The Oilers will travel to Winnipeg for a pre-season battle with the Jets on Tuesday at Canada Life Centre, with the game being streamed live on Oilers+ at 6:00 PM MT
The Edmonton Oilers continue their eight-game pre-season schedule with the first of back-to-back games on Tuesday at 6:00 PM MT against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.
The Oilers will then return home to Rogers Place to host the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday at 7:00 PM MT. Both exhibition matches can be streamed live on Oilers+.
Fans can use promo code PRESEASON25 to access all pre-season games plus a full year of premium access for only $17.99. Click here to start your subscription.
The Oilers continued camp on Monday after Sunday’s preseason games
EDMONTON, AB – Decisions, decisions.
As the Oilers prepare for their first back-to-back of games of the 2025 preseason against the Jets on Tuesday, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch knows there are going to be some tough personnel choices to make before a team day off on Thursday as they start to trim their squad down from 55 players.
The Oilers split results with the Flames in split-squad action to open the preseason on Sunday with a 3-0 shutout at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary and a 3-2 overtime loss at Rogers Place. Edmonton will host Winnipeg on Friday before welcoming Vancouver on Sunday as part of an eight-game exhibition slate.
On Monday, forwards Tommy Lafreniere (Kamloops) and David Lewandowski (Saskatoon) were both returned to their respective WHL teams – the first of many moves you can expect in the coming days following the back-to-back against Winnipeg & Seattle – with their weekend exhibition against Vancouver on Saturday at Rogers Place being their final home pre-season game before their final two tune-ups come on the road next week vs. the Kraken and Canucks.
By next week, you can expect a few roster spots for the Oilers to remain up for grabs, and Head Coach Kris Knoblauch to have a good grasp of his opening night roster with only a handful of players still competing to stay in Edmonton.
Knoblauch is keeping an eye out for consistency and versatility among his players in the expanded Oilers roster, hoping to assemble what he thinks will be the core group that will take them into the final pre-season stretch and set the foundation of their opening night roster on Oct. 8 against the Calgary Flames.
Kris talks to the media following Monday’s skate at Rogers Place
Strong individual performances are one thing to get you noticed during Training Camp and preseason, but the ability to serve in different roles that can help the team moving forward could wind up playing a bigger factor in winning a player a spot on opening night.
You need goal scorers and playmakers to be successful in this League, but you also require role players who can be effective on the penalty kill or thrive in a bottom-six deployment. Knoblauch is keenly interested in keeping the players who fill a need, because there’s plenty of offensive weapons on this squad that’s been to two straight Stanley Cup Finals.
“There are going to be difficult decisions to make,” he said. “A lot of guys are playing really well, and you’ve got roles and responsibilities to think about. One player might be a little bit better five-on-five, but if the other player serves more of a purpose, whether it’s face-offs, penalty kill, physicality, speed, whatever we need a little more of, then maybe you go with that.
“But I think we’ve got a lot of difficult decisions coming up, and we’re early on in the pre-season schedule right now, and it usually plays out and you get a better feel because usually one guy or somebody that you’re not expecting very much out of has a really strong game.
“But you want to see that over several games rather than just making that rash decision because things are going to get a little more difficult, things are getting a little faster, and then we’ll see if they’re ready for the regular season.”
Evan talks following Monday’s skate at Rogers Place during Camp
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