When a new coach arrives in an NHL city, the players who are not yet established at the NHL level are placed in a difficult spot. The new coach isn’t familiar with any of the newer players and the window of opportunity in training camp is a sliver in time.
For young players like Matt Savoie, the 2025-26 season gave them a stretch of highway to show what they could do on the open road. For Ike Howard, the NHL resume is small (but has some impressive bits) and he’s pretty famous. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman acquired him at significant cost, so there will be an expectation that the coach gives him a long look. There are no guarantees. There just aren’t.
At the 2015 draft, new general manager Peter Chiarelli spent enormous assets in a trade for defenseman Griffin Reinhart. That fall, new coach Todd McLellan played him opening night but only 29 games in total. Brandon Davidson, among others, ate his lunch. The following year Chiarelli drafted Jesse Puljujarvi and said multiple times he was NHL-ready, but McLellan expressed doubt. JP didn’t spend 30 games in the NHL that season.
A new coach has so much going on in his first training camp. Players can slip through the cracks. Josh Samanski could be Rem Murray or he could be James Hamblin. We don’t know what we don’t know.
When we talk about Ike Howard as having enough talent for a regular role on a skill line in the NHL, I am in. If we’re talking about him being a lock for a new coach, in a new system, who has all kinds of decisions to make in a short span, I think it only reasonable to acknowledge the possibility of trade or another trip to Bakersfield for a time.
For all of the other Bakersfield Condors one year ago, a new coach being hired likely means building a resume in the minors again and then hoping for a recall. As a reminder, here are the numbers for the prospects in Bakersfield from 2025-26:
The truth is we should put every one of these players in the doubt pile. In fact you might want to put Beau Akey in the double doubt pile. I don’t think the organization believes in him at all. Suspect the Mammoth pick him up for a Coke machine. I would bet on Ike Howard. If the Oilers don’t trade him for Sebastian Cossa, he should make the team in a depth role. If the club runs Nuge as third-line center, and Howard gets left wing on that line, he could score a dozen at even strength. If they give him power-play time, maybe he gets to 20 goals. I’m extremely hopeful the new coach places him on a line with Leon eventually. That could be sweet soul music. There is a possibility Howard starts with the Condors.
As for the rest, I like Samanski, Damien Carfagna and Roby Jarventie most of all. We’ll see. New coach, like money, changes everything.
On the Lowdown today, Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation will join me to talk about the Oilers and the early days of the offseason. Things are moving slowly, but names like Sebastian Cossa and Simon Nemec may be in play and that’s worth discussing. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
