The Oilers prospect everyone slept on is quietly destroying the favorite
Bleed Oil Blue dropped a prospect comparison on social media Sunday that has Edmonton Oilers fans evaluating their young forward depth.
The post compared Matthew Savoie's first AHL season to Isaac Howard's first AHL season. Savoie produced 54 points in 66 games. Howard went 50 points in 47 games.
Both numbers translate the same way. Skilled, productive young forwards who held their own in their first taste of pro hockey.
The conversation matters because the Oilers desperately need young scoring depth. David Pagnotta reported this week that Stan Bowman is hunting for a third-line center, with the option of going younger.
Savoie has already crossed over to the NHL full-time. The 22-year-old played 82 games this regular season at 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points at plus-6. The cap hit is 886 thousand.
Howard's NHL exposure was smaller. The 22-year-old American forward played 29 games this season at 5 points and minus-6. The contract is 950 thousand.
That's not a fair head-to-head comparison. One player got the full runway. The other got cameo minutes.
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Bowman's prospect pool finally has real options on the wing
The Oilers prospect pipeline has been a punching bag for years. McDavid's career has been defined by the depth around him, and the depth has rarely been good enough.
That's why Savoie's rookie NHL year matters. 37 points and 5 game-winning goals from a 22-year-old at under a million dollars in cap hit is exactly the kind of production every contender needs.
Howard hasn't been given the same opportunity yet. The 29 games of NHL exposure produced rough plus-minus numbers, but the sample is small and the role wasn't ideal.
The bigger question is what role both forwards play next October. Bowman has a coaching search going on parallel to all of this. Kris Knoblauch was fired this week. Bruce Cassidy is the target.
Whoever takes the bench in Edmonton has to figure out how to deploy these two prospects. The 3C spot is open. The middle-six wings have room.
Connor McDavid's 2-year extension is the clock that hangs over every decision. The Oilers can't keep waiting for the kids to develop slowly. They need production now.
That's the part where the AHL comparison falls short. Points in a development league don't translate cleanly to the NHL. The Savoie sample at the highest level is the only one that really counts.
If Howard gets a longer leash next year, the prospect picture changes. If not, Savoie is the only one of these two who matters to the Cup window.
Bowman has the next four months to figure out which path he wants.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||