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Kris Knoblauch will give Howard and Savoie an opportunity on Oilers’ Special Teams

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Jason Gregor | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 3:00 PM ET

While Kris Knoblauch announced his coaching staff on Monday, it was also the first opportunity to speak with the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers about recent trades and free agent signings.

I was interested in how he plans to integrate young Ike Howard and Matt Savoie into the lineup. Both forwards are 21 years old and were selected in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft. Savoie had a very productive first pro season last year in Bakersfield. He played big in every situation, and produced 19 goals and 54 points in 66 games. He also played four games with the Oilers, picking up one assist.

Howard won the Hobey Baker Award in 2024-25 for best player in the NCAA with 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games for Michigan State University. He was acquired from Tampa Bay for Sam O’Reilly last week. Howard and Savoie should give the Oilers some skilled youthful exuberance. I asked Knoblauch how he plans to incorporate them into the lineup.

“The most difficult part of our job (coaching) is giving young players an opportunity to play, while also trying to hold them accountable and find that fine line where how many mistakes are allowed. We expect to have young forwards in our group. Howard is a very offensive player and we’d like to find him a role on the power play, probably on the second unit, and I really liked Savoie’s play on the PK in Bakersfield, not that he can’t be on the power play, but I definitely see him being a big part of our penalty kill.”

Knoblauch then elaborated on the balance of allowing young players to make mistakes as they develop.

“Absolutely, there’s going to be mistakes. Even our most seasoned veterans make mistakes, and it’d be silly to think that they’re just going to come in and the transition is going to be seamless and they’re going to be impact NHL players right from the start. We know that there’s going to be some hiccups and I think within the organization, there’s a lot of belief that these are key players and they were going to come in very quickly to be impact players, and to do that we have to give them opportunities to become that, to develop that.

“Ideally, we would love to have Howard and Savoie be able to play in the top-six immediately and have an impact while learning from their mistakes. And hopefully that is the case. But we know there will be some hiccups. But from the organization standpoint, we have a lot of belief in these guys.”

Both are skilled, and when they play on the top two lines, they have the advantage of playing with either Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. That’s a young player’s dream. They won’t have to carry the line; they just need to be complementary players to two of the league’s best forwards. Of course, that means they will face tougher competition, so there will be challenges, but Howard and Savoie will be given the chance to play with skilled forwards. Even if they skate on the third line, they could have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Adam Henrique as a centre. Henrique is seven games shy of 1,000 and has 557 NHL points, while RNH has played 948 games and produced 748 points. Both are smart, reliable veterans who could help ease the difficult transition to the NHL.

For young, skilled wingers, Edmonton offers many great opportunities. The players have to be ready, though. I’m always cautious with rookies. I find that too often people have unrealistic expectations, and then when the player doesn’t reach them, they feel the player underachieved. Look at Connor Bedard. Some made ridiculous comparisons that he’d be the next McDavid. And now, two years in, some of those same people are saying he’s underachieved. He hasn’t. He was never going to be McDavid, but the fact that he’s produced 61 and 67 points as a teenager is damn impressive. Not many teenagers produce like that. Draisaitl didn’t.

It is best to have realistic expectations. If Howard and Savoie can be 35-point players and be decent defensively, that would be great.

Edmonton Oilers prospect Matthew Savoie at the Penticton Young Stars Tournament 2024

The Oilers have only ever had five rookies score 50+ points: Jari Kurri (75 in 1981), Jason Arnott (68 in 1994), Dave Lumley (58 in 1980), Glenn Anderson (53 in 1981), and RNH (52 in 2012).

Arnott and RNH had 23 power-play points, Kurri had 19, Anderson had 13, and Lumley had seven. Savoie and Howard won’t be on the first PP unit, at least to start the season, so that will lower their point totals in that category.

Only 10 rookies have scored 30 even strength points for the Oilers: Kurri (56), Lumley (51), Arnott (45), Anderson (37), Raimo Summanen (35 in 1986), Andrew Cogliano (35 in 2008), McDavid (34 in 45 GP in 2016), Sam Gagner (33 in 2008), Taylor Hall (31 in 2011), and Jordan Eberle (30 in 2011).

