Savoie ‘poised to take a big step,’ nail down roster spot with Oilers

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 21-year-old forward has a chance to earn a roster spot with the Edmonton Oilers this season, if he can demonstrate an ability to kill penalties in the NHL like he did with Bakersfield of the American Hockey League last season.

“With Savoie, the one thing that I’m very optimistic about is penalty kill and how good he was in Bakersfield in that role,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He didn’t have any penalty-kill time when he was with us [four game call-up] but certainly, we saw him being a reliable two-way player at 5-on-5.

“The opportunity for Savoie is on the penalty kill, not that he can’t be on the power play, but I definitely see him being a big part of our penalty kill.”

Edmonton is in the market for a reliable penalty-killing forward after Connor Brown signed a four-year, $12 million contract ($3 million average annual salary) with the New Jersey Devils on July 1. The Oilers would also like to inject youth into a veteran lineup that reached the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons, losing to the Florida Panthers each time.

“There is some growth from within,” Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said. “I think Matt Savoie is probably poised to take a big step next year.”

Acquired by Edmonton in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres for forward Ryan McLeod and forward prospect Tyler Tullio on July 5, 2024, Savoie had 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists) in 66 games for Bakersfield and an assist in four games with the Oilers last season.

Selected by the Sabres with the No. 9 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Savoie has strong offensive production on his resume; he averaged 1.44 points per game in four seasons with Winnipeg,

Wenatchee and Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League from 2021-24 (263 points; 103 goals, 160 assists in 183 games).

But he knows his NHL fortunes, at least for now, depend on his play in the defensive zone.

“I think for me that adds a lot of excitement, that’s been my goal since the season ended in Bakersfield,” Savoie said. “I’m really motivated to push for a spot and be a big contributor for that team. They’re so close to winning the Stanley Cup and there is no better opportunity to put yourself into.”

A native of St. Albert, Alberta, a suburb of Edmonton, Savoie relished the taste of playing for his hometown NHL team last season. The four games with the Oilers gave him an indication of how far he needed to go to make the jump full time this season.

“Getting called up in February and getting to play at home in front of friends and family for the first time was really exciting,” he said. “My first full pro season was a lot of fun. There were a lot of ups and downs in it, as expected, but I think I just got a lot more comfortable as the season went on, playing at the pro level, the physicality of it all, the grind of the schedule.

“I think it takes a little bit of adapting to, coming out of junior, but within a couple of months, I felt I got my legs under me and got a lot of consistency in my game, which I think is really important at the pro level.”

Savoie also got to go along for the ride to the Stanley Cup Final as a member of the “Black Aces,” practicing with Edmonton’s extra skaters throughout the playoffs.