Edmonton Oilers coach Knoblauch reveals plan for Savoie and Howard
The Edmonton Oilers are getting a lot younger next season.
This offseason has represented a dramatic shift from the organization, opting to let veterans like Corey Perry, Connor Brown, Jeff Skinner, and John Klingberg go in free agency. All those players were over 30 and were among the older players on the team.
Instead of replacing those veterans, GM Stan Bowman has opted to get younger. 29-year-old Andrew Mangiapane was signed in free agency, and the Oilers traded for 21-year-old Ike Howard.
On top of that, Bowman has said that he expects 21-year-old Matt Savoie to be an NHL regular for the Oilers next season.
We know that Mangiapane will get ample opportunity to play in the top six, but the strategy for Savoie and Howard was a bit murkier… until now.
The two players have five games of NHL experience between them (all belonging to Savoie), but are high-octane offensive players who are expected to be productive NHL forwards. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was asked about Savoie and Howard on Monday morning, and he revealed what the coaching staff is expecting from those two.
“Within the organization, there is a lot of belief that these are key players,” Knoblauch said. “Ideally, we would love to have Howard/Savoie being able to play in the top six immediately and have an impact, understanding that there will be some mistakes, but they are just gonna continue to get better, and hopefully that will be the case.”
“There’s gonna be mistakes. Even our most seasoned veterans make mistakes, and you’d be silly to think they are gonna come in and the transition is gonna be seamless… We got a lot of belief in these guys.”
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch spoke with the media today about the #Oilers coaching changes, Paul Coffey returning to an advisory role, special teams assignments & more.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Os2G0AVXSE
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) July 14, 2025
Knoblauch has typically shied away from giving big minutes to his younger players over his first two seasons coaching in the Alberta capital, but he may not have a choice now. Edmonton looked old and slow in the Stanley Cup Final and is in desperate need of some youth at the top of the forward group.
The fact that he spoke about having both Savoie and Howard playing top-six minutes is an indication that his strategy might be skewing toward his younger talent. On top of that, he also outlined a couple of additional roles those two players could take on the special teams unit.
The Oilers coach seemed particularly excited about the prospect of having Savoie kill penalties.
“Savoie, one thing that I’m very optimistic about is his penalty killing and how good he was in Bakersfield in that role,” Knoblauch said. “Certainly, we saw him being a reliable two-way player at five-on-five.
“That’s an opportunity for Savoie [to get a role], especially on the penalty kill, not that he can’t be on the power play, but I definitely see him having a big part of our penalty kill.”
Howard is less of a defensive stalwart and is more well-known for his offensive prowess. While killing penalties might not be in the cards for Ike, Knoblauch wants to play to his strengths on the power play, giving him a path to one day skate on the Oilers’ lauded top PP unit.
“Howard is a very offensively gifted player and probably trying to find him some kind of role in the power play,” Knoblauch said. “The first unit power play has worked so well together for a long period of time. Probably getting his start on the second unit power play and working from there.”
It appears the youth movement is in full swing for this Oilers team as they look to finally bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada next season.