I’ve seen some suggest Howard will score 30+ goals. That would be amazing, but in the salary cap era (2006-now), only 14 rookies have scored 30 goals, and only five have done it in the last decade. Those five were Auston Matthews (40 in 2017), Patrik Laine (36 in 2017), Kyle Connor (31 in 2018), Dominik Kubalik (30 in 2020), and Artemi Panarin (30 in 2016). None have done it in the past five seasons. Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini each scored 25 goals this past season, but both of them had eight goals on the power play.

Only four Oilers — Draisaitl (5x), McDavid (5x), Hyman (4x) and RNH (1x) — have scored 25+ goals in a season in the past five years. Patrick Maroon, who scored 27 goals playing on McDavid’s wing early in his career, is the only one outside of those four to do it since 2017. It’s difficult to score 25 goals in today’s NHL, especially if you don’t get PP time. Maroon was a rare exception, as he had 24 goals at 5×5 in 2017.

In the past decade, there have been 21 instances where an Oilers player scored 20+ goals at EV: McDavid (8x), Draisaitl (5x), Hyman (4x), and RNH, Maroon, Taylor Hall, and Evander Kane each did it once. It would be fantastic if Howard or Savoie scored 20 at EV, but again, it’s difficult.

Last year, the NHL had 69 players score 20+ goals at EV, but only 33 scored 20+ goals at 5×5. Draisaitl was the only Oilers player, as he tallied 23. Hyman (19), McDavid (16), Jeff Skinner (14), Corey Perry (13), Viktor Arvidsson (11), and Connor Brown (10) were the only Oilers forwards with double-digit goals at 5×5. Edmonton was tied for 13th in 5×5 goals with 168, and they’d like to improve. If they scored 10 more, they’d move up to seventh.

My point is that expecting Savoie and Howard to put up big numbers is premature. I know 30-40 points isn’t sexy, but if they reach 40, that would be great. Anything above would be outstanding.

Knoblauch and the organization believe that Savoie and Howard can help the Oilers offensively, and I think they will, especially when you consider the Oilers only had five forwards with 30+ points last season in McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, RNH and Connor Brown (30). They need Savoie and Howard to produce, but the expectation needs to be realistic.

WHAT ABOUT DAVID TOMASEK?…

David Tomasek is also very intriguing. The only games I’ve watched him play were at the World Hockey Championship, where he won gold with Czechia in 2024. It was very limited, so I asked Knoblauch what to expect from the reigning MVP of the Swedish Hockey League.

“That’s a great question. Of all the players, I’m probably most unfamiliar with him (Tomasek) or Howard. They haven’t been with our organization for very long. I’ve watched a little bit of the video on him (Tomasek), but finding what his role will be here is hard to say with so many unknowns.

“One thing I do like about our team this year is that we’ve got a lot of options to play at center. I think having players that have some fluidity to their game, whether they’re playing left wing, right wing, center, is good. I think it’s important to have more centers because it’s easier to get a centerman to play the wing than it is to get a winger to play the center. Tomasek, I feel it could be a right winger or a centerman. Where exactly in the lineup, I’m not sure. In Europe, he was having a lot of success in a top-six role, providing a lot of offence. Now, can that translate to the NHL? Time will tell. But I think early in the season, especially in exhibition, giving him a lot of opportunities to find his game and find out where he best fits in our team.

“Because we have a lot of unknowns. Does Nugent Hopkins play centre? Is he a left winger? Adam Henrique, very similar situation. Trent Frederick, is he a centre man or is he a right winger? There are a lot of unknowns, and I guess we’ve got to find out what’s best for our whole team.”

Tomasek won’t be a rookie by NHL rules because he’s 29 years old, but it will be his first season in North America, and has has way more professional experience than Savoie or Howard. Could he surprise some people? I’ve spoken to a few European scouts, and they think his game should translate well to the NHL. They believe he could be a solid third-line player, but has the potential to complement the top six, but it is difficult to know until you see how he adapts to the different style, different city and different culture.

Last summer, I felt Jeff Skinner, who had produced quite well at 5×5 in his career, could help Edmonton’s offence. He never really fit in. Savoie, Howard, and Tomasek are different players. It’s unlikely all three will have productive offensive seasons, but if two of them can produce while playing in the top six, that would be huge.

The Oilers need a winger not named Hyman to produce at 5×5 while playing with McDavid or Draisaitl. Savoie and Howard, and maybe Tomasek will get a chance this coming season. Can one of them become the 5×5 scoring winger the Oilers have been looking for for years?

Time will tell.

This article first appeared on Oilersnation and was syndicated with permission.

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