DEV CAMP: Savoie hoping for year-two offensive outburst

EDMONTON, AB - Carter Savoie hopes to use his head to produce second-year offensive outburst.

The Oilers 2020 fourth-round pick had a less than smooth introduction to professional hockey in his first full season with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors. The St. Albert product played just 44 games due to a variety of injuries and struggled to get into an offensive rhythm like the one that saw him notch 45 points (23G, 22A) in 39 games with the University of Denver in '21-22, leading the Pioneers to a Frozen Four Championship and a Hobey Baker Award nomination for himself.

The talent is there, and Savoie hopes a full slate of 72 American Hockey League games will be enough for him to show it.

"Yeah, obviously ups and downs [last season]. I had a couple injuries there and didn't play as many games as I would've liked to," Savoie said. "But it's a good learning step for me [getting] my first pro season under my belt and I'm looking forward to building on it this year."

There have been flashes of what the offensively gifted 5-foot-9 winger has to offer. Savoie used his slick shot to notch his first professional hat trick back on Jan. 18, scoring a goal in all three periods in the Condors 5-1 win over the San Diego Gulls. The hat trick matched the output of the entire Oilers squad against goaltender Lukas Dostal a month prior, when the Anaheim Ducks prospect stopped 46 of 49 shots at Rogers Place while up with the big club.

Savoie believes his hockey sense, along with some physical gains, will help him stack up a few more performances like the one against the Gulls last January.

"Yeah, obviously the plays are happening a lot faster. You've got to get the puck off your stick a lot quicker," Savoie said. I think just adjusting -- I'm a smart player -- so using my smarts and my brains to find the open ice."

Hockey sense can help separate the good from the great at the pro level, and the Savoie family has it in abundance. Carter's brother Matthew is also a well regarded NHL prospect and was recently the ninth-overall selection in the 2022 NHL draft by the Buffalo Sabres. That situational awareness of knowing where players are going to be or how a play is going to develop is what allows 5-foot-9 forwards like the Savoies to thrive in the big leagues.

"I think just the way I see the ice just growing up [was at] a different level than other people," Savoie said about his hockey IQ. "Just understanding different parts of [the game]. I think a lot of it is timing, too. Just being in the right place at the right time."

In his rookie season with the Condors, Savoie scored eight goals in 44 games, but only finished the season with 11 points. Part of the equation was a lack of ice time once he returned from injury due to a rolling Condors team that found its groove in the second half of the year and was pushing towards the playoffs. It's difficult to integrate a young player fresh off an injury into a postseason race, but Savoie is healthy in this year's Oilers Development Camp and will have a blank slate heading into the upcoming AHL campaign.

"I can score goals," he said. "I know I can. I've just got to be confident and get to open ice, bury my chances when I get them."