By almost any account, the Edmonton Oilers had a very successful start to the off-season.

The work done by “don’t call me the GM” Jeff Jackson and co. yielded the signings of Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson along with the return of Adam Henrique, Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry to the Edmonton Oilers. The only conundrum was it left the Oilers with not enough cap room for everyone with Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg remaining unsigned. The other shoe, or shoes, needed to drop.

Well, one of them did drop when the Oilers traded Ryan McLeod along with AHL prospect, Ty Tullio, to the Buffalo Sabres for Matthew Savoie. It was a stunner. The Oilers traded a young, experienced and “fleet of foot” centre for one of the NHL’s more coveted prospects. While we can debate the merits of losing McLeod, make no mistake the Edmonton Oilers got a legitimate top-six NHL prospect under full ELC control for three years. Savoie instantly becomes the number one prospect in the Oilers organization and someone who we might see in Edmonton during this coming season. Who is Matthew Savoie? Let’s go to the video.

This isn’t breaking news. Savoie was the ninth overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft for this reason. In his time in the WHL, Savoie has put up 103-160—263 in 183 games. In those, he had 628 shots for an average of 3.5 per game. Savoie was too young to play a full season in the AHL this year (he turned 20 on January 1, 2024), but did get a taste playing six games. In them, he went 2-3—5 with ten shots on net. The most notable element of Savoie’s game is his shot.

For a smaller player, he delivers a highly accurate shot that gives goalies a lot of trouble because of the release. Here is Savoie’s first goal as a pro with the Rochester Americans. He’s 25 feet out when he decides to take a crack at the net. The first thing to notice is that he shoots in stride. He never stops skating, so the goalie doesn’t get an early warning of when the shot is coming.  Now watch the release.

There is literally no stick swing. It is non-existent. Again, this makes it hard for the goalie to gauge the shot. The result is a tidy first goal in the AHL.

What Oilers fans should be watching for is Savoie getting his shot off with frequency in the AHL. He is a career 16 percent shooter in the WHL. In the very small AHL sample size, he was at 20 percent. If Savoie can average over two shots per game this season in the AHL, there is a strong chance he will score more than 20 goals with a chance at 25. Raphael Lavoie led the team with 28 last season.

Savoie also has excellent puck skills as well. Watch this clip of his ability to take advantage of space and manipulate defenders to his benefit.

Here, he gets the puck on the flank in the offensive zone with about ten feet of space from a defender. Watch him immediately attack the middle of the ice drawing defenders to him and look at the heads of those who don’t even come to him. They’re all focused on Savoie.

This opens up the slot area for a teammate who fills it nicely. Savoie then has a very narrow window to make a play. He does so with a great pass through the seam.

Another key element to Savoie’s offence is his willingness to play in the middle of the ice. Savoie is 5’9″ and maybe 175 pounds, yet, he has no qualms playing where contact is certain to happen. That can lead to lots of good things. Players who play in the middle will see more pucks. Yes, they will get more contact, but not always. Here is a great example.

Watch Savoie get oriented in the middle of the ice off a transition play by his team. He could have flared out to the wall for a pass from his defenseman. Instead, he stays in the middle available for a pass, to screen or to deflect the puck, as he does here.

One final element of Savoie’s offensive game that makes him impactful is his motion. He never stops moving in the zone. Again, this is crucial for a smaller player. It takes them away from checks by bigger players, but also creates confusion which leads to time and space.

Remember Savoie’s first goal above? Watch the whole shift, and watch Savoie’s feet. He is always hunting the puck or hunting for space if a teammate has the puck. He exhibits great vision when gets the puck with a deft little pass that leads to a chance. Ultimately, he scores his goal off a great pass and pass reception.

Here is another great example. Watch again here how he hunts the puck constantly. This puts pressure on the opposition players before they are ready for it. Then watch the neat play at the end where Savoie recognizes his defenceman is going to pinch and recovers up ice to blunt any odd-man attack against.

Savoie is an excellent skater. He’s got a quick first step and good to great top-end speed, but what I like best is the power in his stride. This helps him play against bigger players. Take a look at this clip.

First, we notice his quick acceleration to chase the puck. Nice, efficient cross-over skating to get to top speed. Look at the next freeze frame and notice the nice ankle and knee flexion. He has great lower body posture, his upper body has a strong tilt to it and excellent arm position to create energy, not lose it. Now here comes the power. Look at him get low and engage the bigger player. He is so strong on his skates that he wobbles the bigger player and creates space for him to gather the puck. This is a very good skating technique. NHL quality for certain.

If Savoie can get some additional muscle mass to his lower body and make himself even stronger, his lack of size concern will quickly fade into oblivion. A big part of that is the powerful skating technique he has.

Savoie, like all players not named Connor McDavid, has areas where he can get better. A year in the AHL will stand him in good stead. First, he can get bigger and stronger, which will help, but it doesn’t mean he cannot thrive currently. Here is a clip of his work on the wall against a bigger player.

Ultimately, he doesn’t get support quick enough and loses the puck, but he uses his body again to create a chance at possession for his team.

He also will need to learn a new position. In junior, he played a lot of center, but in his six games in the AHL, he played the wing. I am certain this is where he will play professionally. While I think his ability to withstand the physicality of the game is underrated, he doesn’t compute as an NHL center. So learning to play the wing will be a key part of his AHL time.

He, like every young player, needs to learn the defensive side of the game. Here is an example of Savoie in this area. He makes a nice play to start in his own zone, but then watch. He loses his composure and starts chasing the puck all over the ice. It creates a lot of issues for his teammates trying to read what he is doing. He ultimately makes a further bungle of the play by throwing the puck up the wall blindly. He is saved by a busted stick, but the shift is a challenge.

This is not remotely fatal, but rather a pretty common shift for a 19-year-old playing in the second-best league in the world. More repetitions will help Savoie overcome these issues.

That said, Savoie has good defensive instincts. Watch this clip here while playing the wing. In this set-up, when the puck is on the weak side, Savoie needs to move to slot to cover the danger area. When it comes to his strong side, he needs to get higher and cover his point. He does that very well here. Now watch the transition, as this is why Savoie needs to play wing as well. Get the man out into space in a hurry and he can do damage.

Matthew Savoie is going to play in the NHL and that will almost assuredly be with the Edmonton Oilers, most likely in a top-six role. It will all be done likely under some portion of his entry level contract. All of this together makes it a win. There’s no question that trading Ryan McLeod leaves a hole. However, the team covered the bet and more getting another right-shot winger who can play in the top six. A Hyman and Savoie combination with McDavid and Draisaitl is an exciting proposition and one that is not that far off.