Edmonton Oilers: 5 Things To Watch This Preseason
The start of the NHL regular season is now less than one month away. The Edmonton Oilers still have rookie camp, training camp, and the preseason to go till they open the season at home against the Vancouver Canucks on October 13 at 8 PM MST. Till then there are several things to keep an eye on. Here are 5 of the more important things to watch for.
1. The Rookies
Rookie camp starts Wednesday, Sept. 15 with medical and fitness testing. There will be 28 players there. This list will include the first-round picks Xavier Bourgault (2021) and Philip Broberg (2019). 2020 first-round pick Dylan Holloway and 2017 pick Dmitri Samorukov may not be skating due to lingering injuries per Postmedia’s Jim Matheson.
Even though those two may not be skating there is still lots to keep your eye on. A full list of the players invite to rookie camp can be found HERE. Rookie camps are a good way for rookies that want to make the NHL roster to hit the ground running and start to impress the coaches. There are a couple rookie vs rookie games scheduled against the Calgary Flames rookies, Sept 18 at 5PM MST and Sept 20 at 6PM MST. These games will be streaming at EdmontonOilers.com.
2. The New Guys
Ken Holland has had a busy offseason making a couple of moves to improve the team. Preseason games don’t usually carry the same amount of hustle and meaning as a regular-season game. That doesn’t mean that you can’t see how players play with one another.
Hopefully, in the preseason we will get to see Zach Hyman play lots of time with Connor McDavid. Hyman was Holland’s biggest offseason addition. The preseason is a good time for those Hyman and McDavid to feel out each other rhythms and build some chemistry.
Another couple players to watch are the defensive additions in Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci. Having changed out a third of their defense the Edmonton Oilers hopefully will be a more solid in their own end.
3. Bottom Six Battles
Another one of Ken Holland’s additions, Warren Foegele, will increase the skill in the bottom six. This along with the signing of Derek Ryan will cause more battles for lineup space in the bottom six. There will be no more having to choose between struggling players to put in the lineup this year.
There is no longer guaranteed ice time for players. If you aren’t contributing, you are going to be in the lineup. This is one thing the Oilers have been missing the last few years and I look forward to seeing more production from these players.
4. The Goalies
Earlier I stated that you can’t really trust the game play in preseason cause of the lack of intensity. This has the opposite effect on the goalies. With all the players not trying their top effort they need to be even better.
I believe Mike Smith will be going into the season as the Edmonton Oilers starter. This means he need to have good start to in the preseason. This doesn’t mean the Mikko Koskinen can take it easy. With the age of Smith, I believe that Koskinen could be getting quite a few starts throughout the season. We should also get some Alex Stalock action in preseason as well.
5. Connor McDavid
At this point in the summer, I will take any moment I can to watch McDavid play hockey. With the NHL players going to the Olympics, Connor McDavid will have even more to play for. I also don’t think he has an off switch, meaning we should see full throttle McDavid during the preseason.
I don’t see him getting in many games, as they still are just preseason games, but I hope he does. He needs to work on building chemistry with Zach Hyman and needs to be on point this year if the Edmonton Oilers want to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
We are getting closer to the regular season and meaningful Oiler games. Till then at least we are going to get to watch some Oiler games. They may not count for any points but its a chance to watch the team play.