Oilers Will Send Down Young Player Soon

EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers are fresh off a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers. Matt Savoie scored his first career NHL goal while Darnell Nurse potted two of his own in the losing effort.

Luckily for the Oilers, they will get Halloween off before facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Despite Zach Hyman not being ready to return at this point, the threat of a demotion looms.

So, who will be sent down to the AHL? That's where the latest rumor comes in.

According to the 2 Mutts Podcast, one of Ike Howard or Savoie will get knocked down a peg and fall to the minors.

"It sounds like once Hyman is back, there’s a good chance that one of Ike Howard or Matthew Savoie will be sent to the AHL for a bit," 2 Mutts posted on their social media on October 30. "According to a few sources, some talk within the players (is) that both can go down. Plan is to get the players more ice time, build up their confidence more & have them return for the rest of the season. Lots of talk is happening about if the these two players would be regular players in the lineup come playoff time."

"Right now, the organization doesn’t see that happening. They are working on how that looks for both players over the next few days."

My Take

It has been clear to anyone following closely that something has to give with the Oilers and the deployment of their two youngest rookies. Kris Knoblauch and the coaching staff trust Savoie more, while Howard has more juice offensively.

For both players to succeed, they must be put into the proper position. If that doesn't happen, it feels like a waste of talent. They are better suited to play in the AHL at 22 minutes a night than have inconsistent minutes at the NHL level.

With Hyman's return on the near horizon, a demotion is undoubtedly in the cards. Personally, I think it will be Howard, even though I prefer Curtis Lazar to be demoted.

We will wait to see what happens in the coming days.