Oilers at risk of making the same mistakes with their young players

Ever since Stan Bowman was named general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, he has made it his mission to improve the club's prospect pool. Just before his hiring, the team added former top 10 pick Matt Savoie but Bowman has added many more names on top of him.

Last spring, he made a series of signings to improve the depth and restock their cupboards adding players like Quinn Hutson and Damien Carfagna from the NCAA. They also added Viljami Marjala, Josh Samanski, Atro Leppanen, and David Tomasek from various European leagues to shore up their organizational depth. Then over the summer, he made a big splash, acquiring Hobey Baker award winner Isaac Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This helped to improve the Oilers depth for their roster but also helped to refill the prospect pool moving forward. Although none of these players may become major impact pieces yet, even if one or two becomes a depth complimentary piece, it is worthwhile to try and maintain the Oilers' relevancy and keep the Stanley Cup contention window open.

Oilers rookies making an impact this season

The Oilers entered the 2025-26 season with multiple rookies in their opening lineup. The club had rookie forwards Isaac Howard and David Tomasek make their NHL debut on opening night while Matt Savoie and Noah Philp made their debuts as NHL regulars.

Along with Howard and Tomasek making their NHL debuts this year, forwards Connor Clattenburg and Josh Samanski have made their NHL debuts throughout the season as well. The club has also utilized forward Quinn Hutson as a call-up option this year. As a team that is widely viewed as a serious Stanley Cup contender, being able to inject seven rookies into your lineup, even as temporary call-ups is huge.

This represents a major shift for the organization that has had only two first round picks in the past four drafts and has garnered a negative reputation for their development abilities. Some of it, of course is earned.

Oilers past mistakes haunting them

One of the first tasks for Bowman at the helm of the Oilers was to navigate a complex offer sheet issue. He was at risk of losing two young players when forward Dylan Holloway and defenceman Philip Broberg both signed offer sheets with the St. Louis Blues in August 2024.

Holloway who was 22, signed a two-year contract carrying a $2.29 million caphit. Broberg was 23 years old and signed two-year contract with a $4.58 million annual average value. Combined, they represented nearly $7 million in cap space and given their lack of usage under the tutelage of head coaches Jay Woodcroft and Kris Knoblauch, it was not worthwhile to keep the underperforming young players.

This decision would almost immediately bite the Oilers in the backside when both Broberg and Holloway took off. Broberg blossomed, amassing eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points in 68 games with the Blues, logging over 20 minutes per night. Holloway broke out even more, scoring 63 points (26 goals, 37 assists) in 77 games with the Blues, playing top-six minutes.

Both of these performances would have been incredibly impactful for the Oilers and it leads many to ask, why could the Oilers not get this type of play out of these two homegrown young players?

Oilers failed to properly utilize Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg

Both Holloway and Broberg finding so much success the moment they left the organization is something that raises eyebrows and rightfully so. It is clear that the Oilers coaches and/or management, saw them as depth pieces, playing very little on a nightly basis and spending time as scratches with no consistent usage.

As well, they were sent up and down between the Oilers and their American Hockey League affiliate, Bakersfield Condors. As Condors, they both impressed being standout players and scoring at consistent rates. As Oilers, despite their ice time, they showed flashes of greater abilities but were left underutilized.

Looking at defencemen under 22 (using evolving-hockey.com), who played between 2021-22 (Broberg's first NHL season) and 2023-24, he stands out. Between those three seasons, Broberg was driving high shot volume and scoring chances when he was on the ice, in line or better than many of his elite peers. His defensive statistics were showing signs of improvement as well.

Dylan Holloway was a similar case to Broberg, he had shown a lot of promise in his short window in the NHL. Compared to his peers, Holloway was also a standout player, amongst 21 and under forwards at 5-on-5, he ranked third in expected goals for percentage, above players like; Wyatt Johnston, Quinton Byfield, Marco Rossi, Cole Perfetti, and many other notable names. He also ranked fourth amongst all players in corsi for percentage.

