The first three games are hardly enough to draw sweeping conclusions, but they’ve already given the Oilers a pretty clear read on a few lineup decisions. Some combinations have clicked right away.
Others have already been shuffled. With injuries piling up and a new head coach still sorting things out, Edmonton’s early-season picture is messy - but not unreadable.
The biggest early winner has been Vasily Podkolzin. Through three games, he has piled up five points and looked dangerous almost every shift, and a big part of that has been his spot on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
He has fit in cleanly beside the two stars and turned that opportunity into production. Podkolzin is also getting work on the first power-play unit because Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are hurt, and there’s a strong case for him to keep seeing some special-teams time even once those two are back.
His speed and physicality have given head coach Mike Babcock another useful weapon.
On the blue line, Ty Emberson’s return was an easy fix after he sat out the start of the season. He was back in the lineup Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken, replacing Shakir Mukhamadullin on the third pair with Jake Walman, which is familiar territory for Emberson after the two logged more than 157 minutes together last season.
Mukhamadullin had a rough opening stretch, though the home-and-home with the Vancouver Canucks was such a goal-heavy mess - 27 goals in total - that it would be unfair to pin it all on one player. He’s young and still learning.
Even so, Emberson has built a reputation as one of Edmonton’s steadiest defenders over the past two seasons, and his 2.7 on-ice expected goals against per 60 minutes in 2025-26 was the best mark among Oilers defensemen. If he stays in the lineup, he should help stabilize the depth end of the defense.
Connor Murphy and Ryan Shea have also made a case to stick together. They’re two of the newer faces on the back end, but they’ve settled in quickly.
Even in a pair of games that featured a lot of scoring, Shea finished at plus-2 and Murphy was minus-1 while playing just over 18 minutes in that back-to-back. The sample is tiny, but both players bring smart, dependable defensive games, which is part of why Edmonton signed them in the offseason.
Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm will still carry the offensive load from the top pair, but Shea and Murphy can chip in at that end while bringing a tougher edge in their own zone.
Not everything has landed the same way. Alex Formenton’s quick slide down the lineup stands out as one move that didn’t quite make sense.
He got a brief look in the top six, but that chance disappeared fast. With Hyman out and Podkolzin surging, the top line was always going to change, but Formenton deserves another shot next to McDavid or even Nugent-Hopkins when he’s healthy again.
He has two points through three games, has moved the puck well, and has used his skating to bother opposing defenders. For now, he’ll have to keep building chemistry in the bottom six and try to force the issue again.
There will be more changes ahead as Edmonton gets healthier, and the lineup should keep evolving over the coming weeks and months.
In Other News...
Oilers Roster Crunch Could Force A Move Sooner Than Expected
Edmontons early-season roster picture has already started to look a little crowded on the blue line and a little thin up front. With several forwards banged up, the Oilers are reportedly weighing their options for a roster move that would bring in more help at forward, even if the injuries themselves are not expected to linger.
Sportsnets Elliotte Friedman said during a game broadcast that the club is exploring a lateral trade to rebalance the group, and the pressure point is clear: Edmonton has a pile of defensemen who could be exposed to waivers if the team keeps carrying them all. The situation does not sound like a long-term crisis, but it could still force the Oilers into making a move sooner than they would prefer. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Face Another McDavid Question They Cannot Ignore Early
The NHLs early 2026-27 season has already produced a run of unusually high-scoring games, and some of that has been pinned on a shortened preseason that left teams with less time to get their structure in place. For Edmonton, though, the bigger conversation keeps circling back to Connor McDavid, because every national drift toward leaguewide turbulence seems to invite fresh questions about the Oilers long-term footing around their franchise center.
Sid Seixeiro has once again fueled the speculation that McDavid could eventually leave Edmonton, even though there has been nothing from McDavid to suggest dissatisfaction or a desire to move on. He has stayed invested through the Oilers recent rough patches, which is exactly why the renewed chatter lands as more noise than evidence, even as the leagues cap outlook and team-building strategies start to shift around the edges. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Finally Found A Different Way To Win Against Seattle
For a team that has often needed a little flash to separate itself from Seattle, Wednesdays 3-1 win at Rogers Place looked a bit different. Owen Michaels got the Oilers on the board, Leon Draisaitl kept the pressure on, and Edmonton leaned into a physical, penalty-filled game that felt more like a grind than a showcase. Devon Levi handled his end cleanly enough, turning aside 19 shots as the Oilers improved to 2-0-1 and kept their strong home run against the Kraken rolling.
The part Edmonton will likely like most is that it did not have to chase the game the way it sometimes has against Seattle. The Oilers stayed patient through a tight third period, with Draisaitl and Connor McDavid eventually supplying the separation and finishing touch when the margin was still there to be claimed. It was the kind of result teams talk about wanting in the fall, a different route to the same two points, even if there was still plenty of bite in the game along the way. [Read more 🡒]