When John Muckler was elevated to the head coaching gig in Edmonton, the Oilers were a team in transition. Wayne Gretzky was in Los Angeles, and times were changing. Please read this.
Randy Gregg told the Oilers 1989-90 would be his final season. It meant Muckler would need to give some playing time to youngsters like Geoff Smith, Chris Joseph, Francois Leroux and Corey Foster. Among forwards who were knocking on the door, Martin Gelinas (part of the Gretzky deal) was 19 but expected to push for playing time. David Haas and Dan Currie were also in the picture on left wing, The Oilers scored 325 goals in 1988-89, the lowest in team history. Someone needed to emerge.
These years later we know what happened. Gelinas found his way up the depth chart over the season, Smith played strong hockey and emerged as a regular, and a pre-Christmas trade for Vladimir Ruzicka from the Maple Leafs brought in another pure scorer. He was an offensive dream and a defensive madman (not in a good way). The Oilers also made a big trade, with the Detroit Red Wings, that brought in Adam Graves, Joe Murphy, Petr Klima. If we compare the playoff teams from 1989 spring and 1990, you get an idea about how much change took place under Muckler in his first season as coach.
Some of the turnover was injury (Fuhr was hurt), but the changes are specifically designed to add scoring. Look at the additions! Ruotsalainen was basically a rover, The Kid Line scored goals that spring, Klima did his part, too.
I mention this today because before training camp began, some of you believed the roster was set. No sir. It wasn’t set then, and it isn’t set now.
For instance, can you honestly tell me the identity of the third and fourth line wingers next spring? Impossible. Mike Babcock is holding auditions, and this week, with some tough opponents, is going to be the biggest test yet. I think it’s reasonable to suggest the 2026 playoff team, the one that lost to Anaheim, will have 8-10 changes year over year. New coach means changes. Babcock knows what he wants, just doesn’t know his name. Pretty sure.
On the Lowdown today, my feature guest will be Jason Gregor. We’ll talk Oilers, Elks, NFL weekend, MLB playoffs and what changes we might see this week. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Are the Edmonton Oilers building a solid foundation for success?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7701854/2026/10/19/edmonton-oilers-stats-standings-connor-mcdavid-2026/
Per Bowman:
Clattenburg was injured at practice on Tuesday and then got a lower body injury in practice on Thursday and is out 2-3 weeks.
This is all seperate and addition to the lower body injury at development camp and, now disclosed, an upper body injury at rookie camp.
Damn. We’re now in injury prone watch.
Ya, I think so.
He got hurt in his one pro game at the end of the 2024/25 season.
He got hurt in the NHL last year in his 5 game stint and then against in the AHL.
Then two injuries this summer and two injuries this past week.
Ducks break the shoutout but blown out by the Rangers.
PHI with their first win of the season……. over the Avs…..
Any team can beat any other team on any given night.
Oilers are 6-1-1 and full value for that no matter who they’ve played (and even if they didn’t have so many injuries).
I just looked and the 2 best teams in the league and the 3 worst teams in the league are in the pacific. Going to be a weird year
Flyers second win in a row. That’s impressive. They looked absolutely awful for the first 7.
I didn’t realize they had won a previous game.
Thank you.
One other thing I forgot to mention from Babcock’s media: the media was bringing up the Wild’s top players and Babcock told them they forgot Eickson-Ek as an elite 2-way driver and how important he is to that team. He then went on to say the Oilers have Podz as that elite 2-way driver.
Podkolzin is the reason McDavid is going nuclear as he opens up ice and teams can longer double team Connor-Leon. Podkolzin could instantly open up ice and drive a line from the wing position in the bottom six. My favorite line besides the 1st line is the Formenton Michaels-Joseph. I knew Joseph-Formenton would get their PK breakaways but now they’re getting them 5 on 5. Joseph reminded me of stone hands Marchant who would get 40 breakaways a year and cash in on 10. Between Formenton-Joseph they must have a breakaway per game ratio so far. Formenton is going to get better as the year goes on he’s in his prime age wise he just needs to adapt to the quick instincts needed to be a everyday journeyman NHLer
Babcock asked if playing McDavid and Drai together takes away from the other lines, answer: “No, anything else?”.
