The Oilers' Matt Savoie and Jets' Brayden Yager were traded from American teams this summer. At the 2024 Young Stars Classic, the two are back in familiar surroundings.
PENTICTON, B.C. – They wore the maple leaf together for Team Canada at the 2024 World Juniors. Four months later, they won a WHL Championship together with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Now, the Edmonton Oilers' Matt Savoie and Winnipeg Jets' Brayden Yager are on parallel paths to the NHL at the 2024 Young Stars Classic.
First-round picks who were drafted a year apart, they both suited up at the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo in 2023 — with the Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively. This weekend, they’re showing their stuff to their new teams for the first time after a pair of surprise summer trades.
On July 5, Savoie was acquired by the Oilers in a deal that sent Ryan McLeod and prospect Ty Tullio to Buffalo. Yager joined the Jets on Aug. 22, exchanged for Rutger McGroarty.
Now 20, Savoie got his first taste of pro life last season in Buffalo. Now, he’s aiming to lock down a spot on a veteran Edmonton roster.
“My initial goal is to make the Oilers,” he said Thursday in Penticton. “Have a really good training camp and show that I belong, to stay there.”
Those are big aspirations, but Savoie shouldn't have many first-day-of-school jitters. He grew up as an Oilers fan in St. Albert, Alta. and after his brother, Carter, was drafted by their hometown team in 2020, Matt tagged along to Rogers Place whenever he could.
He’s even familiar with the set-up at the dual-rink South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, the Young Stars venue that is home to both the BCHL’s Penticton Vees and the CSSHL's Okanagan Hockey Academy.
“For most of my minor hockey, when I was playing in the CSSHL, all the playoffs were in Penticton,” Savoie said. “So this city's kind of a staple for playoff time. It’s a known rink for a guy like me and even a couple of my teammates. I was teammates with them when we were here, so it’s a pretty cool, full-circle moment.”
Those teammates are goalie Connor Ungar, who joined the Oilers as a free agent last March, and 21-year-old defenseman Marc Lajoie, who spent last season with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
With the big club firmly in win-now mode, Savoie instantly became the team’s top prospect when he was acquired. He’s one of just ten players on Edmonton’s 25-player Young Stars roster who was drafted by an NHL club — and the top pick from 2023, defenseman Beau Akey, isn't playing as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery.
So don’t read too much into the Oilers' two losses to open the tournament. Skating on the right wing, Savoie has been lining up with a pair of green-as-grass 2024 draft picks, first-rounder Sam O’Reilly and fifth-rounder Connor Clattenburg.
Savoie's speed and savvy have been evident across both games. A perfect example was his setup of the Oilers' only goal to date, on Saturday — a sweet feed to Carl Berglund from 'Gretzky's office,' behind the Edmonton net.
In Winnipeg’s 4-3 overtime win over the Calgary Flames on Friday, Yager also stood out. Known for his strong two-way game, he was slotted into the third-line center role, playing with big Jacob Julien from the London Knights and 2021 second-rounder Nikita Chibrikov, who put up 47 points with the Manitoba Moose last season.
Yager didn’t hit the scoresheet but played well in all situations. His first-period forecheck triggered a Calgary turnover which led to Chibrikov’s game-opening goal. He also showed maximum effort when he hustled back and laid out to try to prevent Jaden Lipinski’s third-period short-handed marker. And in an exhilarating 3-on-3 overtime session, Yager was one of several players on both sides who displayed slick moves and stick skills in a toe-to-toe battle.
In the end, the Jets prevailed thanks to a 2-on-0 breakaway, with 2023 first-rounder Colby Barlow feeding defenseman Dmitri Kuzmin perfectly for the winner.
Yager’s ties to Winnipeg aren’t as tight as Savoie’s are with Edmonton. But he had played his junior hockey just 400 miles to the west in Moose Jaw and lived in Prince Albert when Josh Morrissey was starring with the Raiders.
Yager also crossed paths with Barlow as a fellow 2023 top prospect and sees 2022 Jets first-rounder Brad Lambert during the summers in his hometown of Saskatoon. He’s a prairie boy who’s pumped to be playing for a prairie team.
At 19, Yager will get another shot at the World Juniors this winter, and will most likely return to Moose Jaw. But Kevin Cheveldayoff has made it clear that he’s looking for young guys to push for opportunities with Winnipeg.
Yager’s mature approach to the game could earn him some NHL ice time on his new team in the not-too-distant future.
The Jets will face the Vancouver Canucks in Penticton on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT., then finish off Young Stars against Savoie and the Oilers on Monday at 11 a.m. PT.