Michigan State's Isaac Howard celebrates his goal against Notre Dame during the third period in the Big Ten tournament on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at Muni Arena in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lightning Trade Michigan State's Isaac Howard

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 11:22 PM ET

Michigan State fans didn't have much reason for concern when it was reported that top NHL prospect Gavin McKenna would be committing to Penn State, but now, they're going to feel a little uneasy with news regarding star forward Isaac Howard.

Howard, the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner, decided to return for another season at Michigan State after not being on the same page with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who selected him with the 31st overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft.

On Tuesday, hours after McKenna announced his commitment on ESPN, the Edmonton Oilers and Lightning announced that Howard has been traded to Edmonton for forward Sam O'Reilly. Per Edmonton, it signed Howard to a three-year entry-level contract.

We have acquired forward Sam O’Reilly from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forward Isaac Howard.

: https://t.co/Ep9WBQ2h9O pic.twitter.com/YwKcwBOlab
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 9, 2025

TRADE ALERT

The #Oilers have acquired forward Isaac Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Sam O'Reilly. We have also signed Howard to a three-year entry-level contract. pic.twitter.com/k3UHkpv6Ik
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) July 9, 2025

The obvious question for Michigan State fans now is whether Howard will still stay in East Lansing.

"I think I get the unique opportunity to be back here and chase that national championship," Howard said back in April. "I think we're going to have such a loaded roster with so much talent. And having that ability to come back and just be grounded here and be trying my best to win a national championship."

" ... I think we're big-time ready to go. That's the ultimate goal, and I think when you get a group of guys that can fully buy in, I think we're going to see something special, and we'll definitely be ready to go."

While Howard still has aspirations of winning a national title, if his goals align with Edmonton, he might feel more inclined to head to the league and not return to Michigan State as initially planned.

"I don't want to get into it too much, I just feel like with me and Tampa, we didn't see eye-to-eye the same way as I thought maybe we would," Howard said when he joined Barstool Sports' "Spittin Chiclets" podcast.

"It wasn't a situation where I was demanding to step right into the NHL, it wasn't anything like that, but it just didn't necessarily work out."

Should Howard still stay, Michigan State will be in a great position to achieve its goal of winning a national title, even after missing out on McKenna.

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