When the Oilers pulled the trigger on a surprising deal involving Ryan McLeod there were mixed reviews in the Edmonton market.

Almost none of the critiques of the trade, however, were about the return. The ability of the Oilers to bring in a high first-round pick who had lit up the WHL for years moderated even the most vocal critic of the trade.

Since the season started, Savoie has been followed closely by Oilers watchers. As games have gone by concern has been building about Savoie and his status as an elite prospect. As the of this article, Savoie has scored four goals and 12 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. For a player who had 273 points in three regular seasons in the WHL, his current totals are modest in comparison.

There is no question that Savoie’s offensive output has surprised to the downside. His totals are not the whole story, however. This week provided a perfect snapshot of Savoie’s play for most of this season.

More on what happened to Savoie this week, the awakening of Noah Philp, and all your news and notes are in this week’s Oilers Prospect Report.

The sharp reader is already asking “why is Bruce headlining a player who had one point in two games this team?”

On its face, a very good question, but the numbers are only part of the story. There is no better example of this than Savoie’s two games this week and I have five clips this week on Savoie. I wrap context around each clip, however, you all have an assignment.

Watch the clips at a high level for how quickly Savoie makes plays, then try and project what happens if Savoie plays with offensive skilled players similar to himself.

Here is the one point Savoie had this week. Watch his work on the powerplay in opening up space for his teammates and then notice the quick pass.

Here is another clip from a power play set up. Again, watch his movement and quick decisions.

Of course, the immediate rebuttal will be “Yes, that’s great, but it’s the powerplay.” No question, but Savoie is very effective at 5v5. Watch this shift where Savoie makes a great quick strike attack and then makes a great net front pass to create another opportunity.

Here is an even better scenario. Savoie doesn’t get a point on this goal, but he is the absolute reason the goal happened. Again, watch him move his feet, win a battle and then make a very quick, high-skilled play.

Finally, here is a really quick transition play where Savoie gets himself into a great spot and gets a great shot off.

Again, take all five of these clips in at the same time and try and project what happens if these plays happen with NHL skill players. This is the intrigue of Matthew Savoie. I believe he will score more with higher-skill players. However, so will those players. Savoie has a strong understanding of the offensive game and the skills to make great plays. These players will benefit from him as much as he will benefit from them.

If I had one critique of Savoie is that he does not shoot enough. He averaging just under two shots per game. He needs to shoot more. This week he had seven shots in two games. I do not think it’s a coincidence he was one of the best Condors this week. The more he creates shots for himself, the more he and his linemates will carry the play. Savoie looks poised to breakout. His shot totals might be telling us that already. This week Savoie and the Condors play four times. His timing could not be better for a breakout.

I admit that I am surprised by Philp this season. I was relatively convinced he would play very well in the AHL and get a call back up after Christmas, but Philp’s play has been very uneven. His normal stalwart defensive game hasn’t been great and his offence really has dried up even though this week, Philp started to gain a footing.

In two games, he went 1-1—2 and was far more involved every shift he played. His offensive came in different ways. The first one is something he can do well at the NHL level: win faceoffs. This play here is a coach’s dream.

Philp also displayed something I believe he can do at will in the AHL and enough in the NHL. What is that? Beat defencemen using his size and speed and finish plays. Watch this goal by Philp. This is NHL-level ability.

Now many players can make this play occasionally. If you are hoping to see Philp in the NHL soon, you want to see this play every game. Obviously, the goals will not always come, but the chances need to be there. Philp, like Savoie, gets four cracks this week to make a statement of where his game is and whether he is ready for an NHL call.

Petrov’s game has been a struggle right since the prospect camp. His defensive game has actually been quite good, which is a carryover from the last part of the prior season. However, Petrov makes the NHL with his shot. That is something he continues to struggle with. In 20 games, he has 25 shots. This has impacted his point totals. Four goals and eight points in 20 games simply will not get it done for the second-year professional. This week Petrov played one of his best games ending up with two goals in that game using his shot. Watch both of these goals and tell me whether you think this release is an NHL skill.

Petrov needs to start playing with more pace. He needs to make it hard of defenders to stay with him when he is off the puck. His shot can beat goalies from a distance. The first part of the season has been very average. If he can start to move with pace, both with and without the puck, he will create chances and he will score.

Both Sam O’Reilly and William Nicholl had a pair of good games in the absence of Easton Cowan and Denver Barkey, who were away at the u20 Team Canada training camp. Both players had two points in two games and saw their roles increase. This should continue over the next three weeks as London loses another player Kasper Halttunen to the Finnish U20 team shortly.

It would also be wrong of me to not share a William Nicholl clip from this week as well. Watch this 200-foot shift by Nicholl that finishes with him scoring.

Luca Munzenberger has blasted through his career-best five points in a season. With more than half a season remaining, Munzenberger is up to four goals and nine points in 15 games. These are great totals for anyone, but especially for Munzenberger who has struggled offensively. A good second half hopefully leads to a contract that allows Munzenberger to get some time with the Condors after the NCAA season is over.

That’s it for this week folks. As always, please leave your feedback here or to @bcurlock on the X or Bluesky. Have a great week.