{"id":843619,"date":"2026-08-03T03:25:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T03:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843619\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T03:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T03:25:23","slug":"how-should-the-edmonton-oilers-deploy-isaac-howard-in-2026-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843619\/","title":{"rendered":"How should the Edmonton Oilers deploy Isaac Howard in 2026-27?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traded to the Oilers from the Tampa Bay Lightning last summer<\/a> in exchange for Edmonton\u2019s 2024 first-round pick Sam O\u2019Reilly, Howard is the organization\u2019s top prospect in an otherwise unremarkable pool. With Zach Hyman<\/a> and Ryan Nugent\u2011Hopkins<\/a> now entering their mid\u201130s, the Oilers badly need an injection of youth and skill near the top of their lineup, and alongside Matt Savoie, the expectation is that Howard has the upside to eventually develop into a long\u2011term fixture on Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl\u2019s wings.<\/p>\n

In 2025\u201126, Howard appeared in 29 NHL games, averaging just over 10 minutes per night and finishing with five points. He spent most of the season in the AHL, where he played 49 games for Bakersfield and excelled in several areas, most notably goal-scoring. After a strong campaign with the Condors, the hope is that 2026\u201127 could be Howard\u2019s breakout year in the NHL.<\/p>\n

However, where should the young forward play in Edmonton\u2019s lineup? The answer isn\u2019t exactly straightforward.<\/p>\n

Can Isaac Howard find a role in the Oilers\u2019 bottom six in 2026-27?<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s establish that Howard\u2019s most notable attribute is his goal-scoring ability.<\/p>\n

\"\"At Michigan State in 2024\u201125, Howard scored 26 goals in 37 games, finishing second among all forwards in non\u2011power\u2011play goals per game. That scoring touch translated seamlessly to the AHL in 2025\u201126, where he ranked near the top of the league in both total goals and 5\u2011on\u20115 goals per game. This is a player with a superb release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The typical spot for talented, young, but unproven forwards in the NHL is often the third line. It\u2019s a role that offers meaningful minutes without the pressure or competition of a top\u2011six spot, while avoiding the limited minutes of a fourth\u2011line spot. This could also help address a key issue for this Oilers team, whose depth scoring cratered in 2025-26; without McDavid and Draisaitl on-ice, Edmonton scored fewer than 1.7 goals per hour at 5v5, a steep drop from the 2.42 rate they posted in 2022\u201123. Theoretically, this is a way that Howard could provide great value to Edmonton.<\/p>\n

However, this may not be the most viable option in this case. With Jason Dickinson<\/a> re\u2011signed, it\u2019s clear the Oilers envision a defensively oriented third line, one that is likely to be built to focus on taking tough matchups and limiting chances against.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though Howard made strides in his off\u2011puck game in Bakersfield, defending is not yet a strength of his in my view, and, obviously, it is counterproductive to place a young natural goal\u2011scorer on a defensive shutdown line. He should be playing in a spot that makes the most of his strengths, which are his offensive abilities.<\/p>\n

There is one scenario where a third\u2011line role could work, if Edmonton ever considers playing Ryan Nugent\u2011Hopkins as a third\u2011line centre while Dickinson is bumped down to 4C. In that setup, I could absolutely see Howard generate chemistry with RNH and another winger, perhaps Mathieu Joseph or Kasperi Kapanen. However, given the Oilers\u2019 five\u2011year commitment to Dickinson, and the fact that his underlying defensive results are genuinely strong, it is hard to imagine the team being comfortable relegating him to a fourth\u2011line role.<\/p>\n

As for the fourth line, that should be off the table entirely. It should not even be a consideration to let Howard average 9 or less minutes per game there. It doesn\u2019t benefit the team and actively harms the player\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

I am also not a fan of sending Howard back to Bakersfield for another season. Simply put, he has already demonstrated he can dominate at the AHL level, and I don\u2019t see a lot more for him to prove down there. I believe this is an NHL-ready player who deserves a legitimate shot in Edmonton\u2019s lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, what about the top six?<\/p>\n

With all of that in mind, that leaves a spot somewhere in the top-six as the remaining option.<\/p>\n

Firstly, there could absolutely be an offensive fit between Howard and Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl\u2019s elite playmaking paired with Howard\u2019s quick release and knack for finding soft ice could produce a lot of goals. Certainly quite appealing on paper.<\/p>\n

