited about an Oilers prospect in quite a while.
I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say that the Oilers needed more skilled prospects on their depth chart. If Edmonton is going to keep its Cup window open, Edmonton needs skilled players who can come into the lineup on cheap deals and find ways to contribute in a meaningful way. That’s exactly what Matthew Savoie has the potential to do, and I’m pretty pumped to see if he can make good on the hype.
Savoie registered 71 points in 34 games in the Western Hockey League between the Wenatchee Wild and Moose Jaw Warriors last season, and it’s not often that you see a 19-year-old put up two+ points per game. Since he started in the WHL, all the guy has done is generate offence at an elite level, and that’s something we haven’t seen a prospect do a whole lot of around these parts lately. And to acquire him for a player I liked in Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio still doesn’t make much sense to me because it almost feels too good to be true.
Shortly after the trade went down, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis wrote a piece for us about what Matt Savoie brings to the table, and there were a few lines that I can’t stop thinking about:
If you’ve never followed Savoie’s career, he’s an exciting prospect. Seriously, he’s one of the most skilled players outside of the NHL right now. For years before he was taken ninth overall by the Sabres in 2022, Savoie was being touted as a potential top pick in the draft, but his 5-foot-10 frame didn’t help his cause. Nobody doubted his pure skill, though, with Savoie scoring 103 goals and 263 points in 183 WHL games.
It’s wild to think that Savoie likely would have gone higher in his draft class if he was a few inches taller, which makes this deal even wilder to me. The NHL has changed a lot since the clutch-and-grab era in the 90s, and that shift has opened a lot of doors for smaller, skilled forwards like Savoie. That makes the idea of acquiring a player that could have been a lottery pick for a 3C and a prospect who wasn’t likely to make it all the more exciting. Even though he has yet to play a game with the Oilers, it almost feels like Jeff Jackson was able to trade a four-door Honda Civic for a two-seat Ferrari.
Do I think Savoie could play for the Oilers next season? Absolutely. Should he? Not on a full-time basis. But on a first pass, this is an absolute steal for the Oilers. McLeod was replaceable, and Tullio was a longshot to be an NHLer. Savoie, meanwhile, instantly becomes Edmonton’s best prospect and someone with legit power to become a 60-plus point producer in the NHL one day.
There was a time when I would have worried that the Oilers would force Savoie into action before he was ready, but I really don’t think that will be the case based on how deep the NHL club will be this season. Instead of needing Savoie to contribute whether he’s ready or not, they have more than enough quality players at the big league level to afford them the time to do this right. Savoie only has six AHL games under his belt as of this writing, and a year in the AHL would do a world of good for him as he learns to be a pro and work within the Oilers’ system.
At Edmonton’s development camp this past week, Condors’ head coach Colin Chaulk discussed Savoie’s plan to play centre. If that’s indeed the case, spending the season in Bakersfield will be crucial for preparing him to play with the Oilers.
“We know that he’s a centreman, and that’s what management has chatted with us about briefly where they’d like to see him. He’s been able to score, able to make plays at the junior level and [was] a big part of getting Moose Jaw to the Memorial Cup. I’m excited to get the opportunity to work with him.”
At the end of the day, I haven’t been this excited about an Oilers prospect since Connor McDavid back in 2015. That’s not to say I’m comparing the two — Gord knows #97 is basically Neo from the Matrix — but I am saying that I’ll be following Savoie closer than any other prospect in recent memory. Even with the bumps in the road that are sure to come, watching Savoie take steps toward becoming an impact player on his hometown team is a story that’s just too good to ignore.
If Savoie can live up to his potential, the Oilers have an absolute gem on their hands, and that’s a story that I could not be more excited to follow as we work through the 2024-25 NHL season. Are you excited? I’m excited.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS TO GET YOU EXCITED
If you’re looking to join me on my excitement level then I’d encourage you to watch this highlight compilation from this past season. I must have watched this video four or five times at this point, and it really is incredible to see what the kid can do when the puck is on his stick. Even though we all know that what happens in junior doesn’t necessarily translate to the pro leagues, it’s hard to imagine a player with this much talent not being able to figure it out as he starts getting at-bats under his belt.
