The Oilers split their split squad games with Calgary on Saturday night, winning the road contest 3-2 and falling 6-5 in a shootout at home. Since then, the team has cut 17 players and the final roster is starting to take shape. These next two nights are going to be very telling for the bubble players too, as Edmonton plays two straight road games.
Tonight it’s in Winnipeg against the Jets, and tomorrow it’s into Vancouver to take on the Canucks.
Tonight’s affair with the Jets should give us a look at a number of different line combos and players who are fighting for their lives. There were a few players that really impressed me on Saturday, and others that could use a little bit of work. I thought Taylor Hall was decent but a little bit quiet the other night. No panic, but it goes to show that everyone needs some work right about now.
I actually thought Ryan Jones played really well in Calgary and that’s a promising sign, while I also liked what David Perron provided for the Oilers in their road game.
Bottom line is everyone needs a little work, but there were some really good signs on Saturday night. It’s early pre-season, so I wouldn’t take much stock into things just yet, but good signs are good signs.
This week will start to resemble NHL rosters a little bit more, as guys who were shoe-ins for the junior and minor league ranks are sent away to their respective teams. For Edmonton, we’ve already 17 guys head back, and will likely see more on Thursday morning.
As for the lineups and such, it looks like the Oilers will be splitting the next two games up. You play one or the other, not both. Tonight is going to feature most of the bubble Oilers, while most of the sure things going to Vancouver. But enough of my bickering, let’s get down to business….
Edmonton Oilers @ Winnipeg Jets
Puck Drop: 6 P.M. MT
Listen Live: 630 Ched and Watch Live on edmontonoilers.com (select areas only)
This will be an interesting game tonight for the Oilers. The lineup they will be putting on the ice has a lot of bubble players who are playing for their spot on the roster. That should be interesting to watch. I look forward to seeing Linus Omark here, as he will be with Sam Gagner and Ryan Jones. It won’t be the most defensive line, but we’ll see what kind of offense they can provide.
Keep an eye on that line tonight, and also keep an eye on Ryan Hamilton. Hamilton looked decent Saturday night, and he’ll be playing with more skill tonight. Jesse Joensuu is another guy to watch, as is prospect Tyler Pitlick. This might be Pitlick’s last chance to impress the Oilers before going down, and he needs all the points he can get with the coaches and management team.
On defense, watch for Oscar Klefbom and Brandon Davidson, who will most likely play together. Both have an outside shot at this roster, and they could be a pairing together in OKC to start the year down there.
I’ll be watching the guys above and paying attention to how Eakins uses his lines tonight. Interested to see how he runs the bench.
Oilers lineup is projected as follows. Bob Stauffer reported that the first session yesterday would play in Winnipeg tonight. Here we go:
Linus Omark-Sam Gagner-Ryan Jones
Ryan Hamilton-Marc Arcobello-Nail Yakupov
Tyler Pitlick-Anton Lander-Jesse Joensuu
Mitch Moroz-Ryan Martindale-Cam Abney
Ladislav Smid-Jeff Petry
Denis Grebeshkov-Philip Larsen
Oscar Klefbom-Brandon Davidson
Jason LaBarbera
Richard Bachman
Interesting that LaBarbera gets the start tonight. I figured Dubnyk would go with this group tonight, and they would use LaBarbera in Vancouver when there is a little more fire-power in the lineup. Interesting to see Yakupov playing with Hamilton and Arcobello tonight too, kind of an odd line if you ask me.
That fourth line could be interesting. All three players are ripe to be cut on Thursday, but a strong performance here could earn them another look. Martindale has some talent and Moroz is a pest, both players could be useful down the road.
Jets lines thanks to edmontonoilers.com:
Kane-Jokinen-Setoguchi
Wright-Scheifele-Frolik
Tangradi-O’Dell-Peluso
Telegin-Slater-Klingberg
Clitsome-Byfuglien
Stuart-Postma
Melchiori-Trouba
Pavelec
Pasquale
That’s a really good top line, but it looks like a lot of tryouts and bubble players after that. I’m interested to see Mark Scheifele up front and Jacob Trouba on the back end here.
Puck drop in 8 est and 6 MT tonight. Will be interesting to see this one and how the bubble players perform for the Oilers.
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