The Edmonton Oilers are already receiving questions about Matthew Savoie’s injury as of Wednesday.
On the broadcast, Oilers Now voice Bob Stauffer mentioned that Savoie has a lower body ailment. More details were not given.
At the moment, that is the whole update. No specific deadline. No seriousness. Oilers fans were left to fill in the gaps with only a name and a body part.
Savoie, Janmark, Andersen, and Regularegula will not participate in training camp due to injuries, as we previously reported today. We’re fixed with the forward now.
Still on his entry-level contract and trying to secure a genuine role up front, Savoie enters this stretch with an $886,667 cap hit.
He split time between penalty kill duties and secondary scoring responsibilities last season, scoring two shorthanded goals and 37 points in 82 games.
Five game-winning goals and five power play goals were also contributed by him, which are statistics that are more significant for a bottom-six forward who is attempting to stand out.
He had five points in his last 10 games of the season, then cooled off with just one assist in his last five contests before the playoffs.
Mike Babcock, the new coach, has an immediate injury concern.
This is where the fun begins. Mike Babcock has yet to even open camp after being hired in June as Edmonton’s head coach.
His first genuine roster choice may now be about a 22-year-old winger who cannot be judged on the field.
Is that a significant issue in August? Not by itself. However, for a young player who is still vying for a spot in the lineup, each missed repetition is more significant than for a well-known player.
In addition, Savoie participated in six playoff games, scoring one goal and dishing out one assist, demonstrating that he had established a position that Edmonton relied on in actual games.
No one is pretending that losing even a few days of a new coach’s assessment period isn’t a harsh start to a new chapter.
His return has not yet been scheduled by the Oilers. Until Babcock’s staff says more, this remains a wait-and-see scenario going into the regular season.
