The Edmonton Oilers made a few familiar-looking roster tweaks ahead of Saturday night’s rematch with the Utah Mammoth, and the biggest change is Colton Dach coming off injured reserve for his return to the lineup.
Dach’s activation opens the door for him to suit up tonight, while Josh Samanski was still listed as an emergency recall from the Bakersfield Condors before being loaned back to the AHL club for now.
That shuffle was enough to clear the way for Zach Hyman and Jake Walman to get back in as well, so the Oilers will have three players available tonight who missed Thursday’s first meeting with Utah.
There was at least some thought that Jason Dickinson could be placed on IR retroactively, though his status beyond that remains unclear. There’s also a belief that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could be ready to make his season debut late next week.
For Samanski, the early-season push hasn’t quite looked like the continuation of last year’s momentum. He didn’t make the opening night roster, but injuries up front quickly pulled him back into the mix after just one game. Since then, he’s played six games, recorded one assist and averaged 7:44 per night, a noticeable drop from his 10:34 average a season ago.
His night against Utah on Thursday also went sideways in a hurry, with a double-minor for high-sticking helping the Mammoth jump out to an early lead they never gave back.
Dach, meanwhile, is set to play centre for the fourth time this season after a two-week gap between games. In his last outing against the Seattle Kraken, he logged 12:33, picked up two penalty minutes and put one shot on goal. He enters tonight still without a point, carrying a minus-4 rating while averaging 13:23 per game, but he has been strong in the circle, winning 54.8 per cent of his faceoffs.
Walman is also back after missing the last three games, and Tristan Jarry will get the start in goal.
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