The Edmonton Oilers got a home win Saturday night that looked built on the kind of habits coaches actually trust: patient puck management, forechecking, solid coverage and enough goaltending to survive the rough patches. One broken play turned into the goal against, and the winner came from a bit of good fortune. But the bigger takeaway was the same one that left fans feeling upbeat afterward: rookie Owen Michaels and goalie Devon Levi both made strong impressions.
That result also came with a little more clarity up front. The McDavid-Draisaitl line has stayed intact for the last two games and could remain that way for California, too.
With Vasily Podkolzin on that unit, the numbers have been loud. In 26 minutes together at five-on-five, Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl are 4-0 goals, 14-4 shots and 75 percent expected goals.
McDavid has 2-7-9, while Draisaitl and Podkolzin are both at 3-2-5. If they keep rolling together, that has the look of a top line in the league.
Michaels kept adding to the optimism. He scored again, giving him two goals from quality shooting areas, and he’s sitting at a 50 percent goal share while playing what people call fourth-line minutes.
The wrinkle is that the usage hasn’t really matched that label. He saw Matty Benier’s line for 3:46 and Chandler Stephenson’s line for 3:21, and his 11:52 at five-on-five was second among the four centers mentioned.
So the production is there, and the minutes suggest he’s already being trusted more than a typical depth piece.
There are other forwards starting to leave fingerprints on the game, too. Colton Dach is 0-4 goals this season at five-on-five, while the rest of the team is 11-5 in those situations.
He may not be a center, but there’s a case for him helping on the wing. Trent Frederic is averaging more than 5 high-danger chances per 60 at five-on-five and is drawing penalties, which is exactly the sort of useful, disruptive work teams notice.
Ike Howard had a shot on goal and a HDSC, but he still needs more ice time and better offensive support around him. Or they need to trade him.
Levi’s night mattered in a different way. He played well, made a big stop and won the game.
He also, in the process, won over plenty of fans. The source of the optimism is hard to miss: he looked like the kind of goalie who can change the temperature around a team, and the reaction around him was strong enough to suggest he could singlehandedly save Stan Bowman.
Behind the scenes, the coaching staff kept shuffling the blue line with the kind of speed that makes it hard to tell exactly what the long-term plan is. The pairings changed faster than the bass line on Rancid’s Maxwell Murder.
Maybe the staff is searching for a new partner for Evan Bouchard, maybe it’s about giving Mattias Ekholm some in-game rest, or maybe it’s both. Ty Emberson looked like an upgrade on Shakir Mukhamadullin, but the picture is still moving.
That’s why any talk of a trade with the Montreal Canadiens matters here. There are rumours in the air, and the assumption is Kirby Dach.
In that kind of deal, Emberson would be a reasonable ask. Still, the view from Edmonton is that Stan Bowman shouldn’t move him.
He’s the team’s third right-shot defenseman, and the only depth behind him comes from Josh Brown and Beau Akey. Edmonton does not have enough left over if Emberson goes out the door.
The read on the game itself was positive. Babcock has the Oilers playing a more dependable defensive style, and it looks repeatable. If they can keep that thought alive through the season and have it sharpened by the playoffs, that’s the version worth watching.
If Bowman does end up dealing with Montreal, the recommendation was Spener Stastney for a young prospect winger.
Elsewhere, the Condors fell 4-3 to Henderson on Saturday night. Josh Brown was the offensive star with two assists, Connor Clattenburg scored, and Quinn Hutson added a late goal to make it interesting.
Connor Ungar stopped 27 of 31 shots for an .871 save percentage. The two teams meet again today.
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 🡒]