RELEASE: Oilers acquire Matt Savoie from Sabres
Edmonton sends Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio to Buffalo in exchange for the St. Albert product
EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers have acquired forward Matt Savoie from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange forwards Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio.
The 20-year-old Savoie was Buffalo’s first-round selection (ninth overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft. The right-shot product from St. Albert made his rookie debut for Buffalo in November and also appeared in six games last season for the Sabres AHL affiliate in Rochester with two goals and three assists.
The former WHL standout skated in 283 games for the Winnipeg Ice, Wenatchee Wild and Moose Jaw Warriors, tallying 103 goals and 160 assists for 263 points and a plus/minus rating of +129.
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100% certainty Edmonton Oilers can move out veteran d-man, NHL insider says. But should they?
This in from NHL insider Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, talking to Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now about the how Edmonton might solve it’s salary cap crunch.
Edmonton is still slightly over the NHL’s $88 million hard salary cap, with restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg yet to sign.
These facts saw Seravalli and Stauffer exploring what might happen with the savvy veteran Ceci, 30, in the last year of his $3.2 million per year deal.
Here’s what Seravalli said: “I can tell you with 100 per cent certainty there is a market for Cody Ceci. Right (shot) defencemen in that pay range are always in demand. Just go look at the pay range this summer and look at some of the money thrown around. Cody Ceci at that number is probably quite palatable. And, in fact, probably to some teams that are cap strapped, interesting. There’s a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ if Jeff Jackson and the Oilers want it. In the meantime, let’s see what develops.”
My take
1. First off, it’s impressive that Seravalli and Stauffer are still hard at work on July 6 when most other NHL insiders are at the cottage. In fact, both Seravalli and Stauffer will be working through the summer, just like the Cult of Hockey I might add. We’re the grinders of the NHL, never taking a day off.
2. Seravalli competes with a handful of others to be the NHL’s top insider, which is all the more impressive because so far as I know Seravalli isn’t an employee of an NHL broadcast partner. He runs his own show at The Daily Faceoff and has no business ties to the NHL. He’s a true independent voice and he’s a big part of a start-up business.