Later he was asked if McDavid and Drai knowing they are playing together helps them and he essentially cut off DVD and said, they don’t know they are always playing together, that’s just how we’ve been doing it so far – when we have guys like Joseph, Formenton and Michales in their appropriate spots it might change.
When asked about Nuge’s status he was oddly obscure (he’s been very direct to this point) – essentially saying they just don’t know and they want to ensure no-one is coming back to soon and then out again
Has it been reported what happened to RNH and what his injury is?
Obviously a state secret….
It’s funny you mention Gelinas; Howard reminds me of him a bit, in that they were both first rounders that came in to the league as scorers but had to break into the league on deep Oilers teams that already had veterans entrenched in those top 6 roles. Like Gelinas, I expect Howard to work his way up the lineup as the season progresses.
Maybe he’ll be part of a kid line with Savoie and Michael’s come playoff time!
One of Gelinas legs was bigger than Howard.
Marty Gelinas was listed at 6’0” 194 lbs, Howard 5’10” 185 lbs.
You might be thinking of Marty St. Louis, he of the redwood-like thighs, who played at 5’8” 178…
Yeah, MSL for sure had monstrous thighs.
Gelinas took a long time to find his footing in the league, and didn’t really break out as a top 6 forward until years later with the Canucks. He’d go on to score over 300 goals and 600 points in over 1200 games.
People forget but Gelinas only had 2 goals and 5 points as part of the Kid line during the Stanley cup year. He was in and out of the lineup during that regular season. He then put up 40 and 9 points in the regular season and playoffs the year after. Messier was traded the next season, and the whole team cratered 2 years later, culminating in Petr Klima leading the team with a whopping 48 points. Slats churned the roster significantly in the years after, looking to shake up the identity of the team on a shoestring budget, and Gelinas was traded away for Scott Pearson.
It can take a while for young players to establish themselves in the NHL; patience is going to be required with Howard, who has the skill and work ethic to make it … eventually. If the Oilers ever decide to move on from Howard, then they better be getting a legit top 6 forward in return. Otherwise, they would be better off to live with the early career foibles.
I was kidding. But did you ever see how big Marty Gelinas legs were?
Theoren Fluery-Rick St.Louis-Brayden Point-Cole Caulfield. Smaller players that are extremely hard to get the puck as they are so sturdy on their skates. Thick thighs they all have them. So far Howard hasn’t been run over yet. He’s going to have to reinvent his game as Babcock demands 2-way hockey.
Howard has been fine, and had one of his best games last time out imo. That being said, looks like the writing is on the wall with RNH returning this week. Howard needs to be even better vs Minny or he’s the next guy out of the lineup I think. Can’t see Babcock sitting Michaels, Forementon, Joseph, or Frederic before Howard. Maybe Hallander. Maybe
I thought it was telling during Babcock’s post game interview he said he liked Hallander’s game in Utah and of course Freddy but he didn’t even mention Howard at all. Was that a Freudian slip?
Howard does not score.
Nothing else to say.
Best third shift of a game in team history.
Checking the standings today, the Kings are doing a lot worse than I thought they would.
Anyone watching their games that have some insight as to why?
I haven’t watched any, but I’ve heard they don’t have the puck moving D required for a Laviolette team. Plus, they are old and slow, as per Holland’s preferences.
thats kenny holland music.
Still to busy golfing out in vernon with his old buddies to improve his team.
Byfield is not a first line C; losing Kopitar to retirement is exposing him to more difficult matchups.
And they are old and slow.
They are missing Fiala and Zuccarello and their offense (which was already limited) is even worse. Makes it easier when you just have Kempe and Panarin to defend. No one else has been making a difference.
From what I’ve seen, their bigger issue is on the backend. Doughty looks slower, Clarke is not a true #1 at this point and Ceci and Doumulin are not helping. On the back end it’s Mikey Anderson, Clarke and the rest are #6 d-men. A little better than Nashville (who right now is Roman Josi and nothing) but it’s not a good NHL defense.
I was going to make a point about Zuccarello being like 40 but, when I went to confirm the age, I saw he was damn near PPG last season – dowsers….
Imagine if Babcock successfully turns Dach into a centre.
he might already be doing so
My imagination is fully committed.
