The Oilers’ latest look from Mike Babcock told a pretty clear story: this is the setup he had in mind before the day began, and now the real work is figuring out how fast he can separate the keepers from the names on the fringe.
The projected group had McDavid between Draisaitl and Podkolzin on the top line, with Howard centering Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman on the second. Frederic, Dickinson and Kapanen filled out a third line, while Formenton, Dach and Joseph skated as the fourth.
On the back end, the pairings were Shea and Bouchard, Walman and Murphy, Ekholm and Mukhamadullin, plus Stastney and Emberson. Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi were the goaltenders listed.
The injured group included Matt Savoie, Frederik Andersen and Mattias Janmark.
Babcock and the staff, at least on paper, seem to believe this is the group that best reflects the Oilers’ “true north” from the summer conversations. The top line looks ready to go as constructed, and the second line likely stays intact as well unless Savoie is cleared in time, which does not sound likely.
The lower half of the forward group feels much more fluid, and Josh Samanski is the name to watch there. Don’t be surprised if he bumps Alex Formenton out.
Moving Colton Dach to center also reads like a Craig MacTavish-style experiment, one that may not have a very long shelf life.
The biggest question marks from that alignment are whether Nugent-Hopkins can drive the second line and whether the coach fully appreciates that Samanski could end up being the better checking-center option than Jason Dickinson if he gets the chance there.
The Condors also had their own set of lines and pairings from yesterday, with Jones, Samanski and Hutson together; Stonehouse, Marjala and Raty; Pitlick, Michaels and Griffith; and Tralmaks, Nicholl and Tassy. The defense groups showed Leppanen with Cibulka, Stillman with Brown, and Carfagna with Akey, while Sjolund was also listed. Tomkins and Ungar were the goaltenders.
There’s not much to overread in the Condors setup, but Connor Clattenburg, James Stefan, Samuel Jonsson, Nathan Day and Eemil Vinni were also around, whether injured or simply held out. Colin Chaulk will sort through it starting Monday.
The pace is about to pick up because it has to. The club needs to be ready for opening night later this month, so some assignments could come as soon as today. By Tuesday morning, Babcock should have a sharper handle on his evaluations.
Among the players trending up, the names to watch are Vasily Podkolzin, Ryan Shea, Shakir Mukhamadullin and, hopefully, Ike Howard. The one on the wrong end of that ledger right now is Josh Samanski.
On The Lowdown today, Steve Lansky will join as the feature guest to talk Oilers, Elks, NFL Week 2 and more, from noon to 2 p.m. on Sports 1440 and YouTube.
In Other News...
Oilers Suddenly Have A Rare Shot At A Young Star Center
A tense standoff in Columbus has opened an unexpected door for the Oilers, who are suddenly being mentioned as a possible landing spot for young center Adam Fantilli. The Blue Jackets have spent camp dealing with the distraction of an unsigned restricted free agent, and the longer the situation drags on, the more the speculation has shifted toward whether Columbus could eventually choose the cleaner path of moving the player instead of riding out the noise.
For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious. Fantilli would fit the profile of a high-end center in a lineup that could always use more skill down the middle, and reports suggest the Oilers would be willing to put together a serious package to get into the conversation. The names tied to that framework make clear this would not be a minor tweak, but a real swing involving roster pieces, prospects and premium draft capital, with the kind of price tag that says just how rare this opportunity might be. [Read more 🡒]
Babcock Is Sending Oilers Fans One Clear Message About McDavid
Mike Babcock spent Edmontons 2026 training camp making it clear that the Oilers next step is not about simply asking Connor McDavid to do more, but about building a structure that lets everyone else do more around him. The head coach kept coming back to role definition, team structure and what happens away from the puck, a reminder that even with the leagues biggest star driving the attack, the details in the supporting cast still matter.
Babcock also hinted at a more balanced way of spreading the load through the lineup, with bottom-six forwards expected to have a real hand in the teams success. For Oilers fans, the bigger picture is obvious: keeping McDavid fresh for nightly impact while preserving his special teams workload, all while asking the rest of the roster to shoulder more responsibility in a more demanding setup. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Camp Already Delivered Two Injury Scares Fans Will Watch
Day two of Oilers training camp brought a pair of moments that had the building paying attention, starting with captain Connor McDavid taking a hard collision with teammate Shakir Mukhamadullin during a scrimmage. McDavid went down awkwardly but stayed on the ice, and he later showed exactly why everyone in Edmonton holds their breath any time he gets up after a scare by scoring on a penalty shot.
The other concern came with centre Jason Dickinson, who left the skate with an apparent injury before there was any real clarity on the severity. Head coach Mike Babcock later said the team was monitoring player participation, and the early sense was that Dickinson was not expected to miss time, but camp injuries always create a little extra anxiety until the next update arrives. [Read more 🡒]