New year, new look? The Edmonton Oilers are making some depth personnel swaps with the recall of forwards Quinn Hutson and Isaac Howard from the Bakersfield Condors on Friday morning.
Hutson and Howard have been lighting up the AHL this season. Hutson sits fourth in league scoring, leading all rookies, with 19 goals and 32 points in 26 games. Howard, in 16 games since being sent down earlier in the season, has 10 goals and 13 assists, good for seventh in rookie scoring.
Howard was also recently named the AHL player of the month for December. He had eight goals and eight assists in 11 games.
Where will Hutson and Howard slot in the lineup?
The biggest question for us is where exactly these two will fit in the lineup that is already crowded and under a cap crunch. Additionally, we know that the coaching staff doesn’t often give younger players much ice time. And if they do, it is with an extremely short leash.
At practice on Friday, with winger Vasily Podkolzin absent due to illness, the two recalled forwards joined Matt Savoie to form an all-rookie line.
Given what we know from head coach Kris Knoblauch, a combination of the line blender and low mistake tolerance will stir this up very early in tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Though it is an interesting experiment to let these dynamic, offensive players loose together. Savoie fills a responsible, two-way forward and puck carrier role. Howard as the shooter. And Hutson as the play driver and set-up man.
