‘Better and better every day’: After underwhelming early, Oilers’ Ike Howard begins to find his way

Things may not have started on the right foot for Ike Howard this year.

After refusing to sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning who drafted him in the first round of the 2023 draft, he found himself dealt to the Edmonton Oilers, an organization teeming with top-end talent, but needing to get younger.

At 21 years old, he certainly fits that bill. So does he in terms of what he’s done offensively in his own career, using his quick release to pile up goals and points at Michigan State University, winning last year’s Hobey Baker Award.

Despite all that talent, it took a while for it to show at his first NHL training camp, but day by day, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is seeing the growth.

“Howard’s just continued to get better and better every day,” he said. “I think he got here (for rookie camp and)… wasn’t as strong as we were anticipating.

“First day of main camp, I thought he put in a good showing and just continued to get more impressive every time. Those young guys have to feel comfortable, or not just guys, old guys who are coming to a new team.

“It takes a while to get comfortable, but we’ve been very happy with the way Ike’s been performing and getting comfortable and making some plays.”

Howard found himself on a line alongside a couple of NHL veterans on Sunday night, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Andrew Mangiapane, a potential second line as the team will load up Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Trent Frederic on the top line to start the season.

While they may not be the most physically imposing trio on line two, Knoblauch isn’t concerned about that.

“I look at Seattle. They’ve got a line last year with Eberle, a couple of guys, they weren’t very big, and they were very effective,” he said. “I think if you’re tenacious, smart, you can be an effective line.

“I’m not saying these three are going to work, and that’s the plan going forward, but I don’t think necessarily you need a big guy on the line to be successful.”

Howard’s now drawn in for four pre-season games this year, scoring a goal and an assist. He’s got some time on the power play, where he ripped home a shot from Draisaitl’s office, for his goal, and ranks second among Oilers forwards with eight shots on goal.

While the four game sample size is incredibly small, the Oilers have broke even at five-on-five in terms of shot attempt share and expected goal share with him on the ice, controlling the scoring chance share at 57.1 percent and the high-danger scoring chance share at 58.3 percent — both good signs.

As alluded to by Oilers radio man Bob Stuaffer, Howard is among a group of fresh faces — including Matt Savoie, David Tomasek, Noah Philp and Alec Regula — who he foresees making the opening day roster.

They’ll be thrust into important roles early on this season marking a true test of the organization’s ability to not only acquire talent, but place them in places to succeed.