A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Matthew Savoie needed a big week in terms of point production. His overall play had been very good most of the season and he had even stepped in to play some very good games at centre when the Bakersfield Condors were going through injury issues.

But he hadn’t scored at rates that most people expected. That week, the Condors played four games and Savoie went 3-1—4 in them. He played just as well in those games in all other facets of the game, but the scoring also came. Then the Condors went on their Christmas break until last Friday night. The question I had was would the break interrupt the role Savoie was on or would it give him some needed rest that would help his already good play. We have the answers to that question below along with all your news and notes in the Oilers Prospect Report.

Savoie didn’t have a lot of competition for who caught my eye this week. Indeed, most Oilers prospects have not played since last Sunday. However, even if they had all played, Matthew Savoie would have been the feature. In two games this weekend, Savoie went 1-4—5 with four shots on net and had a very nice +3 in those two games. With all that great offence, you would think the first clip would highlight some of that work.

Instead, I want to show this clip here. The Condors are up 5-3 with less than one minute to play. Obviously, the team is trying to finish the game off for the win. In this context watch Savoie when Drake Cagguila makes an ill-advised cross-ice pass at the opposition blueline.

I have four more clips about Savoie in this article and I am not sure Oilers management would grade any of them higher than that clip. His backtrack desire paired with his speed and strength to turn the puck back over was impressive.

I have talked at length about how good his defensive game is despite being a first-year professional. This week he has a great clip where his defensive zone work led to him getting rewarded at the other end. Watch the number of times in this clip Savoie is involved in handling the puck for a positive play.

This was maybe Savoie’s most impressive sequence of the week that led to results on the scoresheet. He has a great drive to get to the puck first. There is no hesitation in his game regardless of the situation.

Here is another excellent example of this type of effort. In this case, Savoie gets on his horse and is F1 on the forecheck. He forces a play to the weak side. Then watch him go straight to the net and make himself available for a great pass from Drake Cagguila.

Here is another clip where you see very little of Savoie in terms of puck handling, but it was he who started the play that led to the goal. Watch him attack the loose puck before anyone else to gain possession for his team.

Savoie gets their first as he’s strong enough on the wall to fend off the opposition players and chips the puck to the corner where his teammate can regain possession. Side note: very nice screen by Noah Philp.

When Savoie wasn’t earning points with hard work and compete, he was getting them flashing off his offensive skills. Watch this sneaky play where he attacks the middle of the penalty kill to open a passing lane to Lane Pederson who now has a clear shot lane as well.

It is apparent when you watch the games, Matthew Savoie is really feeling it right now. His understanding of the defensive game has been good for sometime. Now he is getting the rewards on the scoresheet at the other end of the ice. Most importantly, he is seeing the game very well now. This is leading to him getting to pucks first and making plays that he wasn’t before. Without knowing, it almost looks like the game is slowing down for him. If this is the case, Matthew Savoie is not very far away from NHL games.

Matvey Petrov is also having himself quite the breakout moment. In his last nine games since December 6th, Petrov has six goals and two assists. He is also a very nice plus three in that stretch of games. Like Savoie, I wish Petrov would shoot more. He only has 13 shots in those games. Coming out of the break, like Savoie, the question was whether Petrov would regress. He did somewhat with a very quiet game against Coachella Valley on Friday night. However, he played an excellent game last night against San Diego and had the highlight of the week for the Condors and maybe the entire AHL with this assist.

That vision and deception is as good as it gets. Connor Carrick couldn’t believe when the puck got to him with that much net available.

For Petrov, the goal is continued consistent play. The coaching staff has him on a line with Jayden Grubbe and Cameron Wright. The line has been very effective recently, but I wonder about putting Petrov with a little more playmaking capability to see where that can lead to increased scoring totals. The team is giving healthy minutes on the second powerplay and that looks very good. Petrov is doing a lot of the right things now. He just needs to do them on every shift in every game.

The two Oiler prospects at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa got off to slow starts. Both Beau Akey and Paul Fischer saw very limited minutes in their first game of the tournament. Akey’s time increased after the injury to Matthew Schaefer in the game against Latvia. Fischer on the other hand was scratched for the US game against Latvia. It was reported late by Chris Peters at FloHockey that Fischer would be back in the US game against Finland. Akey will likely play increased minutes as well going forward.

Maxim Beryozkin is back on another role with three points in three games this week. A tell tale sign with Beryozkin is his shot averages. When he averages 2.0 shots per game or more, he has 18 points in those 18 games. When he averages less than 2.0 shots per game, he has 11 points in those 22 games.

Nikita Yevseyev is playing routinely with AK Bars in the KHL again. In his last three games, he has averaged almost 12 minutes per night. He even scored a goal this week playing a third pairing role. This is a player who has virtually no stats and yet I remain convinced he could play in the AHL with the Condors given his skating. His contract expires next Spring, so the Oilers will have some opportunity should they wish to pursue him.

That’s it for a very quiet Christmas week Oiler Prospect Report. Happy New Year to all of you. Wishing you the very best in 2025. See you around the rink.