Oilers acquire top U.S. college player in trade with Lightning

The Edmonton Oilers traded 21-year-old forward from the Tampa Bay lightning. The team gave up former first-round pick Sam O'Reilly in return.

The United States’ top collegiate hockey player this year is coming to Canada.

To Edmonton, in particular.

The Oilers acquired Isaac Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, in exchange for Sam O’Reilly in a swap of prospect forwards.

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The 21-year-old winger has also signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Oilers, the National Hockey League team announced in a Tuesday evening media release.

Howard scored 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points in 37 games for Michigan State this past season, earning him the Hobey Baker Award as the top National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) player. The Lightning drafted the Hudson, Wisc., native in the first round, 31st overall, of the 2022 NHL Draft.

O’Reilly, 19, was the Oilers’ first-round pick, 32nd overall, in last year’s NHL Draft. The junior London Knights forward, who signed an entry-level contract with Edmonton in October, was acquired just before the pick was to be made in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.