BLOG: Oilers ready to roll on to Stanley Cup Final

EDMONTON, AB – All freshened up for the Stanley Cup Final.

The Edmonton Oilers have fought their way through three tightly packed and demanding series against Los Angeles, Vancouver and Dallas over 18 games, 12 victories and 44 total days spent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far to arrive at the precipice of competing for the club's sixth Stanley Cup championship only four wins away from lifting the game's holy grail.

Thankfully for the Blue & Orange, the Sunday-to-Saturday gap in the schedule between the Third Round and the Final of the Stanley Cup Playoffs came almost precisely when they needed it, offering the team's players, coaches – and even fans – a chance to rest and recuperate before getting back to work at practice on Wednesday in preparation of taking care of business one last time in 2024 in the Cup Final.

“I think all of us are feeling really fresh right now,” Stuart Skinner said following Wednesday’s practice at the Downtown Community Arena in ICE District.

The Oilers have accepted the rest that’s being given to them this week before hitting the ice for the team's first – and only – full-team practice ahead of making the nearly 4,100-kilometre one-way trip to Sunrise, FL for Games 1 & 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

After dispatching the Los Angeles Kings in five games during the First Round, Edmonton’s players and coaching staff were able to recharge over seven days between their Game 5 victory on home ice over the Kings and Game 1 of the Second Round against Vancouver. That extra time paid off in the long run, as the Oilers were about to begin a run of 26 days playing nearly every other day en route to earning their place in the Stanley Cup Final.

The only exception to that was the two full days in between Round 2 & Round 3, but on both those days, the Blue & Orange were boarding flights either back to Edmonton for 24 hours or to Dallas to begin what would become a six-game victory over the Stars in the Western Conference Final.

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Following their Game 6 win at Rogers Place, the Oilers had a full day off Monday before coming into the rink on Tuesday to carry out media availabilities and engage in team meetings to discuss how the next week is going to play out off the ice – with media and travel being two of of the major focal points of going to the Final.

But all that goes dark once the Blue & Orange step onto the ice for Game 1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 6:00 pm MT.

“We had a meeting yesterday and we talked about just what to expect,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There’s more time for the media and obviously the travel. We went over all the logistics, and for us, we have to control what we can and can't get distracted by what's going on away from the game, or even what Florida is doing. We have to focus on how we're playing and what we need to be doing, and that's it. If we can limit the distractions as much as possible, then we should be okay.”

Rested and recharged, the Oilers are ready to roll on.

“We played a lot of games in a short amount of days, so being able to get a few days here where we were able to get some rest, get away from the game a little bit, enjoy our families and enjoy each other, it's a really nice way to get away from the game and then, it's right back to work," Skinner said.

“It was nice getting back in there today and getting back to stopping some pucks.”

The Oilers did deploy some new-look lines in the bottom six during Wednesday's practice, with the biggest change to the lineup being Adam Henrique taking the third-line centre spot between Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. Both Derek Ryan and Sam Carrick took reps down the middle of the fourth line with Ryan McLeod and Corey Perry, offering a formidable bottom-six group that can handle the heavy assignments that Florida will give them with the last change as the home side for Games 1 & 2.

The biggest hinge-piece of the whole shuffle is Henrique, whose versatility as a shutdown forward and a goalscorer can be utilized in whatever role Knoblauch sees fit for the task of trying to counter Florida's deep roster.

"I think he can be anywhere from a first-line left winger to a second-line left winger, a third-line winger or whatever up and down the lineup, whether he's playing left wing or centre," Knoblauch said. "So I think it depends on the rest of our lineup. We will insert him depending on what Florida has for their matchups because I think Rico gives us a lot of options. I think he's a very good hockey player. Whether he's more of a shutdown role or he's complimenting somebody to score goals, I think he's a key player.

Only Evander Kane wasn’t on the ice during Wednesday’s practice after the 32-year-old was kept out due to maintenance reasons, but Coach Knoblauch mentioned yesterday that the winger is expected to practice with the team on Friday in Florida ahead of Saturday’s Game 1 of the Cup Final.

Warren Foegele was a fill-in for Kane on the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Dylan Holloway, and while his return to the lineup might not come on Saturday, Knoblauch said that Foegele will certainly have a chance to impact the series in the coming games.

“Warren's a very good hockey player and he'll be coming in the lineup – whether it's Game 1 or Game 4,” the bench boss said. “There'll be some time where he’ll be playing during this series, and with his speed, his tenacity, and his goalscoring, not many guys score 20 goals in a secondary role.”

The same goes for Vincent Desharnais, who's given way to Philip Broberg for the last three games for Edmonton and is expected to be the seventh defenceman for Game 1 after the young Swede acquitted himself well in Games 5 & 6 against Dallas, including his first career playoff goal.

"I think Vinny's going to come in the lineup eventually. We'll need him," Knoblauch added. "Whether it's Game 1 or Game 4 I'm not sure, but Broby's played really well and we have to decide what we're doing with our pairs. We have to decide who's playing with who and who's playing well and then we kind of go from there, but right now, I don't see any reason to take Broby out just because he's been playing really well."