I thought he played his best game on Saturday.
Babcock likes his centres big and fast. For this reason I don’t see RNH playing that much regulation centre this year. I do think Frederic may become a centre over the course of the year.
Babcock did have Nuge at center the entirety of camp.
Does winning 1 out of 12 faceoffs not yell fail? Put the bulldozer back on the wing
I too want Dach to play wing but face-off ability (or non-ability) is not determinative of a player’s ability (or non-ability) to successfully play the position of center – in my opinion.
Practice today per Stauff (for me, this means that Nuge won’t play tomorrow, kind of like how Hyman was rotating in for a couple before he was quote ready):
Hyman-Dach/RNH-Kapanen
Formenton-Michaels-Joseph
Hallander/Jones-Frederic-Howard
Ekholm-Bouchard
Shea-Murphy
Walman-Emberson
Mukhamadullin
Levi
Jarry
Might they slide in Nuge to center Hallander & Freddy when the time comes.
RC Michaels is better up the middle than all of them
Tourigny in his media talked about how challenging it was for his team to play two games in row with such “heavy hockey” and physicality.
these Oilers are different.
i believe this may have been lost in shuffle but for a guy who has not played center in the league this is promising. Dach is big, physical, skates well, decent defensively (as a winger) but Babs seems to love him.
Depending on what they do with the nuge I wonder what a line of Hyman-Dach-Savoie could look like long term.
Or Nuge-Dickinson-Savoie as a third line?
Or Hyman-Dach-Savoie
Nuge-Dickinson-Kapanen
Lots of possibilities when the team is 100% healthy.
Good thing there’s so much forward depth.
Told ya they were missing Dach.
Dach with Freddy & Highlander would be heavy line.
Minnesota, Carolina, and Toronto are currently more injured than the Oilers are. Babcock’s good fortune continues. A favorable schedule early. And now facing better teams who are injured.
I wouldn’t call having this many regulars out of the lineup ‘good fortune’ godot but I see what you’re getting at.
As the Oil gets more healthy.
Minnesota has the same amount on ir report, Carolina has less, Toronto has 1 or 2 more with one being day to day being sick.
False reporting.
Jarvis may be back for Thursday.
The Oilers are still without Nuge, Savoie and Dickinson – all three are PK guys, all three and important players.
No Hall, No Staal, maybe no Jarvis. No Nikishin, not an injury.
Minnesota…No Faber. Maybe no Spurgeon. No Gustavsson. No Maatta. No Sturm. No Foligno(s).
and the Oilers continue to not have Savoie and Dickinson and likely Nuge (at least for tomorrow) and Anderson,
The teams the Oilers have face have been predominantly healthy while they dealt with major injuries to the second tier of the roster.
Jordan Stall had a great playoffs but he’s played 6 games with zero points and is a minus 2 at 5 on 5. Missing Stall and Hall is no worse than missing Savoie and Dickinson at this stage. The Oilers just got Hyman back, the Canes might get Jarvis back.
And Carolina hasn’t had a favourable schedule early.
You’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to make the Oilers’s start look bad.
Toronto is not a good team.
Agree … Toronto’s defence is old and slow; if the Oilers forwards bring their heavy forecheck game and don’t cheat for offence, they should be able to grind the Leafs down.
Carolina and Minnesota are both legit measuring sticks.
Made worse by no Tanev, no Tavares, maybe no Nylander.
They went 1-1-1 through Vegas, Colorado, and Utah.
Nylander playing tonight against the Sharks.
He was ill.
Ike Howard is a fast and tenacious little bugger. Usually we see the skill first and then they work on their two way game. With Howard it will be reversed. He is going to be a good player for years to come.
He has given Babcock no reason to take him out of the lineup. So now he has a chance to do it the hard way, and work his way up the lineup.
With Nuge & Dickinson returning it won’t be happening until more injuries occur.
He really hasn’t given Babcock any reasons to keep him in the lineup.
LOL the truth hurts.
The position that the roster was set was always subject to injury and turned out to be true.
The goalies were set.
The d-men were set.
The forwards were set with the exact guys battling for the last 3 forward spots being the guys that got the spots.