Using the Jfresh cards, both players were trending up at the time of the offer sheets. Had the Oilers prioritized keeping both of them, they would not have had to spend assets to acquire depth like Trent Frederic and shore up their top-four by acquiring Jake Walman. Instead, they would have two young players who are both a legitimate top-six contributor and top-four defenceman, highly coveted pieces on an NHL roster.

Oilers at risk of repeating these mistakes with Isaac Howard, Matt Savoie, and others

The loss of Holloway and Broberg is both embarrassing for the organization and an extreme example of improper development and improperly prioritizing players. Losing two players to an offer sheet, something that is incredibly rare throughout NHL history makes this loss even more of a tough pill to swallow.

This is something that the Oilers are at risk of doing again, albeit to a potentially lesser degree. The club traded Sam O'Reilly for Howard last summer, a move that most people agreed was good value for the Oilers but still a risk given the perceived 'safeness' of a player like O'Reilly. Most scouts and prospect analysts agree that he is a much more surefire NHLer than Howard but Howard has a higher potential ceiling.

At this stage, he has shown no real indication of that ceiling in an Oilers uniform. He has struggled to score this season, potting two goals and three assists in 28 games. On top of his low production, he has not been driving shots or scoring chances when he is on the ice.

When he has been sent down to the Condors, it has been a completely different story as Howard has scored 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 26 games. He is also showing off the quality play driving ability that made him such a highly touted prospect.

Much like Holloway, one of Howard's issues is that rather than playing a top-six role where he can flourish offensively, he has been kept in a depth role playing roughly 10 minutes per night on average. His two most common lines were him playing alongside Tomasek and Adam Henrique as well as Jack Roslovic and Savoie (moneypuck.com). He has spent the majority of the season inside the bottom-six and despite putting up his best results alongside Roslovic and Savoie, it lasted less than 10 games before the Oilers sent Howard down to the Condors again.

The juggling of lines, lack of playing time, scratching him, and sending him up and down from the AHL is a near textbook example of where the Oilers went wrong with Holloway. Luckily, it is still early on in Howard's development at 21 years old and in just the first season of his three-year, entry-level contract.

Fellow rookie Matthew Savoie is in a similar situation to Howard with a lack of production in his rookie year. Through 58 games, he has scored only 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) putting him on pace for 25 points over a full 82 game season. This is underwhelming for a player who is as highly touted and as offensively gifted as Savoie.

He too has been moved up and down the lineup but admittedly has been used inside the top-six much more than Howard. Though it is clear that Knoblauch and his staff have struggled to find a consistent spot for him until recently, playing on the third line with Roslovic and Samanski (previously, Howard).

How can the Oilers fix this issue

One of the main issues evident and these issues go back much further than with Holloway and Broberg is the issue of calling up a player before they are ready. It harms their development and can have negative effects on a player's confidence if they are prematurely thrust into an NHL lineup and struggle. It puts their coach in an awkward position because they do not trust them and then put them in unfortunate positions like a limited role.

As well, the constant juggling of deployment and sending them back and forth from the AHL and NHL can kill confidence and harm development. Players often cannot get comfortable and acclimate as they are constantly playing on different lines, in different leagues, and for different teams. Keeping them in a steady position helps everybody involved.

In the case of Howard, there are a number of options available to the club. Either keeping him in the AHL for the remainder of the season to build confidence and chemistry down with the Condors seems like the best idea. The Oilers can also recall him but should keep him in a consistent role, hopefully on a line where he will be able to be put into a position where he can score and build confidence. At the very least, driving positive play trends, like he was while along Roslovic and Savoie.

The damage has not been done yet but it is clear that the Oilers are at risk of making the same mistakes with their youth once again. There is still time for Bowman and Knoblauch to right these wrongs and get the best out of their youth.