The Edmonton Oilers gave fans a sneak peek at what they can expect from the lineup when they open up their season in Vancouver tomorrow night.
The team participated in their final practice at Rogers Place before flying out to the West Coast and decided to run some potential lines in the process.
Only 11 forwards were named to the team’s opening night roster due to an injured Markus Niemeläinen not being able to be sent down to make room for an extra body up front.
Jason Gregor, with Sports 1440, says some injuries on the blue line might force Edmonton to play with less than a full lineup.
Ryan McLeod will play tomorrow. Oilers will either play 11-6 or 11-7 depending on Ekholm and Kulak. Both skated again today and I’d expect both could play. Forward lines will be:
Kane-McDavid-Brown
RNH-Draisaitl-Hyman
Holloway-McLeod-Foegele
Janmark-Ryan
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) October 10, 2023
The forward lines, according to Gregor, are expected to shake out like this:
Evander Kane – Connor McDavid – Connor Brown
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Leon Draisaitl – Zach Hyman
Dylan Holloway – Ryan McLeod – Warren Foegele
Derek Ryan – Mattias Janmark
The top six should come as no surprise as they are similar to what the team deployed for the majority of last season. Connor Brown is the lone new addition to that group and brings with him a long history with McDavid and an interesting toolkit. Despite only playing in four games with the Washington Capitals last year, due to injury, Brown has looked completely healthy during the preseason.
The intrigue begins to hit with the third line as Dylan Holloway makes his return to the lineup after appearing in 51 games with the Oilers last season, scoring nine points in the process. The 2020 first-rounder has once again had an impressive preseason showing and has earned another shot at establishing himself on the roster.
Ryan McLeod, who missed all of training camp with an injury, is expected to suit up as the team’s third-line centreman.
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug was able to pick out the defensive pairs at practice, which were a bit muddier than the forwards.
Ekholm paired with Niemelainen in an early drill.
Nurse-Bouchard
Kulak – Ceci
Broberg-Desharnais
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) October 10, 2023
These lines seem to indicate that the Oilers are set to roll out a group of six defenders that looks like this:
Darnell Nurse – Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak – Cody Ceci
Philip Broberg – Vincent Desharnais
One notable omission is Mattias Ekholm, who also missed the entire preseason while dealing with a hip flexor issue. He did participate in practice but was paired up with Niemeläinen, which seems to indicate that he is not quite ready to go.
Rishaug also posited that Ekholm could play tomorrow night but in a more limited role.
Ekholm looks pretty good out here. My guess is he plays as 7th D – kills penalties and depending on how he feels his minutes go up or down. Taking part in all the drills so far today.
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) October 10, 2023
Outside of that, Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard have been connected at the hip for the majority of training camp and have had decent results. Nurse is expected to take a more conservative approach to his game as Evan Bouchard looks to pick up where left off last season.
Brett Kulak was sidelined with an undisclosed injury over the past week but appears to be ready to go. He and Cody Ceci have been a new pairing that head coach Jay Woodcroft has been trying out of late.
The bottom pairing is sure to be an exciting one as the team looks to be pairing a few inexperienced players together in Philip Broberg and Vincent Desharnais. Broberg has struggled to live up to his first-round billing since 2019 and Desharnais is coming off a tough playoff with the Oilers.
When it comes to who will be between the pipes, the answer is not crystal clear just yet. Stuart Skinner was in the starter’s net on Tuesday morning but there has been no confirmation that last year’s Calder Trophy runner-up will get the nod.
Considering how good Jack Campbell has looked in the preseason, there is a chance that Woodcroft gives the 31-year-old veteran a shot at redemption.
You can catch the Oilers opening up their season against the Canucks on Wednesday night on Sportsnet One at 8 pm MT.
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