Matthew Savoie was only recently acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio, but he has already skyrocketed up the Edmonton Oilers prospect rankings.
In his debut within the Oilers’ prospect pipeline, The Oil Rig has ranked him as the best prospect in the Oilers organization.
Who is Matthew Savoie?
| Position | Handedness | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Right | 5’10” | 179lbs |
Savoie is a hometown kid, born and raised in nearby St. Albert, getting a chance to play in the organization of his hometown team.
His early days in hockey were spent throughout Alberta, playing his pre-WHL days in various levels of the Northern Alberta team of the CSSHL.
In 2019–20, he made his WHL debut, recording seven assists in 22 games for the Winnipeg Ice.
In 2022–23, he detoured from the WHL, splitting time between the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL and the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL.
He returned permanently to the WHL after that, spending all season with the Ice where he had 90 points in 65 games in 2021–22, leading to his drafting by the Buffalo Sabes ninth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft.
After improving on his draft season point total in 2022–23, with 95 points in 62 games, Savoie made his professional debut with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, playing in two playoff games.
Savoie split time between four different teams in the 2023–24 season. He spent some time in the pros, recording five points in six AHL games and even made his NHL debut last season with the Sabres, appearing in a single game.
Back in the WHL, he played with the Wenatchee Wild and Moose Jaw Warriors, recording a combined 71 points in 34 games.
Internationally, Savoie has represented Canada on two occasions. In 2019–20 with the Canada White U17 Team at the WHC-17 tournament. And in 2023–24 at the World Junior Classic, where he wore an A on his jersey.
Savoie’s on-ice production
| Year | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | Playoff GP | Playoff G | Playoff A | Playoff P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | WHL | Winnipeg Ice | 65 | 35 | 55 | 90 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| 2022–23 | WHL | Winnipeg Ice | 68 | 38 | 57 | 95 | 19 | 11 | 18 | 29 |
| 2022–23 | AHL | Rochester Americans | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023–24 | NHL | Buffalo Sabres | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 2023–24 | AHL | Rochester Americans | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| 2023–24 | WHL | Wenatchee Wild | 11 | 11 | 13 | 24 | – | – | – | – |
| 2023–24 | WHL | Moose Jaw Warriors | 23 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 19 | 10 | 14 | 24 |
So far, Savoie has been impressive offensively and has only gotten better with each season. His 71 points in 34 games last season paces out to be 142 points over a full WHL season. That would have given him the WHL scoring title by 16 points last season.
Player profile
Although small in stature, Savoie is a tenacious forward who does not shy away from physical contact and physical engagement in the game. His greatest asset is his offence, with high end offensive IQ and playmaking skills combined with a sneaky good wrist shot to round out the package.
Of note in recent years, Savoie has significantly improved the defensive side of his game. He has gotten significantly better already at utilizing his stick defensively to prevent and subsequently create chances the other way.
The importance of this cannot be understated as he looks to transition to the pro game as a young, offensively inclined winger. It could be just enough to let the coaching staff trust him in a bigger role sooner.
Savoie’s strengths
Speed
Savoie plays the game fast. He is quick and agile on his feet. He is quick with his stick. He makes quick passes. He is always moving and active. All of these show he plays and thinks the game at a high level.
Within this, he should be able to keep up to the increased pace as he progresses up through the professional levels of hockey. Often, when players of Savoie’s ilk struggle in this transition, it is due to some form of speed-related deficiency.
But with Savoie showing early that he can adjust and play fast, enough to use it as a strength in his game, the chances of that being a limiting factor are reduced significantly.
Passing
One of the biggest standout factors in Savoie’s offensive game is his passing. He is able to make quick, one touch passes. He can drive and create plays. And he can find his teammates with accuracy that led him to rack up assists at a rate of 1.2 per game in the WHL last season. Though they may not always be able to receive the pass.
That particular issue should be less prominent in the higher levels, as his pro teammates may be better at receiving the passes, further improving the appearance of his playmaking skills.
Defensive stick
This is a newer skill that Savoie has added to his game that is adding a new dimension to what he can do on the ice. His defensive stick has become viewed as one of the best in the WHL. This has been a result of him utilizing his other strengths, such as his speed and footwork, to get into the right position. And because he is quick with great hand-eye coordination, he is able to disrupt passes and shots at a high rate.
When he does this, it gives him a great opportunity to send the play the other way with the aforementioned quick passes, speed, and agility.
The improvements to his defensive game provide a great addition that fits in seamlessly with his aggressive, active playstyle.
Areas of improvement
With everything he has done for his game and development, there aren’t many weaknesses left for him to work on. Size is one, as he is a smaller forward and it could limit his potential as a centre in the NHL. But he can’t do anything about that other than adapt and mimic how other smaller players have found success.
One area that may pose difficulty for him in the NHL is shot selection.
Shot selection
Although being a volume shooter has its time and place, after all you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, it can become a hinderance in the NHL to take poorly timed or poorly placed shots. Factoring in his size creating difficulties for him in finding high quality shooting areas, and you may find Savoie stuck on the perimetre often taking low quality shots as he transitions to the NHL.
That being said, part of his recent development has seen him find more ways to drive towards the net and more creative ways to get shots off. Savoie has been creating higher quality chances. He has the ability to shoot off his forehand and backhand, quickly off of passes, and with a sneaky release he can utilize in motion. He already seems to have found ways to adapt and grow to negate the potential weakness.
His next steps
As he has already begun playing at the professional level, he could have a shot at making the NHL team out of training camp for the upcoming season.
However, it is more likely that he spends a season or two primarily in the AHL. Partly for development purposes and partly with a log jam of forwards in the roster spots that he would occupy.
Projection with the Oilers
With his offensive mind and potential Savoie easily projects to be a top-six forward with the Oilers in the near future. He should be expected to become an excellent scoring winger alongside one of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl for years once he permanently cracks the roster.
Although he is a centre right now in juniors, it is very likely he shifts to the wing in the NHL. This would suit his size and skillset better, but also give him the opportunity to be a top-six forward on a team with McDavid and Draisaitl as the top two centres.
Considering Savoie has specifically named Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as a player he is inspired by and tries to model his game after, he has done quite a commendable job of replicating that and becoming that type of player.
5 Comments