Still, I would like to revisit this article from May<\/a> where I discussed what the optimal wingers look like for McDavid and Draisaitl. In regards to Draisaitl, the summary of what I wrote is that Draisaitl has historically played best with tenacious forecheckers, such as 2019-20 Kailer Yamamoto, Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen, and more. These are players that hunt loose pucks, disrupt opposition breakouts, and extend possession. That\u2019s not exactly the type of player I would describe Howard as, whose underlying puck battle results from the NCAA<\/a> were rather poor.<\/p>\n

Conversely, Draisaitl has struggled to build chemistry with pure scorers. His underlying numbers with Evander Kane were abysmal, he never clicked with Jeff Skinner (though their TOI was limited, but worth noting nevertheless), and his results with Jack Roslovic were mediocre at best.<\/p>\n

Of course, Howard isn\u2019t Kane or Roslovic, and the point isn\u2019t that Draisaitl can\u2019t play well with scoring wingers. He absolutely can, given that the other winger on that line is defensively responsible and can forecheck. But, I think there is a meaningful difference between \u201cCan Howard succeed on Draisaitl\u2019s wing?\u201d and \u201cIs that the optimal deployment for him?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d still be very intrigued by a line of Howard \u2013 Draisaitl \u2013 Podkolzin, with Podkolzin handling the bulk of the forechecking and defensive workload. That setup could work well. However, you do have to wonder if Draisaitl would be maximized with two forecheckers on his wings; think back to how much success he had with Podkolzin and Kapanen last season. This is also a big reason why I like the idea of Matt Savoie with Draisaitl and Podkolzin instead.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, as noted in that earlier article, Connor McDavid has historically performed better next to scoring wingers than Draisaitl has. And there is another compelling reason why McDavid might benefit far more from a player like Ike Howard. Take a look at McDavid and Draisaitl\u2019s 5\u2011on\u20115 goal share with and without each other over the past two seasons:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Without McDavid, Draisaitl has done well with a 56 percent goal share. But without Draisaitl, McDavid\u2019s goal share is just 51%. In terms of differential, that\u2019s just +4. Obviously, still net positive, but that\u2019s quite underwhelming given the fact that this is Connor McDavid.<\/p>\n

The expected goal share here clearly indicates that McDavid\u2019s line has been underachieving. Part of this is simply due to poor goaltending, but a big portion is lacklustre finishing. EvolvingHockey rates McDavid\u2019s impact on generating even-strength scoring chances (RAPM xGF\/60) to be the best in the league over the past two seasons, and it\u2019s not exactly close. Yet, his impact on actual goals is noticeably lower, largely because the team has scored nearly 10 fewer goals than expected with McDavid on the ice without Draisaitl. Put simply, his wingers aren\u2019t finishing the many quality chances he creates.<\/p>\n

Particularly with Zach Hyman on his wing, who ranks fourth in generating scoring chances among all players, the top line is not in desperate need for another play\u2011driver. What they require is someone who can consistently finish the chances they create, and that\u2019s exactly the type of element Howard can bring.<\/p>\n

I believe Howard\u2019s release is already at an NHL level. A shoot-first player with quick, efficient finishing is the sort of player that I think McDavid\u2019s line has been missing for quite some time. If the Oilers want to fully maximize McDavid\u2019s output at five\u2011on\u2011five, he needs a winger with real finishing talent, and Howard fits that description better than anyone currently in the system.<\/p>\n

All things considered, it might be rather unconventional to start an unproven prospect on the top-line out of the gate to begin a season. But, the structure of Edmonton\u2019s forward lineup and Howard\u2019s set of skills creates a pretty unique set of circumstances. And, not to mention, the organization should be learning from the Dylan Holloway saga about what can happen when you don\u2019t give your young forwards a legitimate opportunity.<\/p>\n

There is real evidence to suggest that Howard can bring value on Connor McDavid\u2019s wing, and I\u2019d absolutely argue he\u2019s earned the chance to prove it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE NATION GOLF TOURNAMENT\"\"<\/a>The Nation Golf Tournament driven by GMC is back Friday, August 28, 2026! Which means it\u2019s once again socially acceptable to skip work on a Friday for \u201cnetworking.\u201d Join us on Friday, August 28, 2026, at Mill Woods Golf Course for an 18-hole Texas scramble shotgun start, questionable swing decisions, and enough chirping to last the entire offseason. Grab your squad and sign up now at nationexperiences.ca<\/a> before it sells out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Traded to the Oilers from the Tampa Bay Lightning last summer in exchange for Edmonton\u2019s 2024 first-round pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-843619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}