logo
OilersNation has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, Oilers Entertainment Group, NHL, or NHLPA
Oilers Notes: New wingers for McDavid, depth forward roster battles, and more
alt
Photo credit: Photo credit: Andy Devlin
Jason Gregor
Sep 18, 2025, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 18, 2025, 17:23 EDT
Comments
The Oilers hit the ice this morning for the franchise’s 46th training camp. There will be some competition for the 13th and 14th forward positions, but the real question marks are more about where players will play.
Who will start the season on Connor McDavid’s wings? Zach Hyman won’t be ready to start the season  (he won’t return until November), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be more of a centre than a winger, at least to start the season, so McDavid will have two new wingers early on.
Who will be Leon Draisaitl’s right winger? Vasily Podkolzin will flank him on the left side, but Andrew Mangiapane, Matt Savoie, Trent Frederic, Kasperi Kapanen, and David Tomášek will audition for the vacant wingers’ spots in the top six during training camp and preseason.
At this point, none of the lines are obvious. There are many options, and head coach Kris Knoblauch plans to give his forwards a chance to earn their spots during preseason.
The opening group hit the ice at 9:30 a.m. this morning, and they skated until just after 11 a.m. The second group skated at noon until just after 1:30 p.m. I didn’t see much of that skate as I had to get to the Sports 1440 studio for my show.

FIRST GROUP…

Mangiapane-McDavid-Tomášek
Henrique-RNH-Savoie
Jones-Philp-Lazar
Rem Pitlick-Marjala-Griffith
Grubbe-Lewandowski-Petrov
Ekholm-Bouchard
Stillman-Stecher
Leppanen-Regula
Akey
Skinner
Pickard
Damien Carfagna and James Stefan were scheduled to skate with this group, but both got banged up in the rookie game. They are still here, and both skated with Zach Hyman away from the main group.
David Tomášek and Andrew Mangiapane got the first look as McDavid’s new wingers. Hyman likely won’t be ready to start the season, so the right wing spot will be open, at least until he returns. With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins expected to be the third line centre, the 1LW spot is wide open, and Mangiapane gets the early look.
The Oilers play two pre-season games on Sunday, and currently, they have 30 healthy forwards to fill the 24 forward spots. We could see McDavid’s line in one of those games. McDavid played five preseason games last year, which was a bit odd, as usually it is four or fewer, so his appearance on Sunday isn’t a lock.

THINGS I NOTICED….

— Today started with a small area game, inside the offensive zone, with a four-on-four game. Then they got into flow drills that started as 1-on-1 one way, and then became a 2-on-1 going the other way. Then they had some full ice rushes that were a mixture of 3-on-2s, and then added in a back checker. They skated just over 50 minutes on the community rink, and then moved over to fresh ice on Rogers.
— After 15 minutes more of line rushes and flow rush drills, they put the forwards at one end and defensemen at the other. The forwards played a 1 vs. 2 drill. Whichever player had the puck was on his own. Quick 20-30 second shifts for each group of three. The D-men had a quick drill emulating making plays at the top of the offensive zone. There was a black line spray-painted at the top of each circle. One D-man started at the blueline, while the other would stand just inside the black line. The D-man at the blueline would skate down towards the circle, grab the loose puck, skate backwards, away from the defender (who started to move at him), and then deke around him, and cut inside at the black line. The drill was emulating beating a defending forward and then making a play to get to the middle of the slot and shoot.
— The skate lasted a total of 90 minutes. It was fast-paced the entire time. The aura and general feeling around the team is more upbeat this year compared to last. Last year, it felt like they were still grieving, and understandably so, but this year, there is more enthusiasm.
After the skate, Connor McDavid said, “Truthfully, I thought that was the best practice we had in a long, long, long time. It was exciting, fun to be out there, high pace, and competitive.”
— Tomášek buried a lot of his chances. He can really shoot the puck. I know it is only a training camp skate, but there is no doubt he can really shoot the puck. It will be interesting to see how he does once the preseason games start. The Oilers really could use a winger who can score from distance. They really don’t have one. Hyman scores a lot, but most of his goals are around the net, which is fine, but having a shooter would be a welcome addition. Again, I caution that it is early, but Tomášek’s shot stood out.
— Mangiapane and McDavid played against each other growing up, so they know each other fairly well, despite never playing together. “He’s always been that annoying guy on the other side, so it’s good to have him on our side,” smiled McDavid. Mangiapane, despite his small stature, plays fast and with a bit of an edge.
— I believe Knoblauch would like to use McDavid and Draisaitl on a line less this year. They should still play together on the first shift after a penalty kill. I think that is a great strategy, but outside of the odd game or two, I think the Oilers are better with them on their own lines. Playing with new players can uncover new productive duos, but also add a new level of excitement. Mark Spector asked McDavid, will changing the lines bring a new freshness?
“I thought at times last year it was a little stale,” McDavid said. “You can have that with older teams who have one eye looking ahead to the playoffs. Having new faces, new lines can be exciting, but with that being said we can always go back to reliable old things like playing with Leo or Nuge, but it is exciting to try to build something with other guys.”
— Max Jones was the second-fastest player in this group behind McDavid. He was flying, and when you see him skate, with his size and his wrist shot, you wonder why he hasn’t been able to remain a regular in the NHL. He has all the tools. Ability isn’t his issue; consistency is, because if you just watched practice today, you’d have come away very impressed with No. 46. It is why he was drafted in the first round, and why teams are interested in acquiring him. Maybe one day he’ll figure out how to use all the tools he has in his toolbox regularly.
— Noah Philp was moving quite well. He is in tough to make the roster, but he’ll have a chance. He needs to get noticed in the preseason. He needs to be physical, be engaged, and get noticed. He has the speed, shot, and size to play in the NHL, but he has to be more desperate than he has in the past. He has the ability.
— Stuart Skinner is not 205 pounds. That was a typo. He is 215, he said. He was between 225 and 230 at times last year, and has dropped a bit of weight.
“Definitely not 205. I don’t think that would be healthy for me to lose 25 pounds in a few months,” Skinner laughed. “I did it for longevity and joint health. I’d love to be playing in this league for a long time and just trying to stay as healthy as possible. I don’t think anyone will notice I’m smaller, in fact I might look bigger as I’ve been working my upper body more. I have bigger biceps (laughs). I feel like I let my body reset and ever since I got off some sugar, my body likes being at 215, it seems. I do feel a bit lighter on the ice, but nothing crazy.”

SECOND GROUP….

Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
Janmark-Frederic-Howard
Rhett Pitlick-Hamblin-Hutson
Clattenburg-Samanski-Jarventie
Copponi-Stonehouse-Lafreniere
Nurse-Walman
Kulak-Emberson
Dineen-Brown
Millman-Prokop
Tomkins
Day
Johnson
I didn’t watch this group, but Trent Frederic will get some reps at centre to start, and Kasperi Kapanen, who had some very good moments in the playoffs playing with Draisaitl, starts there. One thing to watch is that we likely will see a lot of Ekholm/Bouchard with McDavid’s line, while Nurse/Walman will play with Draisaitl.

Featured

Editorials

Breaking News