Oilers set to make final cuts following preseason finale against Vancouver Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers face the Vancouver Canucks on the road
Vancouver Canucks v Edmonton Oilers
Vancouver Canucks v Edmonton Oilers | Codie McLachlan/GettyImages

On Friday, the Edmonton Oilers are set to travel to Vancouver to take on the Canucks in their preseason finale.

As fans rejoice in the ending of the Oilers eight game preseason, next fall teams will be playing way less exhibition matches, playing only four games.

The starting goaltender for tonight's game was expected to be Stuart Skinner but after the Oilers announced they had recalled goaltender Matt Tomkins, it seems like Skinner may be unavailable.

There has been an illness going around the Oilers locker room recently, causing players to miss games and possibly forcing the club to delay changes to their roster. This appears to be the most likely cause of the call-up.

Oilers opening night lineup taking shape

The Oilers made further cuts to their training camp roster ahead of the 23-man roster deadline on Monday, October 6th and their home opener on Wednesday, October 8th against their provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames.

The team loaned defenceman Atro Leppanen, as well as forwards James Hamblin, Viljami Marjala, Connor Clattenburg Josh Samanski, and Quinn Hutson to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Bakersfield Condors.

Three of the cut forwards; Marjala, Hamblin, and Clattenburg were recalled ahead of Wednesday's match against the Seattle Kraken due to the aforementioned illness spreading throughout the Oilers locker room

In addition to these moves, the Oilers placed defencemen Cam Dineen and Riley Stillman on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Condors.

In conjunction, these moves trimmed the roster by eight total players, leaving the club with 26 total players on their roster (16 forwards ,eight defencemen, two goaltenders) including the injured forward Zach Hyman.

Oilers extend head coach Kris Knoblauch

Roster moves aside, the Oilers announced Friday that they had signed head coach Kris Knoblauch to a three-year contract extension, running until the 2028-29 season. He was set to enter this upcoming season on the final year of his contract and has been one of, if not the most successful Oilers coach in history with a regular season record of 94-47-10 in 151 games as well as two Western Conference Championships.

Where to watch

The game will be held in-person in Vancouver, BC at their home rink Rogers Arena at 7:00 pm PST and 8:00 pm MST.

The game can be watched on Sportsnet and can be caught on the radio on CHED880 (Edmonton) and on Sportsnet650 (Vancouver).

Lines

Oilers insider Bob Stauffer posted the Oilers lines at morning skate, afterwards according to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Athletic reported that Knoblauch said Max Jones and Jake Walman would not play in tonight's game as well as Mattias Janmark being injured for at least a week.

Also to note, Tomkins being recalled which could mean that one of Skinner or Pickard are unavailable for tonight's game.

The lines according to the Oilers official website:

Draisaitl - McDavid - Frederic
Podkolzin - Nugent-Hopkins - Mangiapane
Henrique - Philp - Savoie
Howard - Tomasek – Kapanen

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Stecher
Kulak - Emberson


Skinner
Pickard

The Canucks lines come from reporter Jeff Paterson, featuring former Oilers power forward, Evander Kane.

Players to watch

Darnell Nurse

The Oilers veteran blueliner has scored three goals this preseason, so far and obviously would hope to carry that momentum into the regular season. He slots in beside right-handed depth defender Troy Stecher as he battles for one of the last defensive spots.

Vasily Podkolzin

The 24 year old Russian winger rejoins the Oilers after going back home on a leave of absence due to the untimely death of his father. He last played in the Oilers first preseason match on September 21st, and this will be the first game since his three-year $8.85 million contract extension.

Noah Philp

The 27 year old Philp is the guy that many fans want to see take over one of the centre slots in the Oilers bottom-six. He has played well in his limited regular season games and so far this preseason he has impressed. His lineup spot is not guaranteed and it will be interesting to see him in a third line role alongside Matt Savoie and Adam Henrique.

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