After an up-and-down season, the Edmonton Oilers are gearing up for another run to try and win the Stanley Cup. When healthy, they have some of the best top-end talent in the league, with the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Evan Bouchard, all of whom are expected to produce offensively.

Yet, with the playoffs just around the corner, fun discussions arise about who could emerge as an impactful hero in the postseason beyond the core players. In the Oilers’ case, this player is sometimes referred to as the next “Fernando Pisani,” a former Oiler role player who scored timely goals and was a big part of the team’s incredible run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, tallying 14 goals and four assists in 24 playoff games. More recently, I think back to last playoffs with Corey Perry, who scored ten playoff goals, including a game-winner and a tying goal in Game 2 with 18 seconds left in the Stanley Cup Final.

With that in mind, it begs the question of which players outside the Oilers’ core have the highest potential to emerge as the next playoff hero, whether by producing plenty of playoff points, scoring timely goals, or being a difference-maker for the team. Let’s take a look at four candidates below.

Matt Savoie

In September 2024 at the Oilers’ rookie camp, when Savoie was reminiscing about the Oilers’ deep 2024 playoff run, he mentioned: “I got back to Edmonton right after the Memorial Cup in early June, and I’m not afraid to say I was an Oilers fan for those few weeks. I was living in the city, the city was buzzing.” He added, “As a hockey fan, it was so fun to watch, being an Oilers fan growing up.”

Being from St. Albert, AB, Matt Savoie, I’d imagine he spent many days playing street hockey as a kid, dreaming of scoring a Stanley Cup–winning goal for the Oilers. At the same time, there’s no feeling quite like the phenomenal energy of Rogers Place during the playoffs, and I can imagine playing in that environment is something he has also replayed many times in his head while growing up.

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"I'm not afraid to say I was an Oiler fan for those few weeks. I mean, I was living in the city, the city was buzzing." - Matt Savoie on watching the Oilers Cup Run in June. Video Credit: @EdmontonOilers

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8:14 PM · Sep 11, 2024

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