The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 last night. Savoie scored the winner on the power play, put five shots on net, and walked away with the first star. Not a bad night.
It's been that kind of stretch for him lately.
The Oilers gave up some pretty good assets to get Savoie out of Buffalo at the 2024 trade deadline. Prospects and picks that made the trade feel significant in the moment, and the kind of trade that gets revisited often if the player on the other end doesn't produce. At 22, he's starting to make those conversations feel less necessary.
He's not putting up decent numbers, but he's been a consistent presence on a team that has needed exactly that since Draisaitl went down. The Oilers are leaning heavily on Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman as they usually do, but a team can only ask so much of so few people. Savoie has filled some of that space.
Last night was a tight game from the third period to the empty netter. Chicago is rebuilding around Connor Bedard and a group of young players who aren't ready to compete for much yet, but it was a 1-0 or 2-1 game through most of it. Savoie's power play goal in the second was the one that broke it open. Podkolzin added the empty-netter to close it out.
The Oilers have not had a lot of young talent filter through in recent years. The roster has mostly been constructed around the top two and filled in around them with veterans. Savoie is a bit of a different story; a young player still finding his game at the NHL level, still on an entry-level deal, with games like last night suggesting he belongs here.
There are four games left, and the race with San Jose isn't over. It's worth keeping an eye on how he finishes.