The only change from the position was that Owen Michaels made the team. I was very much wrong on him. Everything else played out as suggested during the dog days of summer.
i never suggested the lines were set and, in fact, suggested that I really had no idea what Babcock was going to do with the lines. The roster being set and the lineup being set are not the same.
Wow.
Why do you insist on always using so many words to say you’re a narcissist?
And even if LT’s comments were specifcally directed toward you, why do you have such a compulsion to constantly try to point out how not wrong you always think you are?
You’re obviously a smart dude and generally add a lot to this forum and provide great information on many subjects, but c’mon man some of these posts like this are verging on being embarrassing.(or should be)
Peace and love brother, not everything is about you and when it is, it’s ok if someone has a different perspective of how you’ve communicated things . <3
LTs comments were, at least partially, directed at my position in the off-season so, if he’s going to call that out in his blog, I’m going to respond.
Nothing I said is wrong.
You also suggested, multiple times. That Drai and McDavid would be split(“possibly by game two in Vancouver”).
Come on OP, your batting average hasn’t been very good the last few months.
Yes and even today Babcock said he may/will split McDavid and Drai when more pieces are back and he can place Formenton, Michaels and Joseph in their appropriate slot.
Conventional wisdom would go against breaking up the hottest line in hockey regardless of who draws back into the lineup.
Babcock is going to ride that pony until it won’t gallop anymore … one of McDavid’s biggest gripes with how KK coached was the constant lineup churn, and how it was difficult to develop chemistry. He isn’t wrong about that.
The other lines are going to have to figure out how to contribute, and with the excess of forwards, all of whom are NHL quality, there is going to be very healthy competition for playing time to stay in the lineup from night to night, and between lines 2, 3 and 4 for Babcock’s favour on any given night.
Formenton-Michaels-Joseph seem to be establishing themselves as a quality 3rd line, all of whom can kill penalties.
Hyman-Nuge-Savoie/Howard has all the makings of a decent 2nd line, once everyone is healthy. Howard and Savoie are the big chips to play at the TDL for a legit top 6 forward that can really juice that line.
Then you’ve got Dach, Dickinson, Frederic, Hallander, Kapanen all vying for the 4th line. All of these guys are all chippy, and bring either size, speed or both.
Credit Bowman for really improving the forward depth this season.
I’m not convinced that they need to run McDavid and Draisaitl on separate lines anymore.
Sure, perhaps, but Babock continues to suggest there will be times when they play apart once he has more pieces back and current players batting above their normal place in the batting order are more “appropriately placed”.
He specially mentioned Michael, Formenton and Joseph being the 4th line will be what he needs to put that in action.
It may just be talk but I think he does plan on some different deployment strategies once they are out of “survival mode”.
For all intensive purposes Formenton-Mike-Joseph will eventually be the fourth line.
Very “intensive” 🤣
I felt it was unwise, and I said so at the time, to comment several times over the summer Samanski was a lock to be on Babcocks team. You shared you knew this based on your personal assessment when watching all 45 of his AHL games last season.
I kindly share my opinion showing some humility would be a benefit.
I never once had Samanski as a lock – I had him firmly in the group battling for the last 3 forward spots (with the likes of Howard, Janmark, Joseph and Jones).
I opined that, for me, he should be locked in, but never opined that he was.
Based on this long-winded response, one might opine that your feelings have been hurt.
Nope, not at all, zero feelings hurt and I was 100% aware of what the responses would be when I made my post.
I still stand by everything in it.
Friedman spoke about 97 this morning, and it was interesting to see him put the stake in the sand for McDavid to hit 200 points this year.
Considering that the team is not yet playing at full strength, the PP is well below its capability, and he seems to have the bit between his teeth early, it is an interesting mark to consider. For sure he will surpass the 1300 point mark this year (before Am’n Thanksgiving??), but it would be something if he could pass 1400 points before the playoffs too.
And, as he continues to rip up the league from the first line, I wonder how much space that opens up for lines 2-4 to begin to put up points too. It was interesting watching the Mammoth wilt under his play, and how that gave Joseph time and space to pot one. I think 93, Savoie, even Hutson (should he get his deserved call up) begin to contribute as well.
