Edmonton Oilers

Oilers News & Rumors: Bouchard, Broberg, Lennstrom, Savoie & More

How are the players the Oilers have loaned to European teams doing? What other news is emerging from the Oilers’ organization?

by
Old Prof
December 8, 2020

In this edition of Edmonton Oilers News & Rumors, I’ll share news about how a number of Oilers’ prospects are doing playing in European leagues during the NHL’s offseason.

Although he’s not a prospect, I’ll also share how Oilers’ newcomer Theodor Lennstrom is playing in Sweden. Finally, I’ll look at youngster Carter Savoie who’s playing his freshman season at the University of Denver.

Item One: Evan Bouchard Scoring Well in Sweden’s Second Division

Evan Bouchard has played 23 games for Sodertalje SK; and, in those games, he’s scored seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points. Since he’s been loaned to HockeyAllsvenskan, which is Sweden’s second division, he’s shown the same scoring touch that’s been his trademark since he began. In scoring for defensemen, Bouchard currently ranks second in the league in points. Among all players, he’s tied for 18th overall.

Item Two: Philip Broberg Likely to Join Team Sweden for World Juniors

Philip Broberg is expected to join Team Sweden for the IIHF World Junior Championship Tournament (WJT) that will be played in Edmonton starting on Christmas Day. Broberg played one last game with the Swedish Hockey League’s Skelleftea AIK this past weekend, and now he’s on his way to Canada to prepare for the tournament.

In that last game, he scored one assist in a 6-5 victory over Brynas. That lifted his scoring to a total of eight points (two goals and six assists) in 23 games. Although that scoring total doesn’t sound like a lot of points – when compared to what Bouchard is putting up, it’s quite an improvement on Broberg’s scoring last season.

With Skelleftea last season, he scored only one goal and seven assists in 45 games. So, in almost exactly half the games this season, he’s matched his totals for all of last season. Broberg has been thought to be competing for a spot on the Oilers’ roster for the 2020-21 season; however, in a related link to this post, you can read the news that he might be returning to Sweden when the WJT has been completed.

Item Three: Theodor Lennstrom Starting to Heat Up in Sweden

Although Theodor Lennstrom’s hardly a prospect and he’s never played in the NHL, the 26-year-old defenseman signed a one-year contract with the Oilers last April. Then Lennstrom was loaned back to Frolunda (the team he played with during the 2019-20 season) by the Oilers during the summer.

In total this season, Lennstrom has scored four goals and three assists in 16 SHL games. However, he’s started to have a bit of a scoring steak lately with three points in his last three games – which isn’t bad for a defenseman who isn’t known for his scoring touch. In fact, over his seasons in the SHL, he’s probably averaged a point every three games he’s played.

I suspect that he’s likely to head to North America once something is settled about the start of a 2020-21 season.

Item Five: Oilers’ Prospect Carter Savoie Has Great Start at the University of Denver

Oilers prospect Carter Savoie is off to a hot start in his NCAA career. Although his University of Denver team hasn’t yet won a game, Savoie hasn’t gone a game without scoring a goal. In fact, in one game he scored two goals and, in his last game, he added an assist to his now-normal goal scoring. In total, the 18-year-old freshman winger has scored four goals and an assist in three games.

Carter Savoie, with the Sherwood Park Crusaders

The Oilers drafted Savoie in the fourth round (100^th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The local Edmonton-area native (from St. Albert) had scored 54 goals and 45 assists (for 99 points) in 54 games with Sherwood Park of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. That’s a goal-a-game average, which he’s continuing to do at Denver.

The 5-foot-9, 192-pound Savoie is his offensive talent and projects as a potential scorer wherever he plays.