What Isaac Howard brings to the Oilers

The Isaac Howard sweepstakes are over, as the 2022 Tampa Bay Lightning first-round pick was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday in exchange for Sam O’Reilly. But while many fans will be tempted to plug him into the Oilers top six right away, that might not be the case.

Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen talked about Howard joining the Oilers, and what he brings to Edmonton, on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s a little weird to sit here and look at a guy who goes, “No, no, I’m not playing in Tampa Bay”, (and I know there was more to it), but he eventually says, “Yeah, I’ll sign my entry-level contract in Edmonton.”

But he’s the reigning Hobey Baker winner. He spent a couple of years in college now after being picked 31st overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2022. His numbers are obviously great, you don’t win the Hobey Baker with bad numbers, but do you think Howard’s a guy who can jump right into this Oilers top six?

Colby Cohen: I think that’s a little bit of a stretch. I know that people are already plugging him in on the top line. I saw Bob Stauffer tweeted something today, and I was kind of like “I think we’re setting him up for unrealistic expectations.”

Now, I do think he can play in the National Hockey League. I just don’t know how difficult it might be if you throw him on a line with Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid to be able to play at that pace right away in his career. Now, do I think next year he could become a top-six forward for the Edmonton Oilers? Yeah. Do I think they need inexpensive options for the top six? Yes.

Listen, the kid can score. The kid’s played in a lot of big moments. You look at his tournament history, he’s always the guy who’s out on the ice scoring the overtime goals. He’s always the guy who wants the puck on his stick. Those are attributes that you cannot teach a hockey player.

I know you see 26 goals last year, and you think, “oh, that’s not a lot of goals.” That’s a lot of goals in college hockey. The last two Hobey Baker winners were Macklin Celebrini, Adam Fantilli before that, these guys stepped right into the NHL.

And I think you probably look more at Adam Fantilli’s level, in my opinion, where he was a good player in the NHL, but it took him a season to really grow into being a top-six player. I think that’s more along the lines of the talent that you’re looking at with Isaac Howard.

I will say this, I like this move for Edmonton, and I’ll tell you why I like it. You’re getting a 21-year-old, and I’ve always felt like when you draft an 18-year-old, we’re just guessing what they’re gonna be at their prime at 25 years old. Why wouldn’t you want a guy who you can take a few steps forward and say, “okay, he’s 21. I now know what he’s like as a 21-year-old.”

It’s a much smaller window now in order to see what his top potential may be. So there’s a reason that you rarely see these number-one prospects from organizations get traded when they’re already a year or two ripened into their development. It’s much more of a crapshoot. You see way more 18-year-olds, maybe 19-year-olds, get traded at the deadline than you do 21-year-old prospects that are first round picks, because again, I personally think these guys hold more value than a guy you took one year ago who’s the 32nd overall pick and who’s still played only one year of junior hockey since he was drafted.

So I really like this move by Stan Bowman, I very much believe in this.

Tyler Yaremchuk: And I like that it’s signaling a bit of a shift in the philosophy at Edmonton as well. I think we saw last summer, at least early on in the summer, they sat there and they swapped out Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod, and they re-signed Adam Henrique and signed Viktor Arvidsson. They went from some of these guys who are in their mid-20s who may be still have some room to grow, they went and signed 30+-year-olds.

And this summer, I think what we’re seeing is, they didn’t trade Matt Savoie for immediate help. They go and get a guy like Isaac Howard. I know they’re sacrificing Sam O’Reilly, but you get a guy in Howard who can help you sooner rather than later. O’Reilly is still probably a couple of seasons away, or at least one season away.

They’re sitting here trying to get younger in the hopes of extending this Stanley Cup window, not just to be a two or three-year thing, they’re sitting here with Leon Draisaitl for the next eight years, Bouchard for at least the next four, and whenever the McDavid extension comes down, you’re going to have McDavid for another five to potentially nine years.

Extend your window. Get a guy like Isaac Howard, who, if this works, and again, there’s still an if here, we don’t know exactly what he’s going to be or if he’s going to be in everyday top-six guy in the NHL. But if it does work, he’s going to be in your top six for the next decade.

And I think that line of thinking here with the Oilers, not that they’re in a position to want to take a step back next year, but it’s about keeping one eye on the future and going, “we have a chance to win a Stanley Cup every year that we have Connor McDavid, but he’s going to need help in years four, five, six, seven and eight as well”. And this is the move that signals they recognize that.

Colby Cohen: Yeah, I think that’s the right way to look at it. Again, I’m not a fan of drafting 18-year-olds, so when you can get a 21-year-old who just won the Hobey Baker, who has now shown us at the college level against 24 and 25-year-olds, I like this move.

This move reeks of Stan Bowman, but I say that in a good way. I know the word reek is not generally something you use in a good way, but I say that very much in a good way.

You can watch the full episode here…