As the Edmonton Oilers get set for Game 1, the biggest question isn’t really about the names on the roster. It’s about the way this group is playing.
That’s the thread running through a pre-season that finished with Edmonton going a perfect 4-0. A record like that doesn’t win anything on its own, but it did reveal something worth watching: this team looks different.
Faster. More urgent.
Much more willing to attack the puck instead of waiting on it.
The change is showing up across the board, not just in the obvious places. At 5v5, on the power play, and especially on the penalty kill, the Oilers have looked more aggressive and more committed to the details.
Some of that can be tied to the switch from zone to man-to-man, which naturally makes a team look quicker and more active. But this isn’t just a system trick.
The pace is coming from the players themselves.
That urgency stood out again in Saturday’s 2-1 pre-season win over Calgary, and it had already been on display Thursday in a 2-1 win over a Vancouver lineup loaded with NHL talent. If Mike Babcock and his staff have already managed to build that kind of work rate into the room, there’s a pretty clear reason to feel good about where things are headed. The effort against the Canucks was especially encouraging, and the work ethic carried over again Saturday.
The Oilers’ best players are part of that too. One sequence that lingers is the 2-0 goal Saturday night, when Leon Draisaitl broke up the play in the defensive zone and set the whole thing in motion before feeding Connor McDavid, who was ready to finish.
There are also a few roster stories worth keeping an eye on as camp winds down. Brett Epp is now the Oilers’ first full-time emergency backup goaltender, a role every team needs to carry this season. Epp, an Edmonton native, spent the 2024-25 season with the Grant MacEwan Griffins.
In net, the news isn’t ideal because Freddie Andersen is hurt, but Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi have both put together strong pre-season work. Their last two outings came against mostly NHL rosters, which makes the evaluation more meaningful, and both goalies came out of it looking better.
Up front, Connor Clattenburg made himself impossible to ignore in Thursday’s win. He’ll start in Bakersfield, but if he keeps developing the way he has, an NHL call-up may not be far away.
As Ira Cooper put it, Clattenburg’s best game is to “get bangs in and agitate within the structure of a game” rather than just “hunting for a fight”. That fits what he’s shown so far.
Owen Michaels also made a push Saturday night against the Flames. He built his NCAA reputation as a “meat and potatoes” bottom-six center, and he’s brought that same identity to camp.
The biggest question around him has been his skating, but that appears to have taken a real step after a strong summer. He was reportedly the best-testing forward in dev camp in terms of fitness.
He may not be flashy, but coaches trust players who are predictable in the best possible way. He’s also a right shot, which is rare in this organization.
On defense, there’s a pretty clear picture forming if health cooperates. Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, Connor Murphy and Ryan Shea look like a strong top five, and all five are at least top-four quality.
That leaves a real battle for the final spots, which is exactly the kind of depth a team wants. Shakir Mukhamadullin appears to have a narrow edge on his offside on pair three, though Ty Emberson would be just as defensible there.
Spencer Stastney, to me, looks like an eight.
One concern is Jason Dickinson. A setback in his progress raised alarm bells, though his return to practice a day or two later eased things somewhat.
Still, it’s something to watch. On a team that needs to be better defensively than it was last season, Dickinson matters.
He’s a key part of that effort, and the Oilers are simply not as strong without him. Bob Stauffer has suggested he could miss up to three games, and that would at least be manageable if it stops there.
There’s also the Kirby Dach angle, which is starting to pick up steam. Earlier this week, Frank Seravalli reported Edmonton’s interest in the right-handed center, writing that the Fort Saskatchewan native’s “future in Montreal has been tenuous for months now” and that “the interest in Edmonton borders on drooling”.
Stan Bowman drafted the 6’4 Dach in Chicago in 2019, and the Oilers’ interest suggests both Bowman and the pro scouting staff still see a player with top-end speed, puck protection skill and real passing ability. Seravalli’s reporting says the Canadiens want a Second-Round Pick in any deal.
There’s upside there, but also obvious risk. Dach has been hurt often and still hasn’t fully become the player people thought he could be.
The Oilers should be careful.
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Canucks Face Another Twist In Their Long Search For A Home
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Recent discussions included a proposal to expand the Britannia Community Centre, but that idea ran into trouble without a new ice sheet in the plan. Co-president Henrik Sedin has stressed the teams desire to help find youth hockey facility solutions in Vancouver, which keeps the broader community angle in focus even as the Canucks continue to sort through their own needs. [Read more 🡒]