I like to do these quick ‘line in the sand’ posts three times per season. It gives us an idea about how things are going, and how many “players of interest” have any kind of impact during the season to come.

The Oilers are a mature team. In recent seasons rookies haven’t been a major factor. The nature of the roster heading to training camp suggests we will in fact see at least one rookie of note play most or all of the season. Here’s the first look at 2025-26 rookies in Edmonton.

Total rookies of interest: There are 10. Matt Savoie leads the way, he had a strong AHL season and is the club’s top prospect. He isn’t a lock for the opening night roster, but you can see it from where he stands. I predicted just shy of 40 points in my reasonable expectations, but did note that could go higher with power-play time. People are going to be downbeat on Ike Howard after the rookie games, but for me the preseason opportunities will tell the tale. If he gets sent down early, expect a season in the minors. I have him playing in both Edmonton and Bakersfield, and getting around 10 goals. Additional names to keep in mind are Roby Jarventie, Viljami Marjala, Quinn Hutson, Alec Regula, Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey. David Tomasek and Atro Leppänen are newcomers, but not technically rookies, so I’ll include them in the conversation but acknowledge they do not qualify for the Calder Trophy.

2025 draft notes: Both of the top picks (Tommy Lafreniere and David Lewandowski) had their moments at the rookie camp and both have a chance. I also like Aidan Park’s resume. All are miles and miles from the NHL, as expected.

Best player as a rookie: Savoie should be a plug-and-play, the only sure thing on the roster. If he gets time with Draisaitl, as many of us expect, Savoie could deliver at a much higher rate than anticipated. The Yamamoto introduction in 2019-20 might be a bridge too far, but Savoie is a perfect fit for the big man.

Second best player as a rookie: I’ll give you my Games Played in the RE series as a guide: Savoie 76, Howard and Tomasek 50, Jarventie 9. So, of the group I’ve identified as players of interest, I’m projecting only four to make an NHL appearance.

Oldest rookie: David Tomasek. He is 29 and from my conversation with Jason Gregor a week ago it sounds like the coaching staff will be looking at him in a multi-dimensional capacity. That means skill lines, two-way deployment and some special teams could be on the table. Bottom line: there’s more than one way for Tomasek to make the roster.

Most unusual story I’ll choose Atro Leppänen, because his season in the Liiga is borderline impossible and he seemingly came out of nowhere. We don’t know what we don’t know, but there’s a Reijo Ruotsalainen vibe about his numbers. What if he’s really good?

Longest career Has to be Savoie, but I’ll include Howard in the conversation. He scores goals and may well prove to be more durable.

Anything else? Although I anticipate a “there’s no way nine rookies play for the Oilers” post from someone, the ‘rookies of interest’ segment is mostly about identifying players who are entering a window of opportunity. We all know some, or even most, won’t make it, but we’re talking about playing in a single game. Olivier Rodrigue qualified for that list a year ago, and made it. You never know who spent the summer running up that hill (Kate Bush aside). I had four newcomers playing at least a game in my reasonable expectations, it could be more. Hell, Connor Clattenburg could make the NHL for a game. Opportunities can appear for all manner of players.

On the Lowdown today, our feature guest will be Jason Gregor (1:20). We’ll chat Oilers camp, Elks disappointment, NFL weekend and more. Declan will have MMA talk and we’re live noon to 2pm on Sports 1440 radio and YouTube.