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Recent contracts give Oilers interesting comparables for a Savoie extension

Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

By Tyler Yaremchuk

Jul 17, 2026, 15:30 EDT

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The NHL is fully in summer mode, and while the news cycle has slowed down considerably, it hasn’t fully stopped.

Over the last few days, we’ve seen a few interesting signings.

Trevor Zegras inked a four-year extension with the Philadelphia Flyers that carries an AAV of $9.125 million.

A nice deal for a player who just over 12 months ago was considered a reclamation project when he was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks. He posted 67 points in his first season with the Flyers, and with this contract, they’re certainly banking on him being able to at least reach the 70-point range on a consistent basis.

It’s also another example of where we’re heading with contracts in the NHL. Basically, every deal we see going forward is going to feel like an overpay, but as the next couple of summers go by, we will see more players like Zegras inch closer to the $10m range.

There were also a couple of other RFA deals signed over the last week that should have caught the attention of the Edmonton Oilers front office.

The St. Louis Blues signed newly acquired forward Connor McMichael to a six-year deal with a $6.75 million cap hit, and the Jets avoided arbitration with Cole Perfetti with a five-year deal that carries a $6m AAV.

Both these deals are interesting comparables for a potential Matt Savoie extension.

They aren’t perfect comparables because both McMichael and Perfetti have much more experience than Savoie does.

McMichael is 25 years old and just wrapped up his fourth full season in the league. He does have a 26-goal season under his belt, but 2025-26 wasn’t his best year, scoring just 14 goals and adding 32 assists.

As for Perfetti, he’s never scored 20-goals in a season, but has gotten close. He scored 19 goals in 2023-24, followed it up with 18 the next season but, like McMichael, saw his goal total drop this past season, only finding the back of the net 12 times in 68 games.

There are some arguments for why Savoie should cost less than both of these players, but there are also some arguments for why he could cost more.

Savoie scored more than both of them last season, although he had nine fewer points than McMichael. It was also Savoie’s first season in the league, though and when you compare his rookie year to the other two players, it’s pretty impressive.

Both players signed bridge deals coming out of their entry-level contracts. Perfetti signed a two-year, $3.25 million deal with the Jets, and McMichael signed a two-year, $2.1 million AAV deal with the Capitals.

Now, as we talked about earlier, prices have gone up in the NHL so it’s reasonable to think that if the Oilers waited until the end of this season and wanted to bridge Savoie, it would probably cost somewhere between $3.5-$4 million.

So if a short-term deal could potentially creep close to a $4 million AAV, wouldn’t the Oilers be smart to go long-term?

At first, I thought that a long-term deal with Savoie would definitely pay him over $6.5 million, but after seeing these extensions for McMichael and Perfetti, I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.

Those two players were two years closer to reaching UFA status, which should, in theory, bring up the cost to sign them. Savoie doesn’t reach UFA eligibility until 2031.

So the first four years of Savoie’s next extension will be exclusively RFA years.

A seven-year deal for Savoie would eat up three UFA years and would mean that when the contract concludes, he would be a fully unrestricted free agent at the age of 30, which would put him in line for a really nice payday if he were to become a consistent 25+ goal scorer with the Oilers.

Again, UFA years are more expensive, and there’s a chance Savoie might not want to go the full seven years with the Oilers.

I think something around the Perfetti deal would be good for both sides, maybe a touch lower on the AAV since there are fewer UFA years involved.

If the Oilers tabled a six-year, $5.5 million extension, would that be good enough for Savoie?

I think it would have the chance to turn into a tremendous bargain for Savoie, who proved last season he can handle top-six minutes and play on the penalty kill. Imagine if he were to take over for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the top power play unit? His goal totals could really rocket up.

The Oilers would be wise to get ahead of this situation with Savoie and I think they should be trying to lock him up before the season starts.

They have roughly $26 million in cap space for the 2027-28 season, so there is little reason to try and squeeze a player like Savoie and risk a potential offer sheet or risk him popping off next season and suddenly becoming a $6-$7 million player.

By signing him now, they open up the possibility of him being an incredible value deal for the next five or six seasons.

Now, some of you might ask why Savoie would do this?

Well, he’s one year into his NHL career, and while he will likely continue to develop and become a better and better player, that’s never a guarantee. Health is also never a guarantee.

A six-year, $5.5 million AAV extension would mean $33 million in career earnings before he turns 30-years-old and would also mean that he would be a UFA at age 29, which could put him in line to get a nice, long-term deal at what would likely be the peak of his career.

I think it has a chance to be a real win, win for both sides and based on the deals we’ve seen this week, I don’t think it’s an unrealistic number.

Contracts are only going to continue to shoot up and the Oilers shouldn’t wait to take care of a player who should be a very important piece of their future.

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