The Edmonton Oilers are bringing a slightly different look to their leadership group heading into the 2026-27 season, and the biggest change is that one vacancy has been split in two.
Connor McDavid will keep the C for an 11th straight year, while Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remain assistant captains. But after Darnell Nurse was traded to the San Jose Sharks this summer, the team had an opening to fill - and head coach Mike Babcock chose not to hand it to just one player.
Instead, the Oilers announced Thursday afternoon that Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard will both wear letters this season.
Hyman is already familiar with that responsibility. He wore an A in his final season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bouchard, meanwhile, is taking on NHL-level leadership duties for the first time, though he’s not new to the role overall after serving as captain of the OHL’s London Knights for two seasons.
The move comes with real pressure attached after a disappointing 2025-26 season. Several players, including McDavid and Draisaitl, have said the Oilers weren’t ready from the start last year and never fully recovered.
That’s the backdrop for this group now: a chance to set the tone early and make sure the team comes out of the gates hot in 2027-28.
The first step is already underway. Edmonton opened training camp today, giving the group a few weeks to get back into rhythm before the home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 29 against the Vancouver Canucks.
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 Just Put Several Opening Night Roles In Play
Training camp has already given the Oilers a few early clues about how Mike Babcock wants to sort out the roster, with projected line combinations and pairings now taking shape for both Edmonton and the Bakersfield Condors. Its the kind of setup that turns September practices into a real audition, especially when coaches are still sorting out who fits where and which roles might eventually stick once the games count.
The picture is complicated by injuries, with Matt Savoie, Frederik Andersen and Mattias Janmark all working through issues, and that leaves a few spots in flux as evaluations continue. The next round of decisions should tell us more about the pecking order, but there are still open questions about how the checking lines will come together and which camp standouts will be rewarded with a longer look. [Read more 🡒]