The Edmonton Oilers showed Saturday that they can win a game that never really opens up. In a 3-1 result over the Seattle Kraken, Edmonton improved to 2-0-1 on the season while outshooting Seattle 25-20. The victory also pushed the Oilers to 9-1-0 at Rogers Place against the Kraken since Seattle’s first season in 2021-22.
Edmonton got the start it wanted just about three minutes in. Seattle couldn’t get the puck out of the zone, Alex Formenton moved it down to Owen Michaels, and Michaels ripped in his second goal in as many games from a tough angle.
The Kraken answered in the second period when Wainwright, Alberta product Bobby McMann tied the game at one. Former Oiler Jordan Eberle picked up the assist on the goal.
It looked like overtime was coming, but Leon Draisaitl broke the deadlock with just under two and a half minutes left, beating his fellow countryman Philipp Grubauer to put Edmonton ahead. Thirty-six seconds later, Connor McDavid sealed it with an empty-net goal for the 3-1 final.
The first period had plenty of edge to it. Ryan Lindgren and Evan Bouchard dropped the gloves midway through the frame after Lindgren caught Bouchard up high back in May, ending his 2026 IIHF World Championship Tournament. Trent Frederic won that fight decisively.
The chippiness kept rolling. Three minutes after the scrap, Colton Dach laid a hard hit on Vince Dunn, and both were given coincidental minors.
Late in the period, Max Jones mixed it up with Grubauer after the Seattle goalie froze the puck, and both players were handed two minutes. The temperature stayed high enough that when Brandon Montour hit McDavid as he scored into the empty net, Montour and Connor Murphy each received 10-minute misconducts.
Edmonton also left some chances on the table early, especially on the power play. The Oilers went 0-for-3 on their first-period man-advantage looks and didn’t get another opportunity the rest of the way. Seattle also scored while Edmonton was shorthanded.
Devon Levi gave the Oilers exactly what they needed in goal. He stopped 19 of 20 shots for a .950 save percentage and came up with a big stop on Jordan Eberle in the third period. He should handle most of the starts until Frederik Andersen returns.
Offensively, it was a quiet night for much of Edmonton’s attack. Evan Bouchard finished without a point, while Ryan Shea collected the only point from the Oilers’ blue line. Draisaitl and McDavid provided the late finish, and Michaels kept his strong start rolling with his second goal in two games.
Vasily Podkolzin also continued his strong opening stretch, adding the assist on McDavid’s empty-netter for his second helper in three games. That gives him five points and a plus-3 rating so far this season.
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 Already Face One Roster Question Despite Hot Start
The early-season vibes around the Oilers have been strong enough to keep the focus on the ice, but the front office is already weighing whether the roster needs a little balancing. General manager Stan Bowman is reportedly looking into a lateral swap that would move a defenseman out and bring a forward back, a reflection of how the lineup is built right now: plenty of blue-line depth, a thinner look up front, and a few injuries giving the forward group a leaner margin for error.
For now, it sounds more like a monitoring exercise than an urgent push. Edmonton does not have any long-term forward absences to force its hand, and no specific trade targets have surfaced, which leaves Bowman with the luxury of patience even while he explores the market. The Oilers can live with the roster as constructed in the short term, but the early read suggests this is one of those situations worth watching before it becomes a bigger issue later. [Read more 🡒]