Oilers Thoughts: A look at Frederic and Tomášek’s opportunities, early impressions of Mangiapane and Regula

That said, so far so good for a confident Mangiapane, who was left off an eight-round shootout against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 8. Moreover, with the way he’s been picking his spots early, I’d imagine he’ll be near the front of the line the next time a shootout comes around.

No Need to Worry About Frederic on the Top Line Just Yet

Two games into his opportunity playing on the first line with the Oilers’ two superstars, Trent Frederic hasn’t scored yet, but his play trended upward last game versus Vancouver. He didn’t record any shots on goal in the first game, but against the Canucks, he had four shots on net, drew a penalty, threw three hits, and looked like he gelled better with the superstar duo at 5v5. Overall, his lack of production isn’t something to panic over yet.

On one play against the Canucks, he found an open spot in the slot but couldn’t bury a perfect feed from McDavid.

Also, in the second period, Draisaitl found him sliding toward the slot, and Frederic got a quick shot off. Moments later, he kept the puck in and then got absolutely levelled by Tyler Myers. Still, there was a lot to like in that sequence — he knew where to be, created a good scoring chance, and kept the play alive.

That said, I’d give it another two or three games to see how he fares on the top line. He hasn’t produced any points in two games, but at the same time, he hasn’t hurt the line either, posting a 74% expected goals for (xGF%) and a 9–3 edge in high-danger chances when he’s been on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Additionally, the trio of Frederic, McDavid, and Draisaitl has the highest expected goals-for percentage in the NHL through two games at 92.9% (xGF%), according to MoneyPuck and with a couple more lucky bounces, he’d be on the scoresheet.

There’s pressure playing with two of the best players in the world, and Frederic might be gripping his stick a little tight, which should ease once he scores. In the meantime, he needs to use his strengths to his advantage — use his big body, create havoc in front of the net, and hopefully, some goals will come in the upcoming games. Otherwise, with Jack Roslovic soon to be inserted into the lineup, which will shake up the line combos, there will be other Oilers licking their chops at the opportunity to play on the top line.

There are Promising Signs in Alec Regula’s Play

Alec Regula has been a pleasant surprise early in the season. What I like about him is that not only does he have size at 6-foot-4 and 211 pounds, but unlike some former big-bodied Oilers who would opt for the off-the-glass-and-out type of play, Regula, who missed all of last season, has a natural reaction of looking to make a play with a nice first pass, and he does it subtly and effectively. We saw it throughout the preseason, and he’s carried it into the first two games of the season.

Additionally, it’s a limited sample size, but the Regula and Darnell Nurse pairing is 9th in the NHL with a 72.7% xGF, and they have a 14–8 advantage in shots at 5v5, suggesting they’re tilting the ice in the Oilers’ favour. That said, Regula is making a case to stick with the big club, and his stellar play so far creates a tough decision for the Oilers moving forward, Baggedmilk summarized:

“When Walman returns, the Oilers will need to make a roster move, and Regula would have to clear waivers to head back to Bakersfield. Based on how they’ve used him early, that doesn’t feel like a risk they’ll want to take.”

The Oilers initially picked Regula off waivers from the Boston Bruins in December 2024, and it was slightly puzzling that they re-signed him to a two-year contract last May despite him not suiting up for any games with the orange and blue. Yet, you can see why Oilers GM Stan Bowman trusted his spidey sense, as the 25-year-old is showing early promise.

Loving the Look of Oilers’ Breakouts and Creating Chances Off the Rush

Last game against the Canucks, I was really impressed with how the Oilers moved the puck out of their zone, which created a ton of chances. It’s still a small sample size, but Edmonton seems to be playing with more speed and pace.

McDavid and Draisaitl can receive any type of pass — whether on their stick or off their skates — and still drive the play up the ice. What stood out to me, though, was how well the other lines are breaking the puck out, especially given all the new combinations with the recent additions.

For example, the Mangiapane–Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Matthew Savoie line created two wonderful scoring chances off a breakout and on tic-tac-toe-type plays that followed. In the first period against the Canucks, Nurse headmanned the puck, Mangiapane made a beautiful entry, quickly passed to Nugent-Hopkins, who feathered one to Savoie, who came close to scoring his first NHL goal.

The Vasily-Pokolzin–Noah Philp–Kasperi Kapanen line looks very in sync as well. In one instance, Pokolzin chipped the puck off the boards, Philp made a spinorama pass to Kapanen, who entered the Canucks’ zone. In the second period, their clean breakout led to a rush, and a few passes later, Philp scored his first NHL goal.

Despite it being early, it’s great to see the Oilers in sync on the breakout and playing with pace from top to bottom. That performance is reflected in the advanced metrics as well, as all four lines posted very strong scoring chance-for percentages against the Canucks — solid numbers I haven’t seen from all four lines in quite some time.

Thoughts on David Tomášek on the First-Unit PP

David Tomášek has been given a golden opportunity to fill in on Zach Hyman’s net-front presence spot on the power play. He recorded his first-ever NHL point by assisting on Draisaitl’s 400th regular-season goal, but hasn’t scored yet, despite several power-play chances in his first two games — many of them Grade-A opportunities last game against the Canucks.

That said, hopefully, missing those chances doesn’t shake his confidence. After all, coming into the NHL at 29 and being immediately placed on one of the league’s most lethal power plays, playing alongside a couple of the world’s best players, is no easy task.

On one hand, he might feel like he’s on a timeline to produce on that first unit, but on the other hand, he should focus on the positives, such as the fact that he’s getting chances and is in the right spots to score. On Saturday night, he just ran into a red-hot Demko.

Tomášek led the Oilers with four shots on the man advantage. On one chance in the slot, he received the puck from Draisaitl and instead of shooting right away, he paused for a split second, intending to wait for Demko’s body to slide to the right before firing left, but the Canucks’ goaltender made a spectacular glove save. I like that he paused for that split second to scope out his shot, showing that he has a goal scorer’s poise under pressure.

Also, another thing to keep in mind is that Draisaitl, who’s scored 400 regular-season goals and is usually money on his off wing, also got robbed by Demko’s glove late in the third period. Hopefully, that helps Tomášek’s perspective that it wasn’t his skill set holding him back from scoring; they just ran into a hot netminder. Moving forward, I’d like to see them work in more ‘Bouch Bombs’ from the point on the PP, letting Tomášek clean up the juicy rebounds to help kickstart his scoring.

The season is just getting started, but the Oilers look to be already in sync early, compared to previous seasons. A five-game road trip out east, where they might take in some nice team meals in New York and get additional team bonding time over the next week and a half, may give them extra time to develop even more chemistry.