Buffalo Sabres
Oilers-Sabres Trade Back in Spotlight as Savoie Surges and McLeod Stalls
As Matt Savoie heats up and Ryan McLeod cools off, the narrative around the Oilers–Sabres trade is beginning to change.
It’s been almost a year and a half since the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres connected on a sizeable offseason trade that swapped forwards Ryan McLeod and Matt Savoie. The storyline has shifted in both seasons since the deal was made.
Year one as a Sabre saw McLeod produce a career-high 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists), to go with his already strong defensive game. He was looking like he had found a home as a core piece in Buffalo. It resulted in a lucrative extension. On the other hand, Savoie spent almost all of it in the AHL playing for the Bakersfield Condors, leaving Oiler fans concerned about whether the trade would be something the Oilers might come to regret.
However, just 29 games into the 2025-26 season, that narrative has already begun to shift as Savoie has started to make his mark as an Oiler. While McLeod’s production has been more in line with the numbers he put up during his time in Edmonton, Savioe has found a groove in the Oilers’ top six. This season has been a reminder that the Oilers were OK parting with McLeod to pick up a prospect like Savoie, who is starting to figure out the NHL.
In fact, the 21-year-old Savoie has three goals in the last two games, with his most recent tally being his sixth of the year, now ahead of McLeod in that category (five goals), who is currently mired in a six-game pointless drought himself.
Savoie is in year two of the three-year, $2,659,998 extension ($887K cap hit) he signed with the Sabres back in 2022. McLeod, 26, is in the first season of the four-year, $20 million extension he signed to stay in Buffalo this summer.
Savoie for McLeod Will be Debated for Years to Come
Analyst Matt Larkin is known for originally comparing the Savoie and McLeod trade to the Filip Forsberg-for-Martin Erat trade from 2013. At the time, he was shocked that the Sabres would give up on their first-round pick (ninth overall) from 2022 for what he viewed as not enough in return.
He took some flak for that take throughout last season, but the noise has gone quiet now that the tables are starting to turn. That said, it’s very likely this narrative will continue to flip, as both players are talented and seem to have found a nice fit on their new teams.
Buffalo needed help down the middle of the ice and a more defensively responsible player, which is exactly what McLeod brings, even when the production dries up. On the flip side, Edmonton was and is extremely deep at center, so adding the skill and versatility of a Savoie, who can play multiple different forward positions, made too much sense.
It’s always interesting to look back on trades to see how they turn out, and this certainly won’t be the last time we’ll hear opinions shift on this deal.
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