Ryan S. Clarkjul 8, 2025, 10:49 PM ET
Closeryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
Righing Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard is a member of the Edmonton Oilers after being traded by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Howard was traded for two-time defending Western Conference champions, with prospect center Sam O’Reilly trading in lightning. Howard, 21, who just finished his junior season with Michigan, has also signed an entry-level contract with the Oilers.
Lightning drafted Howard in the first round of 2022 from the renowned US national team development program. Howard played one season for Minnesota Duluth, and after scoring six goals and 17 points in 35 games, he transferred to MSU.
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Going to East Lansing is his first time in the Division I Men’s National Tournament since the 2011-12 season, averaging points per game in 36 contests to help the Spartans win the Big Ten Championship.
His strong sophomore season set the stage for the junior campaign, where he finished with 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games. Howard finished third and fifth in goals nationwide, losing in the first round, leading the Spartans to their second straight conference title and tournament appearance.
Winning the Hobby Baker Award as the country’s top men’s player adds to what makes Howard such an attractive outlook. The other was that Howard has a young forward that would provide the organization currently in the Championship window with the best forward in team-friendly deals.
Thunder, who didn’t sign the team that Howard drafted him and returned to school for his senior season, wasn’t Lightning, who reported on the Sportsnet in April.
If Howard had left his signature back at school, he would have been an unlimited free agent pending in August 2026.
But now? They won O’Reilly. O’Reilly scored 28 goals and 71 points in 62 games for the London Knights in the OHL.
Just as Howard signed his ELC, the Cap Strap Oilers offered another player and cap tied Oilers in a cheap deal in the offseason, seeing another way with Victor Irvidson, Connor Brown, Ivander Kane, John Klingberg and Corey Perry.
The signing with the Oilers announced he will be heading to Pennsylvania, in addition to what was an active college hockey day in July, which began with the expected first pick in 2026, Gavin McKenna.
