ESPN recently released a top 50 under 23 NHL prospect rankings and no Edmonton Oilers prospects made the list.
The top end of the list with heavily stacked with 2025 NHL Draft picks with Matthew Schaefer (NYI), Michael Misa (SJS), Anton Frondell (CHI), and Porter Martone (PHI) round out the top 5. Outside of them, there are plenty of other prospects drafted from the past few seasons but yet, no Oilers.
Oilers top prospects SNUBBED
This is surprising given the quality at the top of their pool. Both Oilers top prospects, the highly touted former ninth overall draft pick in 2022 Matt Savoie and NCAA standout and 2025 Hobey Baker winner, Isaac Howard are 21 years old. Meaning, they firmly fit the criteria for the ranking but still were not selected.
Savoie and Howard were ranked as our No. 1 prospect and No. 2 prospect respectively in the Oilers system entering the 2025-26 NHL season.
The answer for their snub may be included at the top of the article by Rachel Kryshak "The rankings account for the player's current performances, his NHL projection, his development curve and his age."
Looking at their current performances and how they've played at the NHL level this year could be something that harms their ranking. So far, Savoie has played in 15 games scoring one goal and one assist for two points. Howard has played 14 games -- being the subject of a healthy scratch earlier this season -- scoring two goals and one assist for three points.
Despite the rough start to their respective rookie NHL seasons, the other criteria for consideration should put them firmly within a top 50 prospect rankings. As stated before, Savoie was a top 10 pick in his draft year and has been a standout player at every level he has performed at like the Western Hockey League and the American Hockey League. Same goes for Howard who took major strides last year and was named the NCAA MVP for last season.
Entering the year, the NHL Network released a top 25 prospect ranking and placed Howard No. 19 on the list. To go from there to outside of a top 50 ranking is surprising and a great indication of how fickle the prospect world and the NHL landscape can be.
One day, you are one of the most hyped prospects available and the next you are cast aside after a rough opening month. This is not to bash ESPN but it is surprising to see the narrative flip so quickly due to a bad streak of luck.