PREVIEW: Oilers at Kraken

The Oilers will play the first of two road games to close out their pre-season schedule on Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Kraken.

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EDMONTON, AB – The Oilers roster to begin the 2024-25 NHL season is almost locked up as they head out on the road to conclude their preseason with a two-game road trip beginning Wednesday night at Climate Pledge Arena against the Seattle Kraken.

On Tuesday, the Oilers trimmed their Training Camp roster to 26 players (15 forwards, eight defencemen and three goalies) by placing defencemen Ben Gleason and Phil Kemp, forward Lane Pederson and goaltender Collin Delia on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Bakersfield.

Centre James Hamblin was also loaned to the Condors, while defenceman Beau Akey, who’d been at Camp despite not participating in the Young Stars Classic in Penticton or any pre-season matches as he rehabs last season's shoulder injury, was loaned back to the OHL’s Barrie Colts.

Hamblin played in 31 NHL games with the Oilers last season, scoring his first NHL goal in Tampa Bay on Nov. 18 and another against Anaheim during the club's historic 16-game win streak. However, the competition at centre this season in Edmonton leads him him back to Bakersfield, where he will begin the season as a leader for the organization at the AHL level.

"Last year, I saw Hamblin and I really liked his game," Knoblauch said. "He was a big part of our 16-game streak. I'm not exactly sure how many games he played in, but he was here for the majority of it and I thought he was being tenacious, being fast, making some nice plays and was good defensively.

"He just got off to a slow start at Camp. His last game was his best, and I don't think it's the last we're going to see of him. It was just a difficult decision for us."

Gleason put together another strong Camp in Edmonton that included scoring a goal in Monday’s 3-2 pre-season shootout win over the Canucks, but the lack of openings for a left-shot defenceman on the Oilers’ blueline with the returning Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, and Brett Kulak ahead of him left the coaching staff with the decision to go with other right-shot options.

“It's very disappointing,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “It's difficult giving the news, but you tell them things that they did really well in Camp to get this far. During the season, there are going to be times when there are injuries, or we just don't like how our team's playing, and we need a little something different.

"We talk to the players about what they provide and that it’s important that they go down there and they play to that identity. Hopefully, they work on that and can contribute to the organization.”

Coach Knoblauch confirmed that Darnell Nurse has officially been cleared for game action and is likely to make his pre-season debut on Wednesday against Seattle. The Hamilton, ON product will start this season with a new defence partner, and the Oilers’ two remaining pre-season games are important for him to begin finding chemistry next to a guy like Ty Emberson – a front-runner for the spot beside him on the second pairing.

Right shots Josh Brown and Troy Stecher continue to battle for the sixth and seventh defence spots, while professional try-out Travis Dermott has shown himself to be a potential option for the Oilers and is expected to get at least one of Edmonton's two remaining pre-season games.

Knoblauch mentioned that it's important to expect those defencemen to play with an element of good defensive hockey. Important minutes are up for grabs in places like the penalty kill and shut-down roles, but there's still plenty to play out at Camp.

With Pederson and Hamblin assigned, that leaves Drake Caggiula, Noah Philp and Raphael Lavoie in contention for the 13th forward spot. Lavoie didn't skate on Tuesday and was a non-roster player in Monday's victory over Vancouver, but the 24-year-old has been impressive at Camp and is expected to heal up in time to get back into game action before the end of preseason.

Philp, who also tallied a goal in last week's 5-4 win over Seattle at Rogers Place, could prove to be a more versatile choice for the Oilers as a right-shot centre that can kill penalties – potentially opening up the option for Derek Ryan to play the wing at even strength. The 26-year-old has gone 28-19 in faceoffs this preseason, including winning 9-of-11 draws against Seattle this past weekend.

"We are missing right-handed face-off depth," Knoblauch said. "We've got Derek Ryan. Other than that, our top three centres are all left-handed shots. So just having more opportunities to put guys in there to take those defensive zone draws and not have it all just be on all DR's shoulders, I think that helps his cause."

Caggiula has been unlucky by Coach Knoblauch's assessment in his pre-season appearances so far and has proven himself to be a versatile two-way forward who can bring a level of physicality and speed to the lineup.

"Drake has played really well," Knoblauch said. "He's so close to having a fantastic Training Camp. He's had so many scoring chances and they just haven't been able to go in. I think he's good defensively and good with the puck. We're looking for speed and I think he adds a little bit of that. I think he's just a good all-round player."