Rumor: Oilers to sign Carter Savoie after breakout season in college hockey.

The Edmonton Oilers may soon be welcoming a new face to their organization.

At the 2020 National Hockey League Entry Draft the Oilers selected forward Carter Savoie in the 4th round (100th overall) and it now sounds like he may be close to a decision to sign with the team. On Saturday night, NHL insider Jeff Marek revealed that Savoie was leaning towards signing with the Oilers and in the process forgoing his junior year in college hockey.

"The question is does he go back for his junior year or does he turn pro?" asked Marek during Saturday night's NHL broadcast. "We expect him to come out of college, forgo the junior year. It is certainly heading in that direction and that is the expectation, at the end of all of this Carter Savoie will be a member of the Edmonton Oilers."

Savoie has spent the last 2 years of his hockey career playing for the University of Denver, where he had 2 strong seasons for himself. In his first season he appeared in 24 games, scording 13 goals and adding 7 assists for a total of 20 points over that stretch of play. In his most recent season however he had something of a breakout year with 23 goals and 22 assists for a total of 45 points over just 39 games this season.

I suspect that his strong performance on the ice this season caught the attention of the Oilers and no doubt they've been working towards getting Savoie to sign with them behind the scenes. Savoie's goal scoring this season ranked him 4th among all NCAA hockey players, and no doubt the Oilers are hoping that he can translate those skills to the American Hockey League and eventually the National Hockey League as well.

Most recently Savoie competed in the Frozen Four tournament alongside his fellow teammates and both with and against fellow NHL prospects. Savoie's University of Denver Mountaineers would defeat Minnesota in the Final and he was named to the all tournament team alongside several other players as well.

There's been no timeline on when we can expect an official announcement from the Oilers.