One thing jumps out as the Edmonton Oilers split their squad and face-off against the Calgary Flames in both Edmonton and Calgary tonight, the excellent opportunity for three young forwards, centre Noah Philp and wingers Vassily Podkozlin and Raphael Lavoie, to make a favourable impression with head coach Kris Knoblauch.
Fourteen prospect players who played Sunday night are playing again tonight, but 11 of them are headed to Calgary, with just three — Philip, Lavoie and Podkolzin, remaining in Edmonton, where Knoblauch is coaching the game.
This gives each of the three one extra chance to make a major impression in front of the head coach.
Podkolzin and Lavoie have the honour of playing the wing on Leon Draisaitl’s line. Draisaitl’s prospective linemates this year, incoming veterans Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, will both play in Calgary.
Here are details from Edmonton 1440 radio host Jason Gregor on the line-ups for the two games:
Here is proper lineup for Oilers home game:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Lavoie
Petrov-Philp-Perry
Clattenburg-Wakely-Stonehouse
Ekholm-Bouchard
Hoefenmayer-Kemp
Corcoran and Kannock-Leipert
Pickard
Brochu
Knoblauch wants #1 PP unit together.
Oilers road game roster: (2nd-4th lines and D pairs not a lock but these players are playing).
J. Skinner-Henrique-Arvidsson
Savoie-O’Reilly-Caggiula
Hoffman-Pederson-Ryan
Stefan-Grubbe-Weatherby
Dermott-Brown
Dineen-Stecher
Gleason-Wanner
Rodrigues
Day
My take
1. It’s likely the Oilers will go with 12 forwards and seven d-men to start the year, making it unlikely more than one of Podkolzin, Philp, Lavoie or Matthew Savoie will make the team out of camp. That said, injury is common in the NHL, so more than one of the four could suddenly squeeze into the Top 12. Podkolzin is the favourite of the four to make the team. Knoblauch has already been speaking about him playing on the PK. But Philp has a chance due to his smarts, experience and versatility.
2. Philp made a solid impression in his first preseason game. As Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now noted, “Noah Philp 9-3 on faceoffs, got better as game went on.” And the Cult’s Bruce McCurdy added, “Decent shot off his own o-zone faceoff win that whizzed past the post. Made a good rush but his cross-ice feed didn’t quite connect with Hoffman. Seconds later charged into the slot and drew a penalty. Beautiful pass in the neutral zone to spring Stefan for a shot, then followed up to nearly slam home the rebound. Rocked a 9/12=75% win rate on the faceoff dot.”
3. As for Podkolzin’s first exhibition game as an Oiler, McCurdy noted, “Impressed in all aspects with a nice combination of skills. A threat to either shoot or pass. Mashed a couple of opponents into the boards on the same aggressive forecheck.” And Lavoie, McCurdy noted, “Used his size to advantage on the cycle both on and off the puck. Made a splendid cross-ice feed to Hoffman on the powerplay, Seconds later, hammered home a one-time blast from the left circle to put Edmonton in front 2-1. Found Caggiula with another fine left-to-right cross-ice pass. Worked his way into the high slot and fired a hard shot on net late in the third but couldn’t solve Comrie. Led the Oilers with 4 shots.”
Here is McCurdy’s full report on the Sunday night game, a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
4. Of course, even if Podkolzin, Lavoie or Philp have huge games in the pre-season, it doesn’t mean they will be strong NHLers. Some of us will recall September 2018 when Jesse Puljujarvi and Ty Rattie ripped it up in preseason, rising to near the top of the NHL for exhibition scoring, but then fell flat during the regular season. But weak showings by these players will doom them to the AHL. And solid two-way play, especially their play without the puck, could well catch Knoblauch’s attention and mark them as future NHLers.
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
LEAVINS: 9 Things, Sep 22 edition
McCURDY: The most important battles in Edmonton Oilers training camp
STAPLES: Oilers lacking a crucial ingredient, for now