The journey to October 12th begins today. In just a few hours, Edmonton Oilers players will take medicals before hitting the ice tomorrow morning for the opening practice of the 2016-17 season. 63 players embark on a journey today, one that will take them to Edmonton, Bakersfield, Norfolk or elsewhere for the upcoming regular season.
The Oilers will enter camp with seven goalies, 20 defenders and 36 forwards on their roster, but soon it will be trimmed to two goalies, seven or eight defenders and 13 or 14 forwards. Who makes the final cut? We won’t know for a few more weeks, but we can probably predict the Edmonton Oilers opening night roster and be close at this point.
Goalies:
We know that Cam Talbot is a complete lock to make the Oilers and that, barring injury, he will be the team’s starter on opening night. Talbot had a rough stretch from late October – early December, but he was extremely strong for the Oilers from that point on. While not everyone is sold, I’m reasonably comfortable with him.
We can expect Jonas Gustavsson and Laurent Brossoit to both see significant time in camp as they battle it out for the backup spot, something I outlined here. Nick Ellis and Eetu Laurikainen will also be in camp, but I don’t expect them to stick around too long. Ellis looked solid during rookie camp and is a player to watch, but he isn’t close to ready yet.
I’d expect Ellis and Laurikainen to battle it out in Bakersfield for playing time behind Brossoit should he lose the initial battle.
Dylan Wells and Kevan Bouchard will also attend camp, but I’ll be surprised if either survives past the first preseason games on Monday night. Wells actually wasn’t bad in Penticton, but he needs a strong OHL season and more time. Bouchard was okay in Penticton but I don’t see him as anything more than a rookie camp invite who will get a quick look at main camp.
Defenders:
We can safely say that Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson and Andrej Sekera will make the roster and play top-four roles. Klefbom’s health will be something to watch in camp, while I’ll be interested to see how Larsson adapts to playing in Edmonton and to his new surroundings.
Brandon Davidson and Mark Fayne, should they both be here come October 12th, are also both locks in my mind. Fayne is especially interesting because, according to many, he’s in the best shape of his life and ready to build on a strong finish to 2015-16.
The interesting battle here will come for the seventh defenders spot. Griffin Reinhart, Jordan Oesterle, David Musil and now Eric Gryba will all battle in camp for this position. Last year, the Oilers ended up starting the season with eight defenders, and that may well be the case again this season.
Barring any kind of trade or free agent signing (Kris Russell) Darnell Nurse will also be on this roster come October 12th.
A few defenders I’m interested in watching? Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear both look better at this time than they did last year, and both are coming off tremendous WHL seasons. I suspect both get sent back to junior hockey, but would it surprise anyone if either of these guys had a lengthy stay in camp?
Ben Betker, who dominated at Penticton, also needs to have a good camp and then earn a full-time gig in Bakersfield. He played in the ECHL last year and was actually strong at that level. Matt Benning is another obvious player to watch, while Joey LaLeggia may make waves because of his skill-set.
Forwards:
Okay, so we know the obvious names that will make this roster. Milan Lucic, Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle, Benoit Pouliot, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Pat Maroon, Leon Draisaitl, Nail Yakupov (should he still remain), Mark Letestu, Matt Hendricks and Zack Kassian are stone-cold locks for this roster.
There are, however, still some interesting things to watch here. Can Kris Versteeg make the Oilers? The veteran forward comes to camp on a PTO but appears to be a perfect fit for Edmonton’s second line along with Pouliot and RNH. I suspect if he is healthy he will earn a contract with the club.
Will Jesse Puljujarvi make the Oilers? He certainly looked NHL-ready in Penticton and against the U of A Golden Bears last night, but let’s keep our expectations in check. Puljujarvi has yet to play a single NHL game and the Oilers have the right wing depth to send him to the AHL for a few weeks to start the season. He is not a lock for this roster at this time.
Lastly, who gets the final roster spot at forward? Anton Lander, Iiro Pakarinen and Jujhar Khaira will do battle, in my mind, for the 13th/14th forward spots. If I were a betting man, I’d say that Pakarinen (a favorite of McLellan’s) and Lander make the team. Khaira would play a big role in the AHL.
Surprise Candidates:
Who could surprise us during training camp and make the NHL roster? Drake Caggiula looked really good in Penticton and on Wednesday night. He’s a more mature prospect and is closer to NHL-ready than people realize. I think he’s going to have an extremely strong camp.
After a summer of working on his puck work, can Mark Fraser find a way to stick around? I wouldn’t be surprised if he battled his way into the conversation to be the seventh defender. Let’s not rule Taylor Beck out for a depth roster spot either. He’s a solid AHL veteran with NHL experience.
My View:
Now there is a chance that the Oilers make a transaction between the start of camp and the start of the regular season, but, as of this moment, this is my projected lineup for October 12th.
Milan Lucic – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Kris Versteeg
Patrick Maroon – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Iiro Pakarinen, Anton Lander
Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Darnell Nurse – Brandon Davidson
Eric Gryba
Cam Talbot / Jonas Gustavsson
The Oilers full training camp roster hasn’t been announced to this point, but Lowetide has it surrounded. You can view the list here.
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