It has been such an amazing start for him and it is very heartening to see where the team sits in the standings right now. Connor McDavid is the rarest of talents, but to speak of 200 points sounds borderline insane to me, given how rarified that air is and the vastly different eras that 97 & 99 operate(d) in.
Ovechkin’s ability to surpass Grezky’s goal scoring record gives me some pause, but I also know how steep the mountain is. I think McDavid will probably surpass160 points, perhaps even 180, but I cannot see him getting to 200, as the season wears on him and with every team focussing on him.
I would love to see it and I am cheering like hell for him to do it! I never thought I would see this happen again in my lifetime, so this is exciting times for Oiler & hockey fans, but it is also very very early. Go Connor!
Over the years when talk of us having seen peak McDavid came up my take was the coaching was holding him back and that he still had more as in 150 or thereabouts. It was the weak 5v5 team play that was a problem, and his as well
They have a better system and he’s blowing it up. I also think 200 is a stretch, not that he can’t, but it’s a long season and there are fewer weak sisters than in the 80’s. That being said, if they can continue in this vein and get better at it, a lot of teams are going to cave under the onslaught which won’t hurt
As others have stated, a 200 point season seems a bit optimistic.
Having said that, how often have we seen Connor’s production ramp up at the end of the year? I’ll never bet against the man, and he’s got an extra two games this season to work his magic. Going to be fun to watch it all play out.
I agree here.
Don’t get me wrong, I won’t close the door on it at this point but I think is quite unlikely.
Let’s not foret this 8-game heater that McDavid is on (23 points) is not something that he hasn’t done before. He (and Kucherov) often have a stretch or two like this during the regular season that last 8, 10, 12 games (I think Kuch had a longer one last year).
Its just stark seeing the numbers at the beginning of the season.
Can he keep up a 2.5 game pace for 84 games?
Seems unlikely but, if he’s going to, he’s going to need Bouchard and Drai to be healthy all year as well.
Gretzky had Kurri. McD now has Drai + an increasingly impressive Podz. Unlikely but possible.
i think if joseph and forementon are on lime a 4th line; things are pretty good in Edmonton. if we acquire some top 9 players to fill line 2 through 3
I can think of a couple players on IR that could lend a helping hand.
definitely could build a solid second line with rnh and hyman !
Well Dickinson & Nuge should be returning soon we’ll see how things look then. Savoie is on LTIR and who knows what’s up with Janmark.
We will be “acquiring” Nuge and Savoie for the top 8, right?
Babcock agrees I think – he talked again today about looking forward to having those two and Michaels slotted appropriately – and he may split McDavid and Drai when they are.
At point does the insane expectation of meaningful offensive contributions from Howard, Samanski and Savoie going to continue?
The OIlers need real offensive quality added to their top 6.
Vancouver
Come on those three are just cutting their teeth at the NHL level and none of them actually play in the top six, where there truly is some meaningful offensive contributers, I shouldn’t have to name them. There isn’t a team in the league that couldn’t use more offensive quality in their top six and that’s the plain truth.
Savoie scored 11 goals and 22 points in his final 32 games last season. 7-11-18 at even strength. Howard, playing a depth line, has 1.81 pts-60 at five-on-five. Samanski hasn’t delivered offensively, but it’ll improve as he spends more time in the league. Samanski isn’t going to be a top-six forward, Howard will be and Savoie already is.
I’m cheering for all three of them. Excited for Savoie to return and hope he picks up where he left off last season.
i understand fans wanting the team to continue improving the roster.
Oh, the AI is back to poor writing skills again
Savoie has already proven to be a meaningful offensive contributor and there’s no reason to believe that will change when he is back healthy and gets up to speed.
I don’t think anybody has the expectation that Samanski will be a meaningful offensive contributor, nor do we need that from him, we need him to be a tough to play against defensive minded forward that doesn’t bleed goals and can on occasion provide a little support offence. He’s shown flashes of that already.
Howard is the only player on your list that fits the criteria you posted, and I for one(most of us here too, I believe) will continue to have a cautiously optimistic expectation about him being a very good to great complementary top 6 winger if actually given that chance, until then no one knows because that chance has not materialized yet.
At what point do your inane expectations, ranting, and disrespect of our host end?
