At long last, the pre-season is almost over.
The Oilers had their penultimate tune-up game Wednesday night against the Seattle Kraken, falling 6-2 in an all-around ugly affair. Edmonton’s power play was able to click as Leon Draisaitl scored, but the only other goalscorer from the Oilers was Travis Dermott, banging home a puck on a second chance.
Arriving in training camp on a professional tryout, he’s the first to admit this summer wasn’t like many others. While every year prior to this, he had been locked into a contract, this year wasn’t the case. Instead, he came to Edmonton to compete for a spot on a murky blue line.
And all he’s done is exactly that: compete.
He’s played the most five-on-five minutes of any defenceman in the pre-season, according to Natural Stat Trick, and while the goal share hasn’t been on his side, all the other signs are trending in excellent directions. When he’s been on the ice, the Oilers have controlled 56 percent of the shot attempt share, 54 percent of the scoring chance share and dominated the quality looks, controlling 60.7 percent of the expected goal share.
For Dermott, the Oilers coaching staff has played a key role in allowing him to find his game.
“They’re just building that confidence in me to go out and really show the player I can be, and help me reach my potential, which I haven’t felt I’ve been really going towards the last few years,” he said after Wednesday’s game. “It’s nice to have a good goal in mind, and just trust in the process, not the results.
“I think the coaching staff here is unbelievable, especially (for) myself. Maybe I’ve been thinking a little about the results a little bit too much in the past, but they’re great here with just letting me play my game. Mistakes are going to happen, but if I stop playing my game, stop being creative when that happens, it takes away from the player I can be.”
One of the key voices for Dermott has been Hall of Fame defenceman turned Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey. Since parachuting down from the owners suite amid a coaching change last November, he’s been a strong voice for the Oilers defencemen, helping them play to their strengths.
A key part of that, Dermott said, is thanks to the way he communicates.
“Coff is behind me, giving me taps and telling me to get up in the play pretty much every shift I’m out there,” he said. “That really goes far for players.
“I don’t know how many people behind the TV can see that, but it speaks volumes to the type of guy he is. He’s obviously been through a little bit, so it’s great to have him, and you really trust his voice and everything he’s saying.
“(It’s the) same with Knobber, that calming presence. All of us players know when we make a mistake, we’ve been doing this our whole lives, so to come back to the bench and have a coach yelling at you doesn’t really do much, I feel, especially for myself. I think these guys handle it perfectly, where they flip the script and have you going out there with confidence even after you might make the shift you had before.”
He’s done virtually everything asked of him, munching minutes at five-on-five and jumping in on the penalty kill, which he did regularly for the first time last year with the Arizona Coyotes, averaging 2:45 per game.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke Wednesday about what he’s seen from the 27-year-old.
“There’s a lot of pressure for the guy,” said Knoblauch. “He’s obviously a talented player, he’s been in the National Hockey League, I think he’s played over 300 games, 320, I believe, and wanting to continue and play for this franchise.
“I think so far he’s done a really good job. He’s had many partners, tonight he was playing his off-side, which he is familiar with. I think he’s a guy that moves the puck really well. He’s not that big, but he is strong on his feet. We’ve got a lot of good defencemen we’ve been evaluating, and we’ll obviously have one more tough decision to make.”
Position battles have been few for the Oilers during the pre-season. With the goaltending department secured with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, 11-odd forwards virtually locked into their spots, the blue line has been one of the biggest points of contention.
With Philip Brobeg, Cody Ceci, and Vincent Desharnais out the door, Ty Emberson, Troy Stecher, Travis Dermott, and Josh Brown are competing for the three spots. Emberson is the lock of the group, acquired this past summer amid the offer sheet fiasco, while Stecher is as close to it, too, joining the team by way of trade last spring, inking a two-year pact this summer.
That’s left Dermott and Brown, teammates last year in Arizona, vying for the seventh defenceman spot, and they couldn’t be more opposite as players.
Dermott can be considered a prototypical two-way defenceman, strong enough in his own zone to keep the action away from the front of his net, while having the ability to get the puck up and out effectively. Brown, meanwhile, is your bruiser type of defenceman willing to play a physical brand of hockey to impose his will on the opposition, albeit not very effectively.
But through seven of eight pre-season games, there’s one well above the other in Dermott. He’s no superstar, but he’s a more than capable defenceman who, night-in and night-out, is proving he deserves a contract and the seventh defenceman spot in Edmonton.
The Oilers will play their final pre-season game on Friday before the real thing starts next Wednesday, and Knoblauch is hoping to see his players be where their feet are.
“Not be looking at seeing what’s happening in April, May, June, and thinking about what’s happening in October and November,” he said. “Not even that far ahead — we just need to be very cognizant of what’s in front of us and be ready to play immediately.”
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
