February 22, 2025 by Eric Friesen

Edmonton Oilers top prospect Matt Savoie was officially recalled from the Bakersfield Condors on Friday.

Savoie, who practiced with the team during the 4 Nations Face-Off break this week, will make his Oilers debut against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. He played in one NHL game with the Buffalo Sabres on November 10, 2023.

Though Savoie is the newest member of the team, sporting the oil drop on his chest is nothing new to him. The St. Albert, Alberta native has been cheering on the orange and blue his entire life.

“Just being a fan growing up,” said Savoie in an interview with bakersfield.com on January 2. “My love for the Oilers goes beyond just being a prospect for them. It’s pretty cool just to be able to watch and have a little bit of that fan side on me and also being dialed into how I can get there and how I can have an impact on that team.”

Finding success at the pro level

Just 11 days after losing in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers made a surprise trade when they sent Ryan McLeod and Ty Tullio to the Sabres for Savoie on July 5, 2024. Cup contenders like the Oilers are rarely in the market for highly touted prospects. However, when the Sabres offered the former ninth-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to the Oilers in exchange for some immediate help down the middle, CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson couldn’t pass up the chance to add the talented scorer to Edmonton’s depleted prospect pool.

Related: What are the Oilers getting in Matthew Savoie?

Savoie represents the most promising forward prospect to join the organization since the Oilers selected Connor McDavid first-overall in 2015. After tearing up the WHL with the Wenatchee Wild and Moose Jaw Warriors in 2023-24, where he scored 30 goals and 71 points in just 34 games, Savoie made the full-time jump to the pro ranks with the Condors this season. The 5-foot-9, 179-pound winger struggled to generate scoring chances early on, as he was going from playing against teenagers to battling against men with years of pro experience.

It took some time for him start producing regularly, but once he did, Savoie quickly became one of the team’s top offensive threats. Savoie notched nine goals and 25 points in his last 23 AHL games, while helping the Condors go 12-7-4 during that stretch and move into a tie for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Through 45 games this season, Savoie ranks tied for second in assists (24) and third in points (37) among AHL rookies.

“Things have been going really well [in Bakersfield],” Savoie told Oilers TV after practice on Tuesday. “A little bit of a slow start adjusting to pro hockey, but I’ve been playing really well the last couple of weeks, or even a month, so I’m feeling really confident and feeling really good about my game.”

What makes Savoie’s numbers even more impressive is the fact that he played on a bottom-10 offensive team in the AHL. He also registered 26 of his 37 points this season at even-strength, and factored in on 27% of the Condors’ total goals during his four months with the club. Prior to being recalled by the Oilers, Savoie was on pace to become the first Oilers’ prospect to put up 60 points as an AHL rookie since Tyler Benson and Cooper Marody had 66 and 64 points, respectively, in 2018-19.

The 21-year-old earned the nod to represent the Condors in the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic earlier this month, where he scored a goal and two assists in the 3-on-3 round-robin tournament for Team Pacific Division. Savoie also claimed the Fastest Skater title with a time of 13.654 seconds in the 2025 AHL All-Star Skills Competition, and showed off his slick hands and flashy moves with a scintillating goal during the Breakaway Relay.

Opportunity in Oil Country

Though many Oilers fans believed it would take a flurry of injuries for Savoie to get a chance with the big club this season, his recall was well-deserved.

In an effort to get Draisaitl some legitimate scoring wingers, the Oilers inked a pair of former 30-goal scorers in Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner to flank him on the first day of free agency this past July. However, neither of them have delivered enough offence to warrant a regular spot in the top-six through two-thirds of the regular season. Based on line rushes in practice this week, Savoie will at least start on Draisaitl’s right side in his first game for his hometown team.

“He looked great I thought,” Draisaitl told Oilers TV on Tuesday. “He moves really well. You can tell he’s got a lot of hockey sense to him, so maybe we’ll get a couple games together and we’ll see what we have in him. Of course, I think he’s been playing really well from what I heard, and I’m excited to see him.”

If Savoie proves he’s ready contribute at the NHL level, then that could give the Oilers a major boost ahead of the 2025 playoffs, and allow them to address other needs at the trade deadline. Additionally, Savoie caries an a very affordable $886,000 cap hit through 2026-27. The former Sherwood Park Crusader shared the ice with Draisaitl in training camp last fall, and is excited for the chance to play alongside him in an NHL game.

“It was really fun,” Savoie said on playing with Draisaitl. “I got a little bit of a taste of it in camp, so I have somewhat of an idea of how it is to play with players of that skill level. But every time you’re out there, it’s a step up, and the plays he makes and the way he makes them is just so effortless, and he knows where to put the puck before it even comes to him. So, it’s really fun to play with a guy like that who can distribute and finish the way he does.”