How do AHL call-ups Howard, Hutson fit in Oilers lineup

EDMONTON — Of all the areas where the engaged fan and the National Hockey League head coach have never seen eye to eye, the “skilled player call-up” is ground zero for discontent.

Coaches call up first-liners and play them on the fourth line. It’s a recipe as old as time, one of hockey’s great mysteries, up there with “What was the Department of Player Safety thinking?!?”

It’s a rite of passage for the young, skilled player: no matter how many points you score to earn the call-up from the American League team, when you get here, we’re going to give you third-line minutes with third-line teammates. Then we’ll likely send you back down when, somehow, you fail to produce the same you have down in Bakersfield.

“He’s got to learn how to do it at this level,” we’ll lament, as you hop into an airport taxi.

• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

“It’s hard sitting on the bench and then getting (asked) to go out and do something. Sometimes it’s two shifts a period, sometimes it’s four or five (shifts). It’s not an easy thing to do,” admitted Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, whose general manager elevated two AHL dynamos — Ike Howard and Quinn Hutson — to be inserted into the lineup for Saturday’s matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“The way our team is composed, you have to try and make the most out of that time. It’s a lot easier said than done.”

Will Knoblauch fall into the same trap with Howard and Hutson that he and so many other coaches have before him? Well, there are reasons to believe that he will not.

In Edmonton, the Top 6 has found its way just fine.

Connor McDavid centres Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, as good a first line as exists in the game, and Jack Rosolvic has fit in nicely with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin on Line 2.

It’s the Bottom 6 that has disappointed, and as such, Bowman may be making a statement this week by openly shopping Andrew Mangiapane while promoting two kids who have been tearing through the AHL of late. (Howard is the reigning Player of the Month in the AHL, with 8-8-16 in 11 December games.)

Given 40 games to stake a claim to a lineup spot, Mangiapane has failed miserably, and he’ll very likely watch the Flyers play from the press box on Saturday. So, too, has Trent Frederic not been able to grab hold of a role through 40 games, and when Kasperi Kapanen returns, he’ll likely be next.

$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );

$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-813952" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6387045388112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6387045388112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/should-oilers-explore-trade-market-for-mangiapane-amid-recent-struggles/" }); });

Enter two kids with special skills, slated to flank young Matt Savoie on a third line that will average 22 years of age Saturday. The Oilers haven’t had a line like that since the days of Hall and Ebs, but maybe an injection of youth is exactly what this ageing lineup requires.

“We all know each other and we’ve all played together before,” said Hutson, whose little brother Lane mans the Montreal Canadiens’ blue line. “We’ll have fun.”

The real question is, how much fun will Knoblauch allow?

There’s no power-play time for either Howard or Hutson. That’s a given in Edmonton, where the second unit is seen slightly more often than Bigfoot.

And the fact that neither winger gets insulated by a veteran Top 6 centre nudges us towards the conclusion that — should the Flyers game be close midway through — there won’t be much ice time for a third line comprised of three rookies.

Three small rookies, we might add.

It’s one thing to play Hutson, Savoie and Howard together at a Thursday practice. But we’ll only be convinced if they get more than eight minutes of ice time apiece in an NHL game Saturday afternoon.

$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );

$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-803628" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6387167132112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/6387167132112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/oilers-howard-and-hutson-excited-for-potential-kid-line-with-savoie/" }); });

“Hutson and Howard are playing so well in Bakersfield, they’re not going to feel any pressure,” Knoblauch said. “And it’s not like Savoie will put any pressure on them to make other plays. They’ll play on their instincts, which I think will be beneficial.

“The downside is, they’re smaller. I guess we have to decide if the pros outweigh the negatives.”

Howard has the best shot at becoming a triggerman for either McDavid or Draisaitl down the road, in our opinion. But it’s Hutson who is said to be the more dangerous shooter in Bakersfield.

What the two need is for the power-play to pop a couple of early goals, and the McDavid and/or Draisaitl line to get one as well. Because an Oilers lead will keep Knoblauch rolling his lines. The moment the game becomes in doubt, he’ll shorten his bench.

And we all know who suffers when that happens.