Rave reviews as Edmonton Oilers trade Ryan McLeod for hot shot Edmonton-area prospect

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The Edmonton Oilers are trading center Ryan McLeod and forward Tyler Tullio for hot shot prospect Matt Savoie, a recent Buffalo Sabres first round pick who grew up in St. Albert.

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The trade was met with strong applause for acting Oilers GM Jeff Jackson.

Said NHL insider Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff: “Oilers and Sabres started talking about this deal last Friday, Round 1 at Draft and kept dialogue going. Interesting deal, that’s for sure. McLeod has speed to burn, fits in with what Buffalo is building. Some think Savoie, an Edmonton native, may already be as good as McLeod.

And prospect expert Allan ‘Lowetide’ Mitchell of The Athletic: “Edmonton Oilers add Matt Savoie to a prospect pool that has received a big upgrade this week… This organization is definitely shopping in the right aisles.”

And Oilers insider Bob Stauffer: “The Oilers acquire Matthew Savoie. Skilled right shot forward that was a big part of Moose Jaw’s WHL Championship. He immediately becomes the Edmonton Oilers top ranked prospect IMO. Ryan McLeod is a good guy. Wish him the best of luck with the Sabres.”

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn said: “Sabres get a solid middle six forward in Ryan McLeod, a player who fits in with the age of the team’s core and adds some defensive oomph.”

And the Daily Faceoff’s prospect writer Steven Ellis: “Absolutely love that for the Oilers. They’re quickly amassing a nice prospect pool.”

And prospect expert Byron Bader: “The Oilers did just choose to not qualify Carter Savoie right? Then they trade for his brother a few days later. Odd. Love this for the Oilers though.”

And Youtube hockey commentator Steve “Dangle” Glynn said, “I like Ryan McLeod but getting a Top 10 pick from two years ago who’s only gotten better is unreal from Edmonton.”

And NHL insider John Shannon on Oilers Now talking to Brenden Escott: “You have to look at what the Sabres were trying to accomplish too. They have a ton of prospects. They have a ton of draft picks that have not made that next step to the National Hockey League and Savoie is one of them, and the Sabres cannot afford to be patient. They need NHL-ready players now… This was a common sense trade for me. The Sabres need a Top 9 forward like Ryan McLeod to be their #3 centre or be a winger. And the Oilers can afford to grow some prospects… To me, this is a win-win.”

And The Cult of Hockey’s Bruce McCurdy said: “Matthew Savoie is 20 now. I got my first live viewing of him SIX & A HALF YEARS AGO at John Reid Memorial here in St. Albert. He was an under-ager, ~smallest guy on the ice, led tournament in scoring, scored tying & winning goals in gold medal game. Yeah, he made an impression…Savoie was (& remains) 9 months younger than teammate Dylan Guenther, 10 months younger than competitor Logan Stankoven to name 2 guys who also finished among the leading scorers at the John Reid that year. He was a draft class behind both. Turned 14 the month of the tourney.”

And former NHL Matthew Barnaby: “Sabres pay HEAVY price for McLeod. He def makes team better and faster in short term but I don’t think I make this trade.”

And a rave review from Matt Larkin, writer and editor for The Daily Faceoff: “Savoie trade has (Filip) Forsberg for Erat/Latta vibes. My jaw is on the floor.”

And Edmonton sports radio commentator Dustin Nielson: “Savoie instantly becomes the Oilers top prospect.
What a return for a guy who likely wasn’t going to fit in with the forward group.”

The Athletic’s Thomas Drance: “This is a sensible trade for Buffalo and a puzzling one for the Oilers, and the hockey twitter consensus take is precisely inverted on this deal.”

My take

1. McLeod has been close to putting a strangle-hold on the job of third line centre on the Edmonton Oilers for a few years now, but he never quite got there. Worse, he just came off one of his least promising spells of play in the 2024 playoffs. At the Cult of Hockey, he got a grade of five out of ten for his playoff work.

It became frustrating to see McLeod endlessly fly-by chances to hit opposing d-men during the playoff season. He also had trouble getting going on the attack. In the end, his speed and skill came through at times and he scored several big goals. He was also effective on the PK, though he had some issues at even strength. It all added up to a barely passing grade.

2. Since its July 1 free agent signing bonanza, Edmonton has been a projected $2.5 million over the cap. Trading away McLeod puts the Oilers a stone’s throw from being just under the $88 million NHL salary cap for 2024-25.

3. McLeod had shown real promise on the wing this past season, using his speed to great advantage. He’d now and then been bumped up to play with Leon Draisaitl and had done well in that role. He was also part of Edmonton’s brilliant PK in the playoffs, the fourth most deployed Oilers forward after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark. On defence, he had been sound positionally in the regular season and did a good job skating and passing the puck out of trouble. But his two-way play at even strength dropped off substantially in the playoffs, more than any other Oilers player save for Warren Foegele, who is also gone from the Oilers.

