Relax. Matt Savoie heading back to Bakersfield is not what it looks like.
The news broke Tuesday that the 22-year-old Edmonton Oilers forward was being sent down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors during the Olympic break, and if you spent any time on social media in the aftermath, you’d think the sky was falling. It isn’t. Not even close. What this actually is — and bear with me here, because it’s surprisingly simple — is the Oilers giving a young player some meaningful game time while NHL action is on pause. That’s it. That’s the whole story.
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There’s some context people seem to be skipping over; the NHL is in the middle of its Olympic break. Games don’t resume until February 25th. Established veterans? They get most of February off — they’ve earned it. But rookies don’t get the same extended vacation. They get a couple of weeks, maybe, and then they’re expected to say “thank you, coach” and get to work. Sending Savoie to Bakersfield isn’t a punishment or a message, but a maintenance plan. The Oilers want him sharp, in game shape, and playing real hockey when the lights come back on — not rusty and stiff from sitting idle for three weeks.
Savoie was loaned to the AHL Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday. With NHL action at a standstill for the Olympic break, the Oilers will give the young Savoie some extra game reps. That’s straight from the team’s logic, and it makes complete sense. He has held his own in the NHL this season with nine goals, nine assists, 79 shots on net and 28 blocked shots across 58 games. That’s the stat line of a player who has legitimately stuck at the NHL level in his first real crack at it, not one who’s being burried.
Let’s not forget where this kid came from, either. He had 19 goals, 35 assists and 54 points across 66 games a season ago in the AHL — numbers that made him one of the better young players in the entire league. He was the Condors’ leading scorer. He earned his callup. And then he went out and made the Oilers’ opening night roster. Savoie was ninth overall in the 2022 draft. He wasn’t supposed to be an afterthought — and he isn’t one.
The geography of all this makes the “demotion” narrative even sillier. When the Oilers kick off their post-Olympic schedule with a California road trip, Savoie will likely return to the Oilers before the team resumes regular-season play Feb. 25 in Anaheim. Against the Ducks. Bakersfield is about two hours north of Anaheim on the I-5. The man could practically drive himself to the rink, lace up his skates, and be good to go. This isn’t a long-term separation from the big club.
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And if you need a reminder of how the Oilers actually view Savoie, think back to earlier this season. When the coaches wanted to experiment with a trio of dynamic young forwards, it was Savoie they put in the middle, centering a line alongside Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson. That kid line buzzed with potential. Savoie spent time in the top six earlier in the year alongside Leon Draisaitl, and by one underlying metric — five-on-five expected goals for per 60 minutes — he ranked first on the entire team during that stretch. Not just among rookies. On the whole team.
Is he getting the ice time that maybe his underlying numbers suggest he deserves? Probably not. Kris Knoblauch has historically been conservative with young players, and Savoie has bounced between lineup spots more than some fans would like. That’s a fair criticism of how he’s been deployed. But being deployed inconsistently by a veteran-heavy coaching staff is a very different problem than being written off entirely. One is a usage issue. The other is a death sentence. Savoie has the former, not the latter.
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He’s 22 years old. He’s on a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He’s on an entry-level contract through next season, with plenty of time left in his window to grow into a bigger role. The Oilers didn’t trade Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio to Buffalo to watch Savoie disappear into the minor leagues. They traded for him because they believe in him.
So let him go get a few games in Bakersfield, stay sharp, and come back ready to roll when Anaheim rolls around on the 25th. The future is still bright. It just needed a brief pit stop.
