The Edmonton Oilers finished their preseason with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames, but the real story from Saturday night was how much one exhibition game seemed to move the needle for four players in different directions.
For some, the night helped lock in momentum. For one, it may have slowed things down. And for the coaching staff, it created a clearer picture of who is forcing the issue as camp closes.
Owen Michaels was the clearest stock-riser of the group. He opened camp as a depth forward who was simply trying to make the most of his chance, but he has kept showing up in a way that’s hard to ignore.
That was already true before Saturday, when Mike Babcock said, "Michaels is beyond smart. Skates elite.
He's in all the good clips every night. 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." The Flames game only strengthened that view.
"He bought himself another day, and good for him," said Babcock. "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."
Michaels has had a real opening with Jason Dickinson out, and Josh Samanski not exactly blowing the doors off in camp. Against Calgary, Michaels did the simple things well: he was steady, he won faceoffs, and he kept putting himself in the right places.
Babcock was even more direct afterward: "You gotta give Mike credit because he wasn't even on the radar at all, and then he keeps showing up in all the good clips. He wins these faceoffs, he tracks, he's in the right spot."
The coach said he dug into Michaels’ background and noticed he was never a scoring leader, but he was captain of the team that won the national championship. His conclusion was plain enough: "I thought he was good tonight."
Kasperi Kapanen also made his case louder. After a strong practice Friday and solid preseason work, he took Isaac Howard’s spot on the second line midway through Saturday’s game and stayed there.
Babcock said, "... 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, and 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, so..."
That development matters because Howard entered camp expected to push for a top-six role, especially with Edmonton dealing with injuries and Matt Savoie in the picture. Instead, Howard’s final stretch has been more uneven, and Saturday didn’t do him any favors. Babcock said he didn’t think Howard had bad moments in the game, but it was his fourth preseason outing, and he simply didn’t separate the way he needed to.
A strong Kapanen showing could leave Howard squeezed out of the top six he seemed headed for just a couple of weeks ago.
On the blue line, Shakir Mukhamadullin may have done enough to earn his place, potentially over Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney. The size stood out immediately, and so did the steadiness. Babcock made it clear he liked what he saw.
"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.
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.
In goal, Devon Levi may have delivered the most important performance of the preseason. He was excellent against Calgary and added another strong outing to a camp that has put him right in the starting conversation. Babcock said he liked Jarry’s game against the Canucks, though the Oilers were so solid in front of him that he wasn’t tested the same way Levi was Saturday.
With Frederik Andersen in Edmonton and working out, the goalie situation is suddenly one of the more interesting parts of camp. The Oilers likely go with Jarry to avoid sending the message that they doubt him, but Levi has made himself impossible to ignore.
"Tonight we gave way up too much. So he had to make some big saves, but he did.
He's a confident kid," said the coach after the win.
Four preseason games usually don’t tell the whole story. Still, for these four Oilers, Saturday night looked like a turning point.
In Other News...
Oilers May Have Found A Blue Line Steal In This Trade
Shakir Mukhamadullin is starting to look like more than a throw-in from the Darnell Nurse deal. Mike Babcock has been openly upbeat about the new defensemans early work, pointing to the size, skating and passing that make him fit the kind of blue-line game Edmonton wants to play. For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for affordable help on defense, that kind of first impression matters.
The Oilers brought Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp back in the trade with San Jose, and Mukhamadullins contract gives the club some cost control for the next couple of seasons. What makes this situation worth watching now is how quickly he has put himself in the conversation for a real role, with Babcock suggesting the organization has reason to be optimistic about where he fits. If he keeps building on that start, this could end up looking like one of those rare deadline moves that helps Edmonton on both the ice and the cap sheet. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Could Reunite The Dach Brothers If One Hurdle Changes
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The catch is the kind that tends to keep trade talk in the speculative lane for a while. Montreal is believed to be asking a steep price for Dach, and Calgary is also said to be in the conversation, which only adds to the competition. For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious, but the path to making it happen still depends on whether the asking price comes down enough to give the Oilers a real chance. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Linked To A Top Six Winger With One Big Catch
The Oilers are once again being mentioned in the market for help up front, and this one comes with some real intrigue. According to Sportsnets Nick Kypreos, Edmonton is among several teams that have shown interest in adding a top-six winger who has been a steady source of offense and brings the kind of right-shot skill that can fit alongside the clubs core.
For a team still searching for the right mix around its stars, the fit is easy to see. The challenge is a familiar one for Edmonton: limited draft capital and not much in the way of extra prospect depth to grease a deal, which is why any serious pursuit could get expensive in a hurry. For now, it remains only a report, but it is the sort of rumor that tends to hang around until the market forces both sides to show their hand. [Read more 🡒]