Oilers give depth players one last look in penultimate preseason match against Kraken

The Oilers are set to play their second last game of the preseason on the road against the Kraken
Edmonton Oilers v Seattle Kraken
Edmonton Oilers v Seattle Kraken | Ryan Sirius Sun/GettyImages

The Edmonton Oilers are set to travel to Climate Pledge Arena to face their Pacific Division rivals, the Seattle Kraken. The 2025-26 National Hockey League (NHL) season is right around the corner, with the Oilers set to open their season in just one week, on October 8th against the Calgary Flames.

The dominant talk in Oil Country is the Oilers acquisition of goaltender Connor Ingram on Wednesday, assigning him to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.

Ahead of tonight's game, the Oilers recalled three players from the Condors to aid the team as they mitigate an illness that has spread throughout the locker room.

These call ups give way for the Oilers to use this as a last minute look at a few players who are competing for depth spots on the team to start the year.

However, the team is also dealing with illnesses to two such players; Noah Philp and David Tomasek who missed yesterday's skate and appear to be game time decisions tonight.

Where to watch the Oilers game

The Oilers will be on the road and will be the away team for the game against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington at 7:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) and 8:00 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST).

The game can be streamed and caught on TV on the Seattle region KONG or streamed on Amazon prime or OilersPlus.

The game can also be heard on the radio in the Seattle region on KJR933 or CHED880 in the Edmonton region.

Lines

There have been no official projected lineups released for the Oilers as of writing this but with the aforementioned call-ups, it seems safe to assume that the club will be rolling out a lot of depth players and prospects. The only real confirmation is that Calvin Pickard is expected to start in goal this game.

Mangiapane - Henrique - Savoie
Howard - Lazar - Kapanen
Janmark - Hamblin - Hutson
Marjala - Samanski - Clattenburg

Leppanen - Regula
Kulak - Stecher
Dineen - Emberson

Pickard
Skinner

The Seattle Kraken projected lineup to ice a group mostly comprised of their opening night lineup

Schwartz - Wright - Winterton
Catton - Beniers - Eberle
Marchment - Tolvanen - Gaudreau
Kartye - Molgaard - Nyman

Mahura - Larsson
Lindgren - Fleury
Oleksiak - Ottavainen

Daccord
Grubauer

Players to watch

It is hard to give a good projection with limited knowledge of the lineup for tonight but given our best guesses.

Matt Savoie

The 21 year old top prospect for the Oilers, Savoie looks to be an impact player for the club this upcoming season. How he performs in this final stretch and who he forms chemistry with will be a good indicator of how he may start the beginning of the year.

He was recently named as rookie to watch this season by NHL.com and is expected to start somewhere in the Oilers top-nine, likely in the middle-six.

Ike Howard

Howard is another top rookie projected to start the year in the Oilers top-nine. He looks to compete for a middle-six winger spot on the opening night lineup as well and enters the season with high expectations himself. He was arguably the Oilers marquee acquisition this off season and is expected to be a core member of the future.

Calvin Pickard

There is no denying that the Oilers presumptive backup will be facing some legitimate pressure now that the club has acquired Ingram from the Mammoth. Although his play tonight may not have any bearing on whether or not he keeps his NHL position, it will be interesting to see how Oilers starter Stuart Skinner and himself play over the next while.

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