The Edmonton Oilers shocked the hockey world on Friday when they traded Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for top prospect Matt Savoie.
The 20-year-old Savoie is the younger brother of former Oilers prospect Carter Savoie, who became an unrestricted free agent earlier this week. The Savoies grew up in the Edmonton suburb of St. Albert.
While representing the Sabres at last year’s NHLPA Rookie Showcase, the younger Savoie named Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the player who inspired him most growing up. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski published a brief write-up last September about Savoie’s appreciation for the longest-tenured Oiler:
There are many young players who take their inspiration from McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. But as a young Oilers fan, Savoie found himself rooting for someone else: forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
“I actually skated with Nugent-Hopkins this summer. To see him firsthand was really good for me,” he said. “Kind of a smaller guy from the West who really improved his game.”
That Nugent-Hopkins isn’t frequently mentioned as a hockey idol fits his aesthetic: Entering his 13th season, he remains an underrated talent, even after breaking 100 points for the first time in his career this past season.
“He was a 104-point guy for a reason. When you see him in summer skates, you can tell that. He’s finishing everything. He’s making good passes. He knows where everyone is on the ice,” Savoie said. “Just to see that firsthand and kind of take things from his game was huge.”
The Sabres originally selected Savoie with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. The 5’9″ forward collected 30 goals and 71 points in just 34 WHL games split between the Wenatchee Wild and Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2023-24 regular season; he added 10 goals and 24 points in 19 postseason contests with the Warriors.
Savoie appeared in his first NHL game with the Sabres in the 2023-24 season and also skated in six AHL games with the Rochester Americans, racking up five points (two goals, three assists). But with Zach Benson, Konsta Helenius, Anton Wahlberg, Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, and Noah Ostlund also in their prospect pool, the Sabres had room to move out a player of Savoie’s calibre to add an NHL forward in McLeod.
It remains to be seen whether Savoie will play centre or wing when he cracks the Oilers’ lineup on a full-time basis, but if it’s the latter, there’s a chance he could slot in on a line with his childhood hero at some point in the future. The Oilers picked Nugent-Hopkins first overall in 2011, back when Savoie was just seven years old.
