News, notes, and quotes from Day 1 of Edmonton Oilers training camp

Hyman stated that he “won’t be ready for Day 1 of training camp, but (is) progressing really well”. This should come as no surprise, as several estimates from when he had his surgery implied as much. When asked a follow-up from analyst Bob Stauffer, he wouldn’t commit to an exact date for when he can return to game action.

“We have little two-week blocks, milestones, that we check off and that we hit,” was the main key he revealed. This doesn’t reveal an exact return date, and it seems unlikely Hyman appears in preseason game action. However, it does indicate that, when Hyman is very close to a return, we will likely have two weeks’ notice.

The contract situations and possible signings that were discussed

Let’s just get this out of the way, over and done with. Yes, the Oilers need better goaltending to be able to win a Cup. No, the man in question is not the answer. Even taking away the whole Hockey Canada situation, he posted quite pedestrian numbers in his later years as a Philadelphia Flyer. He has also not played an NHL game in nearly two years.

There will be other goalies who go on waivers in camp, who Edmonton could bring in to be a stronger backup. Stuart Skinner, flaws and all, is an Oiler this season. Despite the pleas of the more vocal Oiler partisans online, that is highly unlikely to change.

The Connor McDavid contract situation is the story that everyone has talked about ad nauseam leading up to training camp. There is no new progress, however following Stauffer’s “102 percent” certainty about a McDavid extension, Bowman voiced similar confidence yesterday. This also tracks with Jeff Jackson’s previous views on the matter.

Ultimately, there is still lots of time to get things figured out. McDavid has had a lot of things to do this past summer, and now that he’s in town there might be an opportunity to get things sorted out before the regular season begins. It’s worth noting that players like Steven Stamkos have played with no extension in place before. One of those occasions he re-upped, and the other he seemed to want to remain in Tampa Bay. McDavid could well take the 2016 Stamkos path.

Half of the Oilers’ defence corps is entering the final year of their current deals. All three of Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, and Brett Kulak have been impactful players who have complemented, and sometimes balanced out the chaos of, players like Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard. Losing any of the three would be tough to swallow.

That conversations are taking place is a good sign of due diligence on all three fronts. Like with the Oilers captain, Bowman has until June 30 to prevent them from testing free agency. With everything a GM and a player has to do inseason, it makes sense not every extension will happen soon. But there’s positive signals to take away from this quote. And speaking of last-years-of-contracts…

Kris Knoblauch has only been on the job since November 2023. All he’s done since is taken the Oilers to more Stanley Cup Finals than any coach since Glen Sather. Like the rest of the team, he still has a couple of spots he can up his game in. But there should be no question whatsoever about a forthcoming Knoblauch extension.

Of the personnel needing extensions, this observer designates Knoblauch as most likely to be the first to receive his. It helps, indeed, that re-signing a coach does not affect a team’s cap situation. But it’s also a major slam-dunk, as he has had far more success than any other McDavid-era bench boss.

The pressing questions about the lineup itself

The biggest takeaway from the Knoblauch avail is his mention of the team’s penalty kill. After a 2024 run for the ages, the penalty kill took a major step back last season. For the Oilers to do any better this season, it has to get better, no questions asked.

A new philosophy is an excellent place to start on that front. Rather than try and force new personnel to acclimate to the old system, working towards a new solution will be of great benefit to the fresh faces in the room. Trying a new approach worked in 2023–24. The hope is that it will work out once again.

Of all the Oilers defencemen currently, Walman may well be the best “swiss-army knife” option. He can play either side, be an elite second- or third-pair presence and even play top-pair in a pinch. He is among the best acquisitions by the Oilers in the Bowman era.

Nurse hasn’t had many partners who have been able to help him be the best version of himself on the ice. Kulak was the only really decent option before, but this made the defence pairs too rigid with Ekholm-Bouchard locked in, and left the third-pair a bit exposed. Walman has been a really solid answer to this problem so far. He may be playing on his off-side to do so, granted. But if it helps Edmonton get the most out of Nurse, it’s worth it.

An intriguing player to watch this camp will be David Tomasek, who impressed in Europe in previous seasons. He has a lot of hype surrounding him as he reports to camp this season. The Oilers, however, want to make sure he is in a position to succeed.

It isn’t quite guaranteed that Tomasek will land an NHL spot out of the gates. It might not even be as a result of his play, but rather the numbers game. Even if Edmonton assigns Tomasek to the AHL to start, though, he has a strong chance to become a very impactful player.

This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, especially if Hyman misses time to start the regular season. Excepting the times that Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins flank McDavid, the preference has always been to have Nuge at centre. Even at this advanced stage of his career, Nuge can be a serviceable third-line centre. The caveat is that, like with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Nuge needs wingers who he can gel with.

Training camp shouldn’t be just about where in the lineup Nuge should slot. It’s about first seeing which wingers can mesh well with the Oilers veteran. And with multiple new forwards on the team, there’s plenty of opportunity abound.

Bonus round: The Stu may be hotter this year

The major side-note that doesn’t involve lineup construction focuses on Skinner. A lot is riding on him being better this season, following a rollercoaster 2024–25 campaign. And even he seems to be aware of that.

In addition to being given a new goaltending coach to work with, Skinner has gotten leaner in the offseason. His lateral movement has been a point of concern before, often as he moves too slowly to make a save, and then sometimes overshoots the mark and ends up five feet away from his crease. It remains to be seen how improved Skinner’s play will be this season. But a lack of improvement will not have been for a lack of trying, that much is certain.

There’s going to be a lot to cover still in the coming days

This is all just from Day 1 of training camp. We still have the rest of the week to go, before preseason games commence. There’s sure to be a lot more coming out of the woodwork as the week works towards its conclusion. And The Oil Rig will have you covered.