Jets at Oilers, G29 2025-26

It’s morning in Oilers Nation. Maybe. The club is playing a solid two-way game and it appears to be repeatable. Oh sure, there are moments when they’re in chase mode in the defensive zone, and we know from years of observation that results in a goal against, a penalty, or a great stop by the goaltender.

There are things we’ll watch for as the month rolls along, including Connor McDavid’s shot total and his five-on-five outscoring. We’ll want to see how well Darnell Nurse is playing, and if Brett Kulak can gather his game and deliver as expected. The Matt Savoie two-goal game offers promise, as does the December schedule.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER

• At home to: Wild, Kraken, Jets (Expected 2-1-0) 1-1-0
• At home to: Sabres, Red Wings (Expected 1-0-1)
• On the road to: TML, Canadiens, Penguins (Expected 2-1-0)
• On the road to: Bruins, Wild (Expected 1-1-0)
• At home to: VEG, Flames (Expected 1-0-1)
• On the road to: Flames, Jets (Expected 1-0-1)
• At home to: Bruins (Expected 1-0-0)
• Expected Record: 9-3-3, 21 points in 15 games
• Actual Record: 1-1-0, two points in two games
• Season Record: 12-11-5, 29 points in 28 games

If the Oilers win today, it sets the team up for a patented Kris Knoblauch winning streak. More than anything, this team needs a substantial run of points in every game, at least through Santa’s visit.

We are reaching the point where the Oilers should send David Tomasek down, get Trent Frederic right, and recall one of the exceptional forwards who are impacting things in Bakersfield. Frederic’s foot speed this season (34.96 kph) is slower than last season (35.48 kph) and the playoffs in the spring (35.94 kph). He was 36.88 (92nd percentile) in the 2022 playoffs, and may never get back there. I know high ankle sprains take time, and this was known at the time of the trade (Rachel Kryshak was on the Lowdown at the time of the deal quoting a doctor about the worry). Frederic gets ripped daily by fans, but for me this is an Oilers thing. Management and coaching should acknowledge the issue and have him work through it without costing the team.

If the Oilers run Nuge-McDavid-Hyman as the top line, and Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Savoie as the second trio, then getting more goals for than against on the third line lands at the feet of Adam Henrique. His line had a fine night on Thursday, with both Andrew Mangiapane and Mattias Janmark (as well as Henrique) showing up on the scoresheet. In 18 minutes together, the line is 1-0 goals with a 69 percent expected goal share. Watch for them tonight, if they have another good game I’m going to call them ‘The Grumpier Old Men’ line.

CONDORS

Ike Howard scored last night, he’s such a talented player. Some things to learn without the puck, but you can see the talent pretty much every night. If we exclude him from the possible recall list among forwards, I would go with Quinn Hutson, Josh Samanski and Roby Jarventie. That’s a center (Samanski), a right winger (Hutson) and a left winger (Jarventie). The Condors have NHL-ready talent today. That’s real progress from previous seasons.

I wrote about the recall list at The Athletic yesterday, article is here. The Oilers have one prospect matriculating (Damien Carfagna) and another building a foundation (Akey). I’m encouraged by both, and starting to feel good about Artro Leppanen’s game. He’s been posting offense since arrival, but the outscoring at even strength is now coming along.

Connor Ingram is not shooting lights out in Bakersfield, but there’s a chance we see him before the deadline. Bowman brought him in as a possible solution, so the club should see if he can fill that need before making a trade.