As usual, show your work.
Whom would you acquire from Vancouver, at what cost, and for what role?
1) no-one has suggested meaningful offensive contributions from Samanski – he is also in the AHL right now and has never been in the top 6.
2) Savoie provided meaningful offensive contributions when in the top 6, 19 points in 24 games when in the top 6. His return will be offensive quality added to the top 6.
3) Howard has never played a single game in the top 6 for the Oilers, ever. He has also provided more offence this season than Savoie did early last season, from even further in to the dregs of the roster – and Savoie ended up providing meaningful offensive contributions.
We definitely have to give Babcock credit. He has the players attention. I’m not so sure his message it any different, it’s just the players are listening. There’s a new level of maturity.
Oh and even the Flames can beat Carolina.
The tactics are different, the team is playing a lot more like the last 3 Cup winners high tempo high pressure game
The start this season really underscores how out of his depth Knobber was (and how good McDraiBouch are).
Knoblauch was just too nice of a guy.
And how much coaching does McDraiBouch really need?
They need all the good coaching they can get, like any other player.
As long as it doesn’t go in one ear and out the other.
No shit Sherlock
McDavid said the words “I want to be coached”.
I don’t disagree that one would think he wouldn’t need much “coaching” but, it seems, from the early season, maybe he did need to be “told” that trying to stickhandle through layers (which he could do with success on occasion) is a low success play, that creates risk going the other way and a strategic dump (and there is strategy to the dumps) is more concussive to winning – as an example.
Knoblauch got the Oilers to two Cup finals. It is foolish to declare “mission accomplished” after two weeks.
When he came in I think Curlock looked at his preferred tactics, and I was hopeful. But as someone here said a while back, head coach is less about the x’s and o’s and more about leadership. You have to be right about the concept, but getting guys to follow it and keeping them at a high level is the hard part. And a lot of that is engaging the whole team, it takes them all (in every team sport) to win the ring
Yes, agree. More pressure on the puck carrier in centre ice area and even in the defensive zone. Knoblauch was also kind of stoic on the bench, but Babcock is more animated. And I haven’t seen him berating or yelling at players, it seems it’s more informational.
Babcock’s communication on the bench is a stark contrast to KK. It’s very noticeable.
Mike Rupp told Gregor the team takes on the personality of the coach. I also don’t think Knob had quite the right structure and style for the group and ultimate opponent. They were quiet and passive, and with things often not working outside of the PP it lead to a lot of frustration building up from the Duo, which lead to them playing too high risk
Sometimes they could force it through, but not often enough. Knoblauch and the coaches played their roles in getting where they did, but to me it was inspite of instead of because of. Their playoff success was built mainly on the Trio setting records against teams that couldn’t handle it. We’re seeing this start built on that as well, the difference will be whether the coaches can get the whole group doing enough and keep giving the goalies a chance to be their best
I recall when Knob was first hired he made a comment to the effect of just letting the players “play their game” without the pressure of playing a certain way, or fitting into a “forced” system. I remember him commenting on how he was trying to reduce the pressure on them. His calmness & cerebral nature behind the bench did work for quite a while, as evidenced by the rest of the 23/24 season, going all the way to Game 7 of the SCF, including the 16 game regular season win streak, etc. He did coach the team to a 46-18-5 record (.841) his first season after taking over and deserves credit for that and the playoff success in a short period of time as a new NHL coach.
However, I also noticed as Knob was given more reins to put his mark on the team, that it wasn’t working as well, which is also due in part to pieces missing after 23/24, a new GM and other off-ice changes. As time went on, some of his decisions didn’t work as well or backfired, when the year before he seemed to be making all the right decisions at the right times. It also coincided with some load management for key players/positions to be stronger for the 2025 run, as well as key injuries that were beyond anyone’s control.
In the end, what he was doing in 23/24 didn’t work as well and he was slow to adjust. You could see the frustration from all sides in 25/26 and being a “quiet” coach no longer worked as a strength/strategy. Shelf life for coaches can be short and what worked one year may not transition to the following year. What Babs is doing now appears to be working but fast forward a couple years and we may be talking about what changed for him also. So far, it has been enjoyable to watch so I hope it keeps up.