Training camp has a way of turning one good shift into a full-blown theory, and in Edmonton that process can happen fast.
Connor Ungar is the cleanest example. He hasn’t played an NHL game, but there’s a real chance he’ll be called the future of the Edmonton Oilers before the first week of camp is done. That’s September for you: one preseason game against a split squad, one postgame interview where a young player sounds mature beyond his years, and suddenly the conversation shifts from curiosity to projection.
Goaltending is usually where this starts in Edmonton. It has been a talking point for years, and one strong night from a young goalie can send everyone racing five years ahead.
Then come the familiar comparisons, the questions about whether he should stay with the club, and the nods to Stuart Skinner’s first camp. The idea grows quickly, and then the next preseason game shows up and resets the whole thing.
Mike Babcock is likely to get his own early-camp spotlight, too. One practice where he leans on a player, leaves the whistle going a little longer than expected, or pauses a drill to make a point will be picked apart from every angle.
The reaction will split right away: some will see the demanding coach the Oilers wanted after another disappointing spring, while others will look at the same clip and decide history is repeating itself. Camp will hand everyone fresh ammo for whatever argument they already had.
The same thing happens with depth players. A line that buzzes for a couple of exhibition games can suddenly become the talk of camp.
Maybe they forecheck all night. Maybe they score a couple of greasy goals.
Maybe they just bring more energy than everyone else on the ice. It doesn’t really matter who the three players are.
The chatter is almost always the same, with fans treating the fourth line like it has been solved for good even though coaches usually keep moving those spots around early in the season.
The veterans won’t be spared from the overreaction cycle either. Trent Frederick can have one rough exhibition game and people will say nothing has changed.
Evan Bouchard can miss the net on a power play and the contract talk will start up again. Connor Murphy can make one strong defensive play and suddenly there will be people wondering how Chicago ever let him get away.
Every established player arrives with a label, and it often takes only a period or two for someone to claim the label has already been confirmed.
Then there’s the annual search for Connor McDavid’s winger. Someone will skate beside McDavid, the line combinations will start getting pencilled in for opening night, and the imagination will run ahead of reality. Coaches may be using camp to test things, and preseason games are built to answer questions rather than settle them, but once a player looks comfortable next to No. 97, people immediately start thinking about what that could mean over eighty-two games.
That’s the fun of camp, even if it’s messy. Fans want proof the roster is better.
Coaches want information. Somewhere in between, those goals blur together.
By the time the regular season opens, most of September’s loudest storylines will be gone. Connor Ungar might be in Bakersfield.
The fourth line probably won’t look the same. A player who barely registered during camp might wind up becoming one of the club’s most important contributors.
And still, none of that will stop people from acting like they’ve already solved the whole team before the leaves start changing.
In Other News...
Oilers Face A Costly Top Six Decision They Can't Delay
The Oilers are sitting on close to $6 million in cap space, which is enough to keep the conversation going but not enough to make the need disappear. A top-six winger remains the obvious target, and the list of realistic options is not exactly overflowing, which is why the front office has to weigh whether a move can be made now rather than letting the market tighten even further.
The names that keep surfacing point to the same kind of player Edmonton is after: a winger who can score and fit into a contenders top six without disrupting the rest of the lineup. With the free-agent path looking thin, the real question is whether the Oilers want to wait for the trade deadline dance or get aggressive before the asking price and the competition both climb. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Still Have One Roster Problem Fans Wont Ignore
The Oilers have room to maneuver, and that alone keeps the conversation around their roster from settling down anytime soon. With salary cap space available and a few defensive additions already in place, Edmonton has at least given itself options as it tries to round out a team that still looks a little light on the blue line after moving Darnell Nurse.
The bigger question is how the club balances those options at the start of the season, especially with a three-goalie plan hanging over the roster picture. There is a path for Edmonton to keep adjusting as the year goes on, and the cap flexibility gives it some breathing room if the front office decides the current mix still needs another jolt before the trade deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Blue Line Squeeze Could Force A Move Fans Saw Coming
The Oilers have spent the summer building depth on the blue line, but the math is starting to get awkward. After a run of trades and signings, Edmonton now has eight defensemen making $1.3 million or more, and it is hard to imagine the club carrying all of them when the season opens. For a team that has spent years trying to stabilize its back end, this is the kind of surplus that can look like a luxury right up until it turns into a roster decision.
What makes the situation interesting is that the likely move does not appear to involve one of the more established names. Edmontons choice seems to be narrowing around a pair of younger defensemen, with handedness and recent usage both part of the equation. One option has the cleaner fit on paper, while the other spent more time on the outside looking in, and the Oilers now have to decide whether they want to keep the extra insurance or turn that depth into something else before camp sorts it out for them. [Read more 🡒]