Rightly or wrongly, playoff performance is make-or-break for many players. If they don’t come through they are devalued, and that’s exactly what happened here with McLeod. I suspect the Oilers started to doubt McLeod was part of the formula for playoff success, not if he wasn’t going to bring more grit and battle. If he raises that aspect of his game in Buffalo, he’s got the speed, size and talent to play 10 more years in the NHL. I wish he could have had another chance in Edmonton, as his talents are notable, but not to be, not with the cap situation as it is. Essentially Adam Henrique beat him out for third-line centre and the Oilers didn’t want to pay $2.1 million this year for a fourth line forward.

3. Savoie was the ninth overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft, a draft which has seen only a few players so far break into the NHL with any kind of a bang, arguably just Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky, 60 points in 121 games, Utah’s Logan Cooley, 44 points in 82 games, and possibly a quartet of dmen who have all played more than 40 NHL games, Chicago’s Kevin Korchinksi, Anaheim’s Pavel Mintyukov, New Jersey’s Simon Nemec and Columbus’ David Jiricek. But there is not one surefire star to yet emerge from this draft.

4. Savoie himself has failed to trend up much after putting up 90 points in 65 games in his draft year for the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice. In his Draft +1 season, Savoie had 95 points in 62 games, a slight improvement in scoring. He split last year between four teams, playing six games in the AHL, one in the NHL, and 53 in the WHL for two teams, Moose Jaw and Wenachee, between the regular season and the playoffs, scoring 95 points in those games. He made Canada’s World Junior team but had just one assist in four games.

5. Savoie is a high skill player, but smaller, 5-feet, 9-inches, 180-pounds. At The Athletic in January 2024, prospects expert Corey Pronman ranked Savoie 101st on his list of Top Players Outside the NHL Age 22 and under. Savoie’s skating, compete level and hockey sense were all rated as above average, his puck skills just average. In that same ranking Philip Broberg was ranked 114th and Dylan Holloway 120th.

6. TSN’s Craig Button did not have Savoie on his most recent list of the Top 50 prospects outside the NHL. But Savoie got a rave review from prospect expert Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, who placed Buffalo at #1 of all NHL prospect pools with Savoie being the second best Buffalo prospect after Zach Benson.

Said Wheeler: “One of the most threatening and consistently dangerous players in the CHL this year, Savoie’s game has the potential to thrill. He’s got extremely quick side-to-side hands that help him beat defenders one-on-one off of cuts. He’s got an NHL shot (he can place with pinpoint accuracy from a bad angle and rip by a goalie clean from a distance, but he also loves to change up and slide five-hole). He does an excellent job creating plays to the slot out of traffic. He’s a burning skater with explosiveness and quick three-step acceleration that allows him to win races, separate in transition and put defenders onto their heels, or dash through holes in coverage to the net (or draw a penalty). He’s a soft, small-area passer who blends deception into his movements. And then on top of those things, he’s got a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He’s always engaged, he keeps his feet moving, he plays with a ton of energy, and he finishes his checks and knocks his fair share of players over despite being on the smaller side… He plays the game with such drive that his size usually doesn’t feel like a factor. He seems to pounce on so many pucks when they squirt into holes in coverage.”

In early March 2024, Wheeler ranked Savoie 20th on his list of top drafted prospects outside the NHL.

7. As for Tyler Tullio, the Cult of Hockey had him ranked 5th overall in our 2023 Oilers prospect rankings. He’s a small, tough, aggressive winger with some skill but his game failed to progress much this year in Bakersfield, his second season there, possibly due to injury. But he’s got NHL potential as a bottom line grinder and agitator.

Bottom lines: Edmonton’s McLeod was seen by many as a solid NHL centre, and that was proven out by the high trade value he just now demonstrated. At the same time, Edmonton was able to use a veteran asset the team could no longer afford to bring in a high skill winger, with tremendous upside. If a few top wingers get hurt this year, it will be no surprise to see Savoie get games on a top line in Edmonton this season. Much depends on his AHL performance, but given the lack of prospect quality on the winger in Bakersfield, Savoie has a chance to advance rapidly. At the same time, if Savoie does not make it in Edmonton, he’ll be a cheap contract for the next three wins, a key factor in this deal for Edmonton.

His brother Carter was in Oilers organization last year for Bakersfield but, like Tullio, failed to improve his game. Carter has been let go, but now it’s Matthew Savoie’s turn. We shall see.

At the Cult of Hockey

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