The preseason mercifully came to an end for the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, as a 4-1 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks left them with just three wins in eight games.
The Oilers are the reigning Stanley Cup finalists and among the favourites to win it all this season, so it’s hard to get too wound up about a bunch of exhibition contests. Still, the urgency to improve is increasing after a mostly blasé past two weeks.
There was iffy work in their zone and chemistry issues up front.
“We’re hitting the regular season,” coach Kris Knoblauch said after Friday’s defeat, “and we need to pick it up.”
“It’s a big change from playing in the Stanley Cup Final Game 7 to exhibition season… but now we’re hitting regular season, we need to pick it up.”
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch on the #Oilers needing to reset for Wednesday’s opener.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/bRN87H4rzO
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 5, 2024
Aside from the average to poor stuff, there were a couple of spots on the roster potentially up for grabs, and two players stood out as they tried to earn jobs.
These are the four things I noticed from the preseason.
Defensive work is lacking
Perhaps this shouldn’t have been unexpected. The Oilers started the preseason just three months removed from playing Game 7 of the Final. There’s bound to be a letdown after that, not to mention the short summer. There’s a decent amount of roster turnover, too.
Still, the Oilers’ defensive work over the past couple of weeks left little to be desired. They ended the exhibition schedule allowing 36 goals (including one empty-netter) in eight games. That’s an average of 4.5 goals against. Included in that mess were four contests in which they surrendered six goals.
The penalty kill, which was almost flawless in the playoffs, gave up seven goals on 26 shots short-handed in the preseason, a lousy 73.1 percent success rate. The Oilers lost four regular penalty killers from the 2023-24 team: Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais, who was an opponent Friday.
There were too many breakdowns close to their net, something Troy Stecher noted before Friday’s contest. There wasn’t enough improvement in Vancouver — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Knoblauch said the same thing afterward.
The Oilers have a lot to iron out now that the games count.
Draisaitl and his new wingers need more time together
One of the more puzzling aspects of the preseason was how little game action Leon Draisaitl and offseason additions Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson got as a line.
Friday was just their third game as a trio after Knoblauch entered camp stating that was his intention. All three players appeared in four contests, with Draisaitl getting in the Edmonton end of split-squad games against the Calgary Flames last Monday and the wingers travelling south.
The Draisaitl grouping continued to look out of sorts. It seemed sluggish and lacked pace — particularly Skinner — in earlier outings, and it wasn’t much better Friday. There wasn’t a lot of polish around the net. In the defensive zone, all three players were on the same side of the ice on Vancouver’s second goal by Carson Soucy.
But in the third period, Knoblauch broke up his top two lines, something he said he might do earlier in the week. He moved Draisaitl and Skinner up to Connor McDavid’s wings and had Nugent-Hopkins centre Arvidsson and Zach Hyman.
“We know the goal, we know what we have to do to get there & it’s going to start with the next month or so.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on how important it is for the #Oilers to get off to a good start in the regular season.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/KLcw10XqIq
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 5, 2024
More is needed from the Draisaitl, Skinner and Arvidsson grouping if the coaching staff wants to keep McDavid, Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins intact. It must commit to giving them more reps because there wasn’t instant chemistry.
Philp deserves to make the team
Twenty-six-year-old Noah Philp was the most pleasant surprise over the past two weeks after missing last season for personal reasons. He was effective in a variety of facets: the faceoff circle — where he won 56.1 percent of his 66 draws — and his smooth skating and sound positional play. He recorded a goal and an assist over six games, too. Philp has all the makings of an effective bottom-six centre.
But is keeping him on the roster the right decision?
Philp is exempt from waivers, and it might be beneficial for him to spend some time in the minors. There, he could get more minutes and hone his penalty-killing and defensive decision-making. (He made a bad turnover in the first period Friday.) It would also allow the Oilers to accrue more cap space — even if only for a little while. Philp could be an ideal injury replacement for anyone on the fourth line or for third pivot Adam Henrique.
The Oilers will need another forward at some point, maybe even sooner than later, even if they remain in good health. Two players on that fourth line, Derek Ryan and Corey Perry, are 37 and 39, respectively. It’s unlikely one or both will be up for playing every game. There’s a rotation to be had with Philp and the two vets that would see Ryan slide over to right wing if Perry is scratched. That would be a good situation for Philp because Ryan could take some of the defensive duties.
The Oilers are in a no-lose situation with Philp. One thing’s for sure: He has left his mark in camp regardless of where he ends up by Monday afternoon.
Oilers forward Noah Philp stick-checks Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson in Friday’s preseason game. (Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
Dermott has done enough to get a contract
Travis Dermott was held out of the lineup Friday, but Wednesday’s performance, when he scored a goal while playing right defence next to Darnell Nurse, was the capper.
Though you can argue that Ben Gleason was more impressive, he was waived Tuesday and will start the season in AHL Bakersfield. Of the eight defencemen left, it’s safe to say Dermott hasn’t been the worst of the lot. Without a thorough analysis, that distinction belongs to Josh Brown, who also sat out in Vancouver.
So, where does that leave Dermott, and the rest of the defence corps, for that matter? Well, that’s a little unclear.
Brown struggled throughout the preseason, and his $1 million cap hit can be fully buried in the minors without penalty. Signing Dermott to a league-minimum contract and waiving Brown would save the Oilers $225,000 on the cap, too. However, waiving someone signed to a three-year contract before he appears in a single meaningful game isn’t a good look for management and the pro scouts.
Stecher was slotted as a fourth-pair defenceman and Dermott’s most common partner in practices. He skated with Brett Kulak on Friday. Stecher’s on a two-year contract and spent the summer in Edmonton recuperating from surgery stemming from an ankle infection. He hasn’t played in the minors since appearing in four games in the 2016-17 season.
The only other blueliner in question is Ty Emberson. However, he’s been tabbed as Nurse’s partner since the start of training camp and has done nothing to deserve being removed from that spot. He finally got his first game action next to Nurse on Friday.
Dermott has earned a place on the team. The Oilers will have to make a tough decision with Brown or Stecher to find him a spot.
(Top photo of Connor McDavid: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
