Reigning Hobey Baker award winner Isaac Howard is a member of the Edmonton Oilers after he was traded Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Howard was traded to the two-time defending Western Conference champions with the Lightning acquiring prospect center Sam O'Reilly. The 21-year-old Howard, who just finished his junior season at Michigan State, also signed an entry-level contract with the Oilers.
The Lightning drafted Howard in the first round in 2022 out of the famed United States National Team Development Program. Howard played one season at Minnesota Duluth, where he scored six goals and 17 points in 35 games before transferring to MSU.
Going to East Lansing saw him average a point per game in 36 contests to help the Spartans win the Big Ten championship while advancing to the Division I men's national tournament for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
His strong sophomore season set the stage for a junior campaign when he finished with 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games. Howard was third in the nation in goals and fifth in points while guiding the Spartans to a second straight conference title and tournament appearance in which they lost in the first round.
Winning the Hobey Baker award as the nation's top men's player only added to what made Howard such an attractive prospect. Another was having a young forward like Howard would provide an organization that's currently in a championship window with a top-nine forward on a team-friendly deal.
It's just that the Lightning weren't that team with Sportsnet reporting in April that Howard would not be signing with the team that drafted him and would return to school for his senior season.
If Howard returned to school and remained unsigned, he would have been a pending unrestricted free agent in August 2026. That also would have left the Lightning losing a top prospect for nothing.
But now? They acquired O'Reilly, who scored 28 goals and 71 points in 62 games for the London Knights in the OHL.
Signing Howard to his ELC now provides the cap-strapped Oilers with another player on a cheap deal in an offseason that saw them part ways with Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown, Evander Kane, John Klingberg and Corey Perry so they could attain financial flexibility.
Howard signing with the Oilers adds to what's been an active day for college hockey in July that began with Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick for 2026, announcing that he was going to Penn State.