As the Edmonton Oilers gather back after a short, but dramatic summer, the team will be getting ready for their Captain Skate, the opening of training camp and the first preseason game of the year on Sept. 22 against the Winnipeg Jets. The narrative coming from the team after losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final (SCF) to the Florida Panthers on June 24 has been a lot quieter than last season. You’re not hearing “Cup or Bust” as the mantra for the Oilers heading into the 2024-25 season. The team might be quietly saying it to themselves, but they’ve been watching what they say publicly and that’s another sign of a team with the right mental makeup to make another run. The strong silent types are always the ones to watch out for.
Surprises Coming Out of Camp in 2024-25
The Oilers have undergone some much-publicized roster changes since Game 7 of the SCF on June 24. In are: Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Vasily Podkolzin, Matthew Savoie, Roby Jarventie and Ty Emberson. Out are: Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, Vincent Desharnais, and Cody Ceci.
All eyes are still going to be on Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, and CEO & president Jeff Jackson to see who they’ll be bringing in on a professional tryout (PTO). No doubt, the Oilers still have some holes to fill for head coach Kris Knoblauch if they want to contend for the Stanley Cup in 2024-25 but if you’ve been a fan of the team since the decade of darkness, the holes aren’t quite as big as they were back then. After all, whoever joins the Oilers this season will have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm as teammates – just to name a few.
Related: Edmonton Oilers’ Top 5 Prospects
The players I’m most interested in seeing during the preseason are Podkolzin, Savoie, and Emberson. If you’re an Oilers fan you have to hope that at least one or two of these names show flashes that they’re ready to have a big season. If they do, that’ll take some pressure off of Bowman and Jackson in terms of continuing their search to find the right players for the team.
Olivier Rodrigue Comes Into Camp as #3 Goalie
It’ll be interesting to watch goaltender Olivier Rodrigue this season. He continued to improve in his role with the Oilers American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Bakersfield Condors appearing in 37 games and producing a .916 save percentage (SV%). Last season Rodrigue shared the net with Jack Campbell, who was bought out by the Oilers at the end of the 2023-24 season. Campbell signed with the Detroit Red Wings in the offseason leaving the No. 1 position in Bakersfield to Rodrigue.
Rodrigue’s continued improvement and development could be an interesting storyline to keep an eye on as the season progresses. Yes, the Oilers are set in net with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, however, if Rodrigue continues to improve and starts making noise with strong play down in Bakersfield you have to wonder what would happen in case of injury to either Skinner or Pickard. The Oilers have to be very careful with Rodrigue and their goaltenders this season. They can’t just casually call him up for a couple of games and send him back down to Bakersfield. With his new contract, he would have to clear waivers to get sent back to Bakersfield and I expect another team would claim him if they got the chance.
I expect Rodrigue to really relish his role as the clear No. 1 starter in Bakersfield this season, and if the Oilers make the playoffs, there could be a chance he gets called up then. But that’s a bit far in the future, and I don’t have a crystal ball. The Oilers’ goaltending situation could be interesting in the year ahead as they locked in Pickard for two years this summer, and Skinner still has two years left on his contract which expires at the end of the 2025-26 season. If Rodrigue has a big year down on the farm, the Oilers will have to make a hard decision, and hopefully, they won’t lose this prospect similar to how they lost Broberg and Holloway.
Oilers Hoping 2024-25 Camp Is Healthier Than Last Season
After the Oilers were finished playing all of their preseason games last season, it wasn’t officially confirmed but it looked as though McDavid and Ekholm were not completely healthy going into the season. They can ill afford to have an issue like this come up at the beginning of this new season. The team was on their heels from Game 1 of the 2023-24 season and played catch-up for the rest of the year. I believe this drained them physically and mentally, and it’s one of the reasons why they had absolutely nothing left in the tank for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The NHL is a marathon, not a sprint…that’s why the Oilers have to handle their Captains Skate, training camp and preseason games a bit differently this season. If they come out for the regular season flat, it’ll be tough to be the comeback kids for the second year in a row.
