At long last, the pre-season is over.

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The Edmonton Oilers capped their eight-game exhibition schedule Friday night, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/04/oilers-wrap-up-their-pre-season-with-a-4-1-loss-to-the-canucks-finish-with-3-5-0-record/">falling 4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks</a>. The game itself was, well, another pre-season game. Both lineups were packed full of likely NHL players, but more on that later.
It took the Canucks 10 minutes to open the scoring, with Quinn Hughes finding the back of the net, while Carson Soucy and Arshdeep Bains would add goals of their own, with Jake DeBrusk sealing it with an empty net marker. For the Oilers, their lone goal scorer was Evan Bouchard, who took the puck after an offensive zone faceoff win, walking down from the point, and wiring a shot home.
The story of the night, beyond it being the final tune-up days away from Wednesday&#8217;s season opener, was the Oilers lineup. It&#8217;s not that there was anything overly shocking, in fact, it was the exact opposite.
While the top nine forwards and top defensive pairing were all virtually set in stone, the fourth line and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/gdb-8-0-final-dress-rehearsal-for-the-oilers-right-defence-8pm-mt-snw">remaining defensive pairings</a> had largely been up for grabs. A fourth line featuring Noah Philp centring Vasily Podkolin and Corey Perry, with <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-defenceman-ty-emberson-among-top-breakout-candidates">Ty Emberson</a> to the right of Darnell Nurse and Troy Stecher to Brett Kulak&#8217;s right all took the ice Friday night.
While Perry, Nurse and Kulak were all locked in for roster spots in Edmonton, those along them earned their spots.
<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/noah-philp-ready-for-opening-night-roster">Philp has been the biggest story</a> of the bunch. Turning pro after wrapping up two years with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, he spent the 2022-23 season playing with the AHL&#8217;s Bakersfield Condors, racking up 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games. He appeared like he could take a jump to the NHL at some point in the 2023-24 season, but instead stepped away from hockey for a year for personal reasons. The thought around Philp heading into training camp this year was that he would wind up with the Condors again, needing to spend some time ramping back up to the pro game, but that he was someone who could be an option down the road.
Surprise: Noah Philp has shown he deserves to be on the opening night roster. His game isn&#8217;t flashy, though his pre-season goal may have you thinking otherwise, but what Philp brings is high hockey IQ, and a relentless work ethic. He&#8217;s not the fastest skater, but has the ability to show speed in flashes, which is something the Oilers are missing with the departures of Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway.
Podkolzin has been a pleasant addition, and the Oilers dominated in the pre-season with him on the ice. He&#8217;s another player with a strong work ethic, and a physicality every team needs from their fourth line. In the pre-season, he laid a hair over two hits per game, according to Natural Stat Trick, half a hit up from his career average.
Hits can be a bit of a misleading stat at times, as when you&#8217;re a player laying the hit, your team doesn&#8217;t have the puck. That&#8217;s been the opposite of Podkolzin, however, as with him on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers controlled 67.8 percent of the shot attempt share, 66 percent of the scoring chance share and 71.5 percent of the expected goal share. In times with Stuart Skinner tending goal, the Oilers broken even in goals, 1-1, while going 0-1 when Olivier Rodrigue or Calvin Pickard were in the crease.
There was an idea of Emberson being a solid addition thanks to strong numbers relative to his teammates on the league&#8217;s worst team last year, the San Jose Sharks, and he&#8217;s come as advertised. The Oilers have dominated the pace of play with him on the ice, and Friday night, they saw him play alongside Nurse for the first time, with solid performances from both of them. In just under 14 five-on-five minutes, the Oilers controlled 63.3 percent of the expected goal share, breaking even in shot attempts and scoring chances. This pair will be key to watch early in the year.
Lastly, Stecher seems to have the inside track on the No. 6 spot of the blue line, highlighting with his calm play the reason why teams have kept trading for him at deadlines. The Oilers were the latest to do so ahead of last years buzzer, and he inked a two-year deal with the team this summer, giving him some stability and Edmonton&#8217;s blue line much of the same.
The remaining bodies? Derek Ryan, Raphael Lavoie, Drake Caggiula, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/should-josh-brown-be-an-nhl-regular-for-the-edmonton-oilers">Josh Brown</a>, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/03/the-day-after-7-0-does-travis-dermott-deserve-a-contract-with-the-oilers/">Travis Dermott</a> and Olivier Rodrigue.
Caggiula and Rodrigue will surely be Bakersfield-bound, as the Oilers will have tough decisions to make elsewhere. An injured Evander Kane will start the year on the active roster so the team can accrue cap space this season, meaning the club will have to decide between either Ryan or Lavoie making the roster up front, and Brown, and Dermott, who would need to be signed after a strong pre-season on a pro tryout, on the blue line.
Why are the decisions tough? The Oilers could risk losing a, or multiple, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/09/30/are-the-oilers-at-risk-of-losing-any-players-on-waivers/">players on waivers</a>, which Ryan, Lavoie and Brown would all require.
Final rosters are due to NHL front offices by 3 p.m. MST on Monday, so the coming days will see the Oilers and 31 other teams, make the last round of cuts.
<hr />
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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At long last, the pre-season is over.


