August 24, 2025 by Spencer Pomoty

The Edmonton Oilers made arguably their biggest move of the off-season when they acquired highly-touted prospect Ike Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Sam O’Reilly on July 8.

The Oilers then signed Howard to a three-year entry-level contract with a $950,000 AAV. After dominating college hockey in 2024-25, Howard is expected to play in the Oilers’ top-nine this coming season.

Here’s what Howard brings to Edmonton and what’s his long-term projection look like:

Statistical Profile

At 5-foot-11 and 180-pounds, Howard’s ability to explode up the ice like he does tells me it is more muscle weight than anything. I would not classify him as small. In his draft year, the slick winger played for the United States National Team Development Program, tallying 44 goals and 75 assists for 119 points in 87 games. Howard led the program in scoring, which featured names like Logan Cooley, Lane Hutson, Frank Nazar, Rutger McGroarty, Gabe Perreault, and Cutter Gauthier. He went on to play for The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the NCAA, where he put up six goals and 17 points in 35 games as a freshman in 2022-23. The following season, Howard became a point-per-game scorer, notching eight goals and 36 points in 36 games in 2023-24. After transferring to the Michigan State University Spartans, Howard scored 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games in 2024-25. Howard led the NCAA in points per game (1.41) and had a point on 40% of his team’s goals.

Skating and Speed

The base of the former Spartans’ star’s game is his skating ability. Howard’s mechanics are very sound and smooth – he extends his legs fully and his able to get them back to the middle quickly. His two-step acceleration his magnificent, as he uses linear crossovers to gain speed, smooth transitions, and crisp all around edge work used to stay on checks or avoid them. There were a number of times where Howard was able to use his skating ability to consistently force turnovers and make plays out of it. I love the “speed” category in relation to Ike Howards game. The 2025 Hobey Baker Award winner is able to push pace, but he is also great at recognizing if challenging the opposition is a mistake and Howard uses his edges and transition skating to make a play to a teammate. While he’s excellent at pushing the pace in the transition game, he will also explode in a race to a loose puck inside the offensive zone and make a play with it. There could be an adjustment period, but once Howard does, I think he’ll be able to play his game at the next level.

Skills

I won’t say this area of the crafty winger’s game is elite, but it’s still great. The main reason I won’t call it elite is because I don’t ever see him being a player to continuously beat opponents one-on-one, which is fine, but I’m slightly concerned about the inconsistency with accepting bad passes and making the most of “dirty” pucks (ex. Rimmed puck on a breakout). However, it’s not overly worries, because Howard is great under pressure, has quick twitch hands, and is great at pre scanning, all these combined with some experience in the NHL should be able to fix this issue.

Moreover, Howard has very quick hands, but he also maintains the puck in his hip pocket more often than not. This allows him to not only keep it out of reach from defenders but also disguise what he is doing. The 21-year-old has excellent shot mechanics, strong top hand that he is able to pull down and back quick, can shoot in motion, from a standstill, or a one-timer. My favourite ability about his shot is the accuracy and placement of it. NHL players often say, “shoot low” and that’s what Howard does – he shoots for above the pad, but under the glove and blocker.

Smarts

The Hudson, Wisconsin product thinks the game well. He’s great at playing within a system, covers for the pinching defenseman consistently, rotates up to F3, stretches the defense when he should and comes low into the defensive zone when he shouldn’t. In my viewings, I didn’t see him “cheat” for offence often either. Howard also values the middle of the ice and either protects it when he’s the back checking forward, or he wants to attack it when his team has the puck. In reference to his excellent use of keeping the puck in his hip pocket, he uses this to create passing lanes for himself and can deliver any pass needed on the ice. He’s a great playmaker overall. What I love most about Howard in this category, is the ability to get lost behind defenders, use good timing, and explode to an open area where he can get a quick shot off. It helps that he also loops high up by the defenders in the offensive zone.

Overall

Howard should be able to fill a role on the Oilers in 2025-26. I believe he is more than capable of being a top-nine winger and potentially a top-six winger in Edmonton. I would describe Howard as a high work ethic winger, who is a dual offensive threat, but can also give you some good minutes in his own zone as well. I think if Howard scores 15 goals and gets 35 to 40 points, that would be a great rookie campaign for him. Anything more is incredible, in my opinion. As the for his long-term potential, I can see him at his peak consistently being a 50 to 60-point winger, but he also shows the willingness to make it work in other ways if the scoring doesn’t work out. I like the bet the Oilers made here, and if Howard hits his ceiling, he’s going to be an outstanding player in the league.