Oilers locker-room chemistry issue raised by Insider, after two Finals losses

An NHL roster is in constant flux over the course of a season, and comprises a number of varying personalities. You have the leaders, who motivate the team, whether by saying the right thing at the right time, or by their actions on the ice.

You have the jokers and pranksters, the chatty ones, and the quite ones, who sit at their place in the locker-room listening to music, or quietly meditating, each preparing for the game in their own way, adding or taking away from the energy inside the locker-room, as the case may be.

Then you have the youth, the rookies and prospects that bring another element to the locker-room altogether, one that is equally important to the team's chemistry and success.

In today's Mail Bag Report by Oilersnation, Jason Gregor comments on the Edmonton Oilers' locker-room balance.

Thanks to Stan Bowman's decision to make the Oilers younger, Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard will be adding that much needed youthful exuberance to the club's roster, making it not so serious (though there is a place and time for that also).

On the ice, however, both Savoie and Howard will help the Oilers where it counts most, helping the team improve, and getting an opportunity to show what they can do. According to Jason Gregor, the young players will likely play on the top-9, or top-6, where if they record 30-40 points each, would be considered a good season.

Yet, both are indeed capable of scoring more. As per Bet365, Isaac Howard has the 9th best odds of winning the Calder Trophy, while Matt Savoie has the 13th best. To be in the Calder Trophy conversation, however, they would have to score 25 goals and 60 points, as was the case with last season's group of Calder contenders.

Based on past-performance, it's very possible. Isaac Howard scored 26 goals and 26 assists in 37 games with Michigan State in 2024-25, and while Savoie has only played in 5 NHL games, in 2021-22 with the WHL, he scored 35 goals and 55 assists in 65 games played.

Both young players are capable of putting up numbers, especially if they play with quality linemates, as reports suggest will likely be the case next season. It will be up to them to perform on the top lines, and for head coach Knoblauch to place the 21 year-old first-round picks in the right situations to succeed.

No doubt, Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard will be absorbing all they can from an NHL season, and learning from some of the best in the game. Yet, it is what can only be experienced in youth that the two young players will bring to the teamk, no doubt adding a much-needed element that can only benefit the locker-room in the upcoming season, and for many years to come.