Quinn Hutson, brother of Cole and Lane, opens the scoring for the Oilers. 🎥: Flames TV
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Instant Reaction: Oilers rookies douse Flames in 6-1 win
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Sep 14, 2026, 23:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 14, 2026, 23:04 EDT
The first taste of Edmonton Oilers hockey took place on Monday evening.
With pre-season just around the corner, the Oilers’ rookies took on the Calgary Flames’ rookies in the second annual NextGen game. Thankfully, the good guys won 6-1, the first of what will hopefully be many wins in 2025-26. Here’s what happened in this one.
The Oilers were on a power play midway through the first period, the first of five man-advantages they had in this game. Receiving the puck down low, Quinn Hutson showed why he scored 30 American Hockey League goals in 2025-26, sniping it past the Flames’ netminder from a tough angle for the first Oilers goal in 2026-27.
Late in the first period, the Oilers doubled their lead. The puck found its way back to the point, where defenceman Zach Bookman picked it up and ripped a seeing-eye shot that beat the Flames’ netminder to put the Oilers up 2-0.
Edmonton takes a 2-0 lead. 🎥: Flames TV
Neither team scored in the second period, meaning the Flames were still within striking distance in the third period. However, that changed early in the final frame. The Oilers’ 180th overall selection in the 2026 draft, Caden Harvey, scored to put the Oilers up as he chipped it over the Flames’ netminder.
With the game well out of reach for the Flames, the Oilers managed to score yet another goal midway through the third. On another power play, Viljami Marjala fired a pass across the goal mouth, finding Isaac Howard’s stick as the Oilers’ top prospect deflected it into the back of the net to make it 4-0.
4-0 Oilers. 🎥: Flames TV
The Oilers’ combined shutout came to an end about a minute after Howard’s goal, as Aydar Suniev beat Samuel Jonsson. Still down three late, the Flames pulled the netminder and Rhett Pitlick took advantage of it to put the Oilers up 5-1. With just over 100 seconds remaining, Kyle Heger’s shot from the point found twine in what was the final goal of the game in the Edmonton’s 6-1 victory.
6-1 Oilers. 🎥: Flames TV
Takeaways…
The Flames have one of the best prospect pools in the National Hockey League, but they were completely shut down by the Oilers. In the end, the Oilers out-shot the Flames 31-27, with the Oilers’ top line of Isaac Howard, Josh Samanski, and Quinn Hutson standing out the most.
Each Oiler netminder had a solid game. Nathaniel Day stopped all six shots he faced, Eemil Vinni stopped all 12 shots he faced, and Samuel Jonsson stopped eight of the nine shots he faced, while also turning aside a fair number of high-danger shots. One of their netminding prospects has to break out.
Connor Clattenburg didn’t play in this game, which was a shame as he’s one of the Oilers’ most entertaining prospects thanks to the physicality he brings each shift. In last season’s NextGen games, he and Flames’ prospect Mace’o Phillips got into it a few times. That said, Phillips dropped the mitts with Ryan Cameron in the first period.
Pre-season begins this Saturday, as the Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets with a 6:00 PM MT start time. It’ll be the first of four pre-season games, as they’ll face the Jets again on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, and the Flames the following Saturday.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for DFOEdmonton, DFOCalgary, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on X at @Ryley__Delaney.
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Edmonton OilersTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2027-28
2028-29
Projected Cap Hit
$88,322,500
$61,025,000
Projected Cap Space
$25,177,500
$61,975,000
Current Cap Space
$25,177,500
$61,975,000
Active Players
16/23
10/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
1
0
1
2
1
0
3
0
1