Vasily Podkolzin makes pre-season debut, and Noah Philp’s window to stick with the Oilers

We made it, friends. Finally. After grinding through eight boring pre-season games, we’re only days away from the start of the 2025-26 season, when the Edmonton Oilers kick off their year with a Battle of Alberta against the Flames. I’m excited about it. But before we can get to Wednesday’s matchup against Calgary, we may as well talk about what happened last night against the Canucks. As always, I don’t care about the score until the games matter, so I decided to focus on Vasily Podkolzin’s return and how Noah Philp fared in the final tune-up game of the year.

WELCOME BACK, VASILY

It was hard not to feel for Vasily Podkolzin as he played in his first pre-season game after the tragic passing of his father on the same day he signed his three-year extension. That’s an emotional rollercoaster that’s impossible to understand, and I felt for the kid as he’s now in a situation where he has to try and perform while still processing a terrible loss. That’s a big ask for anyone. And while I was certainly happy to see him back with the team, it’s hard not to think about the human side of the story. At the same time, maybe getting back on the ice with the boys and getting busy can help a little bit. All I know for sure is that I’m pulling for him and there are plenty of reasons you should be too.

Heading into the last year of his cheap. While we still don’t know how much offence he’s ever going to bring — I do think he has more in him than the eight goals he scored last season — you can never question his effort. The work he puts in on the forecheck is the kind of stuff that makes Leon Draisaitl love him as a linemate, and if we can just squeeze a quarter-turn more goals out of him to land in the 12–15 range, he’ll wind up as a middle-six weapon. He has a great shot and plenty of offensive instincts, and I’m banking on him taking another step forward with the offensive side of his game because of how much work he puts in.

We’ve all read the stories about him being the first to show up at the rink, and I truly believe he and the Oilers will start reaping the rewards of that effort sooner than later.

GREEN LIGHT FOR NOAH PHILP?

A lot of the time around these parts, the pre-season has been about watching rookies get their first chance to play in an Oilers uniform and checking in on the veterans as they shake off the rust. But as I was watching Noah Philp do his thing against Vancouver last night, it got me thinking about where he fits heading into the 2025–26 season. He got into 15 games with the Oilers last year and chipped in with two assists while averaging just over nine minutes a night. He got his first boogie at the big dance, but ultimately spent most of his year in Bakersfield, where he put up 19 goals and 16 assists in 55 games. From what we’ve seen from him so far in camp, Philp looks like he’s ready to grab that 4C job full-time.

As much as the points he’s tacked on during the pre-season have been nice, the important part of the story is that he keeps looking good even as the competition gets stronger. Not only am I a sucker for his comeback story, but it would be a massive win for the team if he can be an everyday player at $775K on the cap. He’s big, he’s a right-handed centre, and he moves better than a lot of the guys we’ve seen cycle through the depth chart over the years, and I like that combo as the prototype for a fourth-line player. Nothing about his night against the Canucks changes the picture dramatically, but as I’m watching him, I find myself curious to see whether he can carve out a longer run this season. It feels like there’s a window for him, and the question is whether he can step through it.