Many of the Oilers’ top players will make their preseason debut tonight when the Edmonton Oilers host the Seattle Kraken. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Andrew Mangiapane and Stuart Skinner will play in front of the home crowd.

For veteran players, the preseason is about trying to knock of the rust of the off-season, get their timing back and hopefully get in a good frame of mind when the regular season begins in two weeks. This is the last season where veterans can play more than two preseason games, as next year the NHL preseason will consist of four games per team and veterans who’ve played 100+ regular season games can only play twice. The reduction in games is long overdue, as NHL players don’t need training camp and preseason to get in shape anymore. They come to camp ready to play.

McDavid and Draisaitl will play on the same line tonight, along with Trent Frederic. Head coach Kris Knoblauch outlined his plan yesterday to play his two superstars on the same line to start the season, mainly due to the injury to Zach Hyman.

The Oilers want a good start. McDavid mentioned the need to start well the first day he spoke during Captain skates two weeks ago. That is a main focus of the group, and because of that, don’t be surprised to see McDavid and Draisaitl play at a bit quicker pace than normal for their first preseason game.

Last season the Oilers had a brutal start. They lost their first three games and were outscored 15-3. They managed to find their game and went 4-5-1 in their first 10, which isn’t awful, but still not what they wanted.

In 2023/24 they had an even worse start, going 2-7-1 and getting outscored 41-27.

They’ve been blown out in their past two season openers. Vancouver crushed them 8-1 in 2023, and Winnipeg blanked them 6-0 last year in Edmonton. Granted, they did rebound and make it to the Stanley Cup Final both seasons, so it’s not like one game derailed them, but the main talking about this season amongst the team is the need for a good start.

— Last night in Winnipeg, Adam Henrique was the net front presence on the first unit power play with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Savoie, Ike Howard and Atro Leppänen. Tonight, I’d expect it to be Trent Frederic. David Tomášek or Andrew Mangiapane will take Nugent-Hopkins’ spot on the first unit. Tomášek is a right shot, and loves to one-time the puck, so he’d be my guess to slot in RNH’s spot. I still expect RNH to be in his usual spot on the first unit in the regular season, but Tomášek does offer a look the Oilers have never really had from the left flank. But the net front presence job is the main one to watch. Henrique has the best hands in tight among the options, so he’d be my choice, but I could see them giving Frederic some split time there as well as he’s a right shot like Hyman.

— It is only preseason, but Atro Leppänen has looked very good in both games he’s played. He moves very well, especially laterally, and he’s smooth with the puck. The Oilers left defence is fully deep with Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak, not to mention Jake Walman who is playing the right side, so Leppänen is in tough to make the squad, but he’s played well. Leppänen will play again tonight. A good test of a back-to-back situation for him.

— The Oilers are changing their PK system, and Knoblauch mentioned they are looking at many different options. He feels they have 10 or 11 forwards who could do it, but he wants two forward pairs, and then a third pair that will mix in depending on the situation. “The best kills usually have two set pairs of forwards,” said Knoblauch. Last night it was RNH/Kasperi Kapanen, Henrique/Savoie and Noah Philp/Max Jones as the third group. On Sunday night in Edmonton, it was Mattias Janmark/Vasily Podkolzin then Savoie/Frederic and James Hamblin was the fifth forward, while in Calgary it was Noah Philp/Josh Samanski and Curtis Lazar/Kapanen with Max Jones as the fifth forward.

— Podkolzin signed a three-year contract yesterday with a $2.95m AAV. At worst it should be a fair value contract as he should at least be a 30-point player, who kills penalties, is good on the forecheck and is physical. Podkolzin’s main area to improve is his offence. He wants to shoot more. At best, it could be a solid value contract if Podkozlin can become a 15-20 goal scorer during those three seasons.

— Noah Philp was the best player on the ice last night in Winnipeg. He made two great passes on goals by Quinn Hutson and Ty Emberson. The pass to Emberson would have earned applause from Adam Oates and Leon Draisaitl as he put in through three Jets’ defenders.

Philp produced offence, was confident with the puck, skated well and killed penalties. All a bubble player can do is try and get noticed in preseason. Most teams have 90-95 percent of the roster known before camp starts, so to crack the lineup you have to perform well every game. One off night can hurt you, and Philp has had a solid game and a very good game. He’s showcasing himself for more than just the Oilers, because he requires waivers to go to the American League. I think Philp is a better player than Raphael Lavoie, and he was claimed last year. Granted, Vegas had injury issues, but Philp is a mobile, right shot centre with size, skates well and if need be, can fight. It’s not a guarantee he’d get claimed on waivers, but some teams will consider putting in a claim if he is waived. He desperately wants to make the Oilers, and so far, he’s been noticeable.

— Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher are in a competitive battle for the #6 spot on the Oilers blueline. They played on separate pairs last night but were first (Stecher at 21:12) and second (Emberson at 20:36) in time on ice and played almost identical minutes at EV at 18:52 (Stecher) and 18:48 (Emberson). Mark Stuart is giving them equal time to earn the job.