FEATURE: Foegele well-acquainted with Oilers teammates

EDMONTON, AB - Warren Foegele was surrounded by his Edmonton Oilers teammates when the franchise acquired him on the opening day of the National Hockey League Free Agency period.
Lumped together in a training session that included Oilers Captain Connor McDavid, Alternate Captain Darnell Nurse, free-agent signee Zach Hyman and returning forward Devin Shore, it was only fitting that Foegele caught wind of the transaction that made him a member of the Orange & Blue from one of his newest squadmates.

"It was tough," Holland told the media. "Having Evan Bouchard and Ethan Bear, I didn't want to go with four right-shot defencemen again. Ethan's a great young man and he's 24 years of age but I also have an obligation and responsibility to make moves to make the team better."
Holland struck a pact with last year's top-scoring defender, none other than Tyson Barrie, and brought in former Pittsburgh Penguins rearguard Cody Ceci to fill the defensive void left by Larsson. In trading Bear, an opportunity to bolster the top nine became possible.
"Ultimately, once I made a decision to sign Ceci and re-sign Barrie, we had a defenceman to trade," Holland explained. "I wanted to get a forward that could play left wing, get in on the forecheck, has good speed, is big, strong and just try to get a little bit deeper up front."
Foegele arrives in Edmonton in need of a new contract but couldn't understate the excitement of being welcomed to a team featuring plenty of promise. One comforting factor is being acquaintances with many skaters on the squad, like Shore, who had the privilege of breaking the news.
"It's definitely exciting to have some familiar faces to be with once I get down there to Edmonton," Foegele said.