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The Edmonton Oilers capped their eight-game exhibition schedule Friday night, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/04/oilers-wrap-up-their-pre-season-with-a-4-1-loss-to-the-canucks-finish-with-3-5-0-record/">falling 4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks</a>. The game itself was, well, another pre-season game. Both lineups were packed full of likely NHL players, but more on that later.

It took the Canucks 10 minutes to open the scoring, with Quinn Hughes finding the back of the net, while Carson Soucy and Arshdeep Bains would add goals of their own, with Jake DeBrusk sealing it with an empty net marker. For the Oilers, their lone goal scorer was Evan Bouchard, who took the puck after an offensive zone faceoff win, walking down from the point, and wiring a shot home.

The story of the night, beyond it being the final tune-up days away from Wednesday's season opener, was the Oilers lineup. It's not that there was anything overly shocking, in fact, it was the exact opposite.

While the top nine forwards and top defensive pairing were all virtually set in stone, the fourth line and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/gdb-8-0-final-dress-rehearsal-for-the-oilers-right-defence-8pm-mt-snw">remaining defensive pairings</a> had largely been up for grabs. A fourth line featuring Noah Philp centring Vasily Podkolin and Corey Perry, with <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-defenceman-ty-emberson-among-top-breakout-candidates">Ty Emberson</a> to the right of Darnell Nurse and Troy Stecher to Brett Kulak's right all took the ice Friday night.

While Perry, Nurse and Kulak were all locked in for roster spots in Edmonton, those along them earned their spots.

<a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/noah-philp-ready-for-opening-night-roster">Philp has been the biggest story</a> of the bunch. Turning pro after wrapping up two years with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, he spent the 2022-23 season playing with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors, racking up 19 goals and 37 points in 70 games. He appeared like he could take a jump to the NHL at some point in the 2023-24 season, but instead stepped away from hockey for a year for personal reasons. The thought around Philp heading into training camp this year was that he would wind up with the Condors again, needing to spend some time ramping back up to the pro game, but that he was someone who could be an option down the road.

Surprise: Noah Philp has shown he deserves to be on the opening night roster. His game isn't flashy, though his pre-season goal may have you thinking otherwise, but what Philp brings is high hockey IQ, and a relentless work ethic. He's not the fastest skater, but has the ability to show speed in flashes, which is something the Oilers are missing with the departures of Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway.

Podkolzin has been a pleasant addition, and the Oilers dominated in the pre-season with him on the ice. He's another player with a strong work ethic, and a physicality every team needs from their fourth line. In the pre-season, he laid a hair over two hits per game, according to Natural Stat Trick, half a hit up from his career average.

Hits can be a bit of a misleading stat at times, as when you're a player laying the hit, your team doesn't have the puck. That's been the opposite of Podkolzin, however, as with him on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers controlled 67.8 percent of the shot attempt share, 66 percent of the scoring chance share and 71.5 percent of the expected goal share. In times with Stuart Skinner tending goal, the Oilers broken even in goals, 1-1, while going 0-1 when Olivier Rodrigue or Calvin Pickard were in the crease.

There was an idea of Emberson being a solid addition thanks to strong numbers relative to his teammates on the league's worst team last year, the San Jose Sharks, and he's come as advertised. The Oilers have dominated the pace of play with him on the ice, and Friday night, they saw him play alongside Nurse for the first time, with solid performances from both of them. In just under 14 five-on-five minutes, the Oilers controlled 63.3 percent of the expected goal share, breaking even in shot attempts and scoring chances. This pair will be key to watch early in the year.

Lastly, Stecher seems to have the inside track on the No. 6 spot of the blue line, highlighting with his calm play the reason why teams have kept trading for him at deadlines. The Oilers were the latest to do so ahead of last years buzzer, and he inked a two-year deal with the team this summer, giving him some stability and Edmonton's blue line much of the same.

The remaining bodies? Derek Ryan, Raphael Lavoie, Drake Caggiula, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/should-josh-brown-be-an-nhl-regular-for-the-edmonton-oilers">Josh Brown</a>, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/03/the-day-after-7-0-does-travis-dermott-deserve-a-contract-with-the-oilers/">Travis Dermott</a> and Olivier Rodrigue.

Caggiula and Rodrigue will surely be Bakersfield-bound, as the Oilers will have tough decisions to make elsewhere. An injured Evander Kane will start the year on the active roster so the team can accrue cap space this season, meaning the club will have to decide between either Ryan or Lavoie making the roster up front, and Brown, and Dermott, who would need to be signed after a strong pre-season on a pro tryout, on the blue line.

Why are the decisions tough? The Oilers could risk losing a, or multiple, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/09/30/are-the-oilers-at-risk-of-losing-any-players-on-waivers/">players on waivers</a>, which Ryan, Lavoie and Brown would all require.

Final rosters are due to NHL front offices by 3 p.m. MST on Monday, so the coming days will see the Oilers and 31 other teams, make the last round of cuts.

<hr />

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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