Edmonton Oilers have found perfect McDavid linemate ahead of playoffs
The Edmonton Oilers appear to have found the perfect linemate for Connor McDavid just weeks before the playoffs.
Things had started to grow stagnant for the Oilers in recent months. The team was in a funk, and it didn’t seem like any combination was good enough to get them out of it. They were slipping in the standings and, when Draisaitl was knocked out for the remainder of the regular season, things were looking bleak.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch had to act quickly to fill in the hole left by the Draisaitl injury, and at least one of those decisions is paying off in a big way. The Oilers coach moved rookie Matt Savoie up to the first line to play with McDavid and Vasily Podkolzin, and he has been lights out ever since.
In the six games Savoie has played with McDavid, he has notched three goals and four points, all while being a consistent offensive threat just about every night.
Matt Savoie snipes home his 13th of the season 🎯 pic.twitter.com/78NQ5PLrvz
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 27, 2026
As of Monday afternoon, Savoie is on a three-game goal streak, having scored goals in each of Edmonton’s last three victories against the Utah Mammoth, Vegas Golden Knights, and Anaheim Ducks.
The thing that sets Savoie apart from previous linemates, save for Leon Draisaitl, is that there doesn’t appear to be a lot of deferral in his game. He is not constantly looking for ways to get the puck back to the Oilers captain, and is instead getting in positions where he can be the trigger-man on that line.
As much as McDavid is among the best goal-scorers in the NHL, he is a playmaker at heart. He is always looking for a way to put the puck into scoring position for his linemates, and it appears Savoie understands that.
Combine that with the Savoie’s obvious high skill with the puck and a newfound confidence in his game, and you’ve got a winning combination. This is precisely the type of young breakout player that Edmonton has been needing ahead of the playoffs.
That entire first line has looked amazing, even outside of Savoie, as Podkolzin is pitching in a little more often as well since the Olympic break. According to Natural Stat Trick, the newly formed top-line has posted exceptional analytics over their first 49:55 of five-on-five time together, which includes:
- 65.96 Chances-for percentage (CF%)
- 63.79 Expected goals-for percentage (xGF%)
- 65.22 High-danger chances-for percentage (HDCF%)
Those numbers are dominant and indicate that the play is heavily tilted toward the opposition’s side when McDavid, Savoie, and Podkolzin are on the ice.
It took Savoie a little time this season to figure things out. Before the Olympic break, the 22-year-old had a limited offensive impact, scoring nine goals and 18 points in 58 games. However, since that extended break, the St. Albert native has seemingly figured things out, with five goals and 13 points in the 16 games since.
If this duo can keep it up, it will also give Knoblauch that much more flexibility when Draisaitl does return from injury.
The Oilers have not had a young player burst onto the scene in some time, and if Savoie is truly breaking out, it could help take their already lethal offence to the next level once the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around.