The Edmonton Oilers’ home opener against the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow comes with a lineup that looks a little different than most people expected when training camp opened.
A few weeks ago, Isaac Howard seemed headed for the top six, Owen Michaels was barely a talking point, and Devon Levi sat behind Tristan Jarry and Frederik Andersen in the goaltending pecking order. Preseason changed that picture in a hurry.
Michaels may be the most unexpected name in the mix. He spent most of camp doing just enough to stay in the conversation, and Mike Babcock has clearly taken notice.
“Michaels is beyond smart. Skates elite.
He's in all the good clips every night,” Babcock said. “I mean, it's not what we thought coming in; I can tell you that.
But what are you going to do? They decide, not me.”
Jason Dickinson’s injury has opened a lane in the bottom six, and Michaels could be the one to step into it if he keeps doing the little things right.
“He bought himself another day, and good for him,” Babcock said after the final preseason game against Calgary. “I mean, that's what we're doing here; we're trying to create depth and trying to find good players. He looks like he's a good player.”
That leaves open a real possibility that Michaels is in the lineup tomorrow, even if Babcock hasn’t made anything official. He wasn’t on the radar when camp began, but he’s pushed this discussion much farther than anyone would have guessed. With Dickinson unavailable, Edmonton has a spot he can actually compete for.
Howard’s path has gone the other way.
There was never much doubt he’d be an NHL player this season. The question was whether he’d land in the top six. Instead, Kasperi Kapanen took Howard’s spot on the second line in Edmonton’s final preseason game and held onto it.
“I thought Kappy was the best player in practice the day before, and he was being real good, and I didn't think his group was being real good,” Babcock said. “I just thought that it was a situation where he should play; it happened to be the right decision. He got on the ice, shot it in the net, and you think, ‘We're not putting him back.’”
Howard didn’t turn in some disastrous final game that would force a dramatic reassessment. He just didn’t do enough to stop Kapanen from moving ahead of him, and now there’s a legitimate question about where Howard fits tomorrow night.
In goal, Levi helped himself with another solid outing against Calgary, even if Edmonton left him exposed too often.
“Tonight we gave way up too much. So (Levi) had to make some big saves, but he did. He's a confident kid,” Babcock said.
With Andersen injured, Levi has the clearest opportunity of his short career, and he’s handled it well enough to stay in the conversation for the home opener. Babcock also liked Jarry against Vancouver.
On the back end, Shakir Mukhamadullin is another name worth watching. He finished preseason the way Babcock would want him to play.
“I liked him. He was big, he's long, and what I like about his game tonight...
I've seen him in the past, watched him on video and he tried to be cute. He wasn't cute tonight,” Babcock said.
“He just made the right play over and over and over again. And every time he's out there, he's still 6'5", which is kinda nice.”
Mukhamadullin has been fighting Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney for a bottom-pairing role, and his approach has been straightforward: keep it simple, use the size, and avoid overhandling the puck.
So when the Oilers take the ice tomorrow, the lineup could feature Howard outside the top six, Kapanen holding onto his spot, Michaels getting a shot few expected, Levi making the most of his opening, and Mukhamadullin earning minutes on the blue line.
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