Take a glance at the Edmonton Oilers depth chart and things appear clear.
The team that reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is even more veteran-laden and probably better on paper. The top nine seems set. So does the goaltending duo and the top end of the blue line.
No, there aren’t many issues here. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t battles for positioning at hand and questions about the roster that must be answered.
Here are five things that’ll need to be sorted out before the second week of October.
How will the Oilers manage Kane’s injury?
Evander Kane’s health is arguably the most intriguing storyline heading into training camp because of the different ways the roster’s construction can be altered in the weeks ahead.
The veteran winger was shut down during the Stanley Cup Final after playing through a sports hernia injury dating back to the regular season. That injury is expected to keep Kane out of the lineup when the 2024-25 campaign begins in October. The Oilers have a few options at their disposal provided Kane is indeed out long term.
PuckPedia has the Oilers with just over $945,000 in cap space with 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goalies on the active roster. This includes Kane. Provided there are no serious injuries coming out of camp, the Oilers can roll with this setup and accrue cap space during the season to allow for a bigger acquisition before the trade deadline. They can also add another forward to the roster and still be below the 23-player limit. Kane doesn’t need to be placed on IR unless the Oilers need to go above 23 players.
There isn’t an obvious incentive to putting Kane’s $5.125 million cap hit on LTIR right now. The Oilers don’t really need to add two forwards, which would put them over the cap. They’re not in a financial crunch.
The Oilers would be best served to understand the full ramifications and timeline of Kane’s absence before making any drastic decisions. They should put Kane on LTIR if they know he’s going to miss the whole season and they’re set to acquire another high-profile player (or players) making no more than Kane’s cap hit or their LTIR pool. Kane returning at any point during the season could cause issues to the cap if the Oilers overexert themselves.
Of course, all it could take is one injury to change the whole equation and line of thinking.
Who’s the No. 4 defenceman?
This is easily the most interesting roster battle entering camp.
The departures of Philip Broberg, Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais have left the right side of the blue line behind Evan Bouchard in a state of uncertainty. The options are Troy Stecher, Josh Brown, Ty Emberson and camp invitee Travis Dermott — a lefty. None of those players have much of a track record as a top-four defenceman.
Provided the top-pairing duo of Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm remain together, finding the right partner for Darnell Nurse might be the most important evaluation coach Kris Knoblauch and assistants Paul Coffey and Mark Stuart can make.
GM Stan Bowman might have no choice but to make a trade sooner than desired if this spot in the lineup can’t be adequately filled.
How does the penalty kill get backfilled?
The penalty kill that was so outstanding during the playoffs operating at a 94.3 percent clip lost four regular contributors in the offseason.
Ceci and Desharnais, who were largely paired with Nurse and Ekholm, respectively, are gone on the back end, as is the forward duo of Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele.
The Oilers do have Adam Henrique, who was part of the PK mix and should be primed for more opportunity, but there isn’t another forward set to make the team with recent experience in that role.
On defence, the Oilers will need two new players to become mainstays. At least there are options as Dermott, Stecher and Brown all averaged more than two minutes of ice time while short-handed in Arizona last season.
What will be the makeup of the top two lines?
Knoblauch said Tuesday that his plan to open camp is to have the top nine look like this:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Jeff Skinner – Leon Draisaitl – Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Janmark – Adam Henrique – Connor Brown
He also joked that plans go out the window after two exhibition games.
Given the success McDavid and Hyman had together last season, it’s hard to envision them not getting a long run again. Arvidsson was signed to play with Draisaitl, hockey operations CEO Jeff Jackson said on July 1, so they’ll likely get an extended time as a pairing.
That leaves the left wing if changes are deemed necessary. Knoblauch’s options are to flip Nugent-Hopkins and Skinner or drop RNH to the third line. The most logical option to replace him in the top six would then be Henrique. Janmark or Vasily Podkolzin could also provide temporary solutions.
Who’s the No. 4 centre?
Remember last year when this was also a question, and it was thought that Brandon Sutter might have the inside track? Sutter wound up retiring by the time the exhibition schedule reached the halfway point and Derek Ryan assumed the role.
Ryan, the team’s second-oldest player behind Corey Perry at 37, is the front-runner again. Barring a change, he’ll be challenged by James Hamblin and Lane Pederson. The former played 31 games for the Oilers last season, whereas the latter has suited up in 71 career NHL contests, albeit none in 2023-24.
Noah Philp, 26, will almost certainly need some AHL time after missing all of last season for personal reasons before being a possibility here. He’s never played in the NHL.
(Photo of Darnell Nurse: Bob Frid / USA Today)
