July 6, 2024 by Spencer Pomoty

Though we’re less than two weeks into the Edmonton Oilers off-season, CEO and acting General Manager Jeff Jackson hasn’t stopped upgrading the roster.

The Oilers traded Ryan McLeod and Ty Tullio to the Buffalo Sabres for forward prospect Matthew Savoie on Friday. In what appears to be another great move by Jackson, the Oilers were able to both clear cap space to re-sign some of their own players and add a high-end prospect to their system.

Here’s my evaluation of what the Oilers are getting in Savoie:

Statistical Profile

At 5-foot-10 and 179-pounds, Savoie won’t wow you with his size, but his production will. In four WHL seasons with the Winnipeg Ice/Wenatchee Wild and Moose Jaw Warriors, Savoie put up 103 goals and 263 points in 183 games (1.44 points per game). He also tallied five points in six AHL games as a 19-year-old with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, last season. He’s an extremely gifted goal-scorer at the major junior level, but will it translate to the highest level?

My Observations

Over my time scouting the WHL, I’ve seen plenty of the former first-overall pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft – even his bantam games were must-watch hockey. During his junior career, Savoie played centre for about 95% of it. I think he will be a winger at the next level due to his size and most NHL coaches preferring bigger bodies down low. For all my player profiles, I follow Gus Katsaros’ “Four S’s of Scouting.” This sheet is by my side every time I watch WHL players, as it covers all facets of the game, and I put an emphasis on how players create their own space. Whether it’s using your body to buy time or using your speed to push a defenceman back and cutting back or to the middle, once an NHL player has space, they’re able to do worlds with it. It’s about finding that extra millisecond.

Skills

A strong suit of Savoie’s game is his quick twitch ability when it comes to stickhandling. He’s able to make guys miss when they are coming at him and when he’s attacking defenders you never know what he will do, he doesn’t tip his hand a lot of the time. One of his strengths in this area is his shooting ability. He’s a dual threat offensive weapon and it starts with the willingness to shoot, but also the refined mechanics on his shot. Savoie can generate excellent power by pulling his top hand straight down and letting his lower hand follow through. He’s able to change the angle with a drag move or quick fake to the outside. Two more translatable mechanics are his ability to shoot in stride and use the pucks momentum on a catch and shoot opportunity on his strong side. Sometimes his shot choice can be a little questionable, as he can shoot from the blue line a little too much for my liking, especially because of his ability to make a play. Another point of development is to get that lead foot pointing towards the net more consistently. Savoie is a player I would try out on his off-wing, he is willing and loves to cut into the middle to use his shot.

Skating

Another strength of the highly touted prospect is his ability to generate speed off of his crossovers. As far as mechanics go, Savoie is pretty sound. He sits low with his knees over his toes, his hips hinged so no hunch in the back, legs stay inside the stride instead of being bowed, his first two-steps are strong, his outside edges allow him to cut on a dime within milliseconds, his speed is good but not great and I do see a path where he gains an extra step because his mechanics are clean. An area for development is lengthen the stride out horizontally. He gets back to the middle quick, but sometimes his stride will go more vertical.

Smarts

In this area, there is mostly good, but there are some issues I can see poking their head through the door for Savoie. What I like are his micro scans and shoulder checks, I think this will make the transition easier to the wing due to these habits he got from playing center (and yes, I believe its downplayed how hard it is for a centre to transition to the wing with succession). Another positive is how he is able to get lost in the offensive zone, whether it’s going behind the net to lose his checker or going high into and sometimes out of the offensive zone, he’s able to sneak his way to quiet ice due to this. When his team gets possession, Savoie is early to fly the zone this shows he’s seeing the play form before most of the other players, and he generates a healthy number of chances because of it. When Savoie was younger, he would trust himself to translate the puck as he has grown older, he has adapted to using his teammates, you now see more give and goes in his game. The passing ability is an overall strength even under pressure he is able to draw a defender in and make a play. Another strong facet of Savoie’s game is his ability to support teammates and use one quick pass to relieve pressure. As I stated earlier in the “Skills” category, there is a tendency to take some questionable shots, he trusts his shot a lot and sometimes it is to a fault.

Coming into an Oilers system where they clearly prefer quality over quantity can help with this a ton. The forecheck habits are solid as well, he gets into the defenders’ hands and prioritizes position over possession first which will help him buy time on retrievals in the NHL. Defensively at the junior level he wasn’t as intense as you would hope, but I say this about a ton of prospects and it’s generally nothing to worry about. If I’m in the Oilers camp I would be telling him to trust his scanning ability and to hold onto the puck for a half second longer sometimes, he has the skill just needs the patience. Another point of development is to add some deception to his game, wave your stick over the puck before a retrieval or use those outside edges to make it look like you’re going one way when you have no intention of going there, pull the puck back into your shooting mechanics and then pass it off. These minor details can take a good scorer into a great one.

Speed

Skating is a strong aspect of his game, and I think he’s shown some great improvement throughout the years. Savoie was all pace as a young player, but throughout his WHL career he has started added more push and pull to his skillset, especially when he plays his off-side. He loves to push the defenceman back and then cut to his forward to either make a play or cut it to the middle. The St. Albert, Alberta native has a good reception range, he is able to pick pucks up on his backhand and in his feet consistently. There are times when he is going full flight where he can bobble the odd puck, but this can be worked out with reps in the AHL. One of my favourite qualities of his is to be at cruising speed, but when he receives a pass, he will use his strong first two-steps to try and create an instant speed advantage against the opposition (Nikolaj Ehlers is the prime example of this).

Summary

Simply put, the Oilers are getting a top-notch prospect in Matthew Savoie. He’s not a perfect one, but he has a very high ceiling. I could see him getting in a few games towards the end of the 2024-25 season, but I would start him out in the AHL on the top line and let him get his feet wet at the pro level. There aren’t many holes with the newest Jackson acquisition, but it’s about adding the finer details now to take you from a good prospect to a great one. I have no doubt he can be a top six duel offensive threat winger in the NHL, but I also see a world where he is an excellent third line scorer and that’s a great bet to make.

Follow me on Twitter to find more of my work @SPProspects