Edmonton’s rookie group may not feature a can’t-miss headliner, but there’s still plenty to watch when Mike Babcock starts sorting through the forwards this fall. The new coach has a clear lane when it comes to young players: he likes pace, pressure, and forwards who can hound pucks without forgetting their defensive work. If they can chip in offensively, even better.
That blueprint has shown up before. In Babcock’s first season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the rookie-forward picture changed fast.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were locks because of where they were drafted, but Zach Hyman and Connor Brown were the kind of players who had to earn every inch. Both had bounced around the AHL-NHL shuttle the year before, and both ended up thriving under Babcock.
Hyman is the clearest example of the type. He attacks on the forecheck, gets to the net, and plays with the kind of edge Babcock has always valued.
Brown fit that mold too. The common thread was simple: responsible, aggressive hockey with enough finishing touch to matter at five-on-five.
That preference also helped shape the careers of players like Pierre Engvall and Trevor Moore, even if they found their NHL homes elsewhere. For older Oilers fans, the style sounds a lot like Craig MacTavish’s approach in Edmonton 25 years ago: hard-working forecheckers who need to bring something offensively.
Among the Oilers’ names heading into camp, Ike Howard is the one to watch most closely, even if he isn’t technically a rookie. He’s a scorer, and that matters on a roster that could use more first-shot finishers.
An early look beside Leon Draisaitl would tell you a lot, since Draisaitl has already helped young wingers like Kailer Yamamoto and Vasily Podkolzin settle in. Howard’s path is straightforward: he has to score.
Corey Pronman of The Athletic put it this way: “his path to playing is to just score a ton, but I’m not completely sold that his skill is that elite.” Babcock has never been shy about moving on from a player who doesn’t produce, but Howard’s scoring touch is the one tool Edmonton can’t ignore.
Quinn Hutson looks like another player who fits the Babcock mold. He scored 30 goals as an AHL rookie in 2025-26, with 17 coming at even strength, and he also arrived with a reputation as a strong checker.
Early on, he was a standout on the top line for the Bakersfield Condors, posting a 65 percent goal share in the first half while the team outscored opponents 26-15. Like many college players in their first pro season, he dipped in the second half, finishing at 39 percent with a 17-27 goal split.
Edmonton’s right side already includes Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen, and Matt Savoie could also be used there, so Hutson isn’t blocked - but he’ll need to make a strong case to crack the opening-night roster.
Josh Samanski brings a different kind of appeal. He’s a centre who can play wing, and he already got into 24 games with the Oilers last season.
His five-on-five expected goals against per 60 minutes, 2.24, was among the team’s best. He also logged 224 minutes in that game state, which suggests the number wasn’t a fluke.
Samanski can go to Bakersfield without waivers, but Edmonton needs centres, and he at least gives Babcock the defensive reliability he tends to value. The one question is scoring: he finished his NHL look at 2-2-4, and that could matter when the roster gets trimmed.
Owen Michaels is another name that could turn heads. The right-handed centre signed in the spring out of Western Michigan, and his profile lines up with the kind of player Babcock tends to notice. He’s another forward whose skill set matches some of Edmonton’s needs heading into camp.
The broader picture is pretty simple. Babcock wants his forwards to check hard, force turnovers, and make the forecheck miserable for opponents.
He likes speed. He likes pace.
He likes physicality, as long as it doesn’t leave the team exposed to odd-man rushes. And he still expects enough offense to make the whole thing worthwhile.
There’s also a recent example of how this can play out. During the 2015-16 season, Hyman spent 59 games with the Toronto Marlies before earning a look with the Maple Leafs, and that late-season audition helped set him up for a spot in Babcock’s first year behind the bench in Toronto.
The Oilers’ rookies who got NHL looks last season - Howard, Hutson, Samanski and Connor Clattenburg - will all arrive at camp with some experience and with skill sets that should keep them in the conversation. Howard appears to have the best chance to break camp with the club.
If he starts the season next to Draisaitl, that would say plenty about how Babcock views him. Hutson, Samanski and Michaels look more like candidates for in-season recalls.
Clattenburg appears to be a bit farther away.
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