September 17, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

Training camp for the Edmonton Oilers gets underway on Wednesday with physicals before the team hits the ice on Thursday. Here’s a comprehensive preview of what you can expect from camp this fall including a look at the new faces joining the group this year, some of the position battles that will happen, and roster projections for both the Oilers and the Bakersfield Condors.

New faces

These are players that were not at Oilers camp last year and that did not play games for the Oilers last season:

The list is highlighted by Isaac “Ike” Howard, the 31st overall pick from the 2022 NHL draft that was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for 2024 32nd overall pick Sam O’Reilly this summer. Howard won the Hobey Baker Award after putting up 26 goals and 26 assists for Michigan State University of the NCAA. He wasn’t going to get the opportunity to play with the Lightning this season, so he requested a trade to a team where he would get an opportunity. The Oilers were his preferred destination. Howard will have an opportunity to vie for a spot on a scoring line in training camp, but a lacklustre showing in the two prospect games against the Calgary Flames prospects last weekend has dampened some of the hoopla around his immediate potential impact.

Andrew Mangiapane was the Oilers’ biggest free agent signing this summer. Mangiapane’s production dipped to 28 points in 82 games for the Washington Capitals last season. The 29-year old will be looking to show that last season’s output was an outlier rather than his new normal. Even if he isn’t scoring, he’s reliable defensively and he’s effective on the forecheck.

Related: 2025 Oilers Free Agent Frenzy Wrap

Alec Regula was claimed off waivers by the Oilers on December 11, 2024. He didn’t play a single game for the Oilers while recovering from a knee injury. It didn’t cost the Oilers anything against the cap to stash Regula, so they stashed him away. He has a history with Oilers GM Stan Bowman from their time together in the Blackhawks organization. Bowman acquired Regula from the Detroit Red Wings for former Oiler Brendan Perlini in 2019. Interestingly, Regula was a part of another trade involving a former Oiler. He was shipped to the Boston Bruins in the trade that sent Taylor Hall to the Blackhawks. Regula will have to blast the door off the hinges in this camp to earn a spot on the Oilers defence this season, but he has NHL potential.

David Tomasek earned a one-year contract with the Oilers after leading the SHL with 57 points in 47 games. He’s got a history of consistent offensive production in leagues all across Europe. Tomasek is a solid right-handed faceoff option. I view Tomasek as the biggest wildcard for the Oilers this season. He’s got the skill to contribute offensively, but who knows how well he will adjust to the North American game. Tomasek could see time in the top six this season, or he could be a bust.

Tomasek was just one of a wave of European signings made by Oilers GM Stan Bowman. Atro Leppänen led the Liiga in scoring as a defenceman last season. He put up 63 points in 60 games, which is a single-season record for a defenceman in the Liiga. Josh Samanski is a 23-year old 6’5” center that has four years of professional hockey experience playing for the Straubing Tigers in Germany’s DEL. 

Related: Oilers’ pursuit of “outside the box” prospects continues with Hutson and Leppanen signings

Quinn Hutson and Roby Jarventie have asterisks by their names. Hutson was signed by the Oilers after his college season ended, and he got into the Oilers’ final two regular season games last season. Hutson was basically invisible in those games, but he showed well in the prospect games this past weekend.

Jarventie was acquired as part of the trade that sent Xavier Bourgault to the Ottawa Senators last summer, but he missed camp last year because of a nagging knee injury. He only played in two games for the Bakersfield Condors last season. Jarventie signed a contract in Finland this spring before signing with the Oilers later on. He’s healthy and ready to show everyone what he’s got in this camp.

Injuries

Zach Hyman is still recovering from the broken wrist he sustained in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final last spring. He will play this season, but his timeline for return is still unknown. I don’t anticipate him being ready to start the season, which will create an opportunity for someone on the right side.

Mattias Ekholm recently revealed that the injury that kept him out of action for three months last spring was a torn adductor. He was not at 100% when he returned to play in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, and he was surviving rather than thriving during the Stanley Cup Final. Ekholm says that he’s feeling much better now, but I believe that this will be a situation to monitor throughout the season.

Goaltenders

Like it or not, the Oilers are running it back with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard in goal this season.

The only goaltending battle we will see is for the backup role in Bakersfield. Matt Tomkins was signed to be the starter for the Bakersfield Condors. Connor Ungar, Nathaniel Day, and Samuel Jonsson are left to fight for that backup role behind Tomkins. Ungar is the oldest of the three and has the most professional experience, but that experience is only 35 games in the ECHL that came last season. Day got into three games for the Oilers’ ECHL affiliate (Fort Wayne Komets) after his junior season ended last year, and he recorded shutouts in two of them. Jonsson put up unreal numbers (.922 save percentage, 1.88 GAA) in Sweden’s second league last season and will be playing in North America for the first time this season.

Defence

The defence group basically went unchanged this summer, aside from the departure of John Klingberg. There are five absolute locks including Bouchard, Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Jake Walman, and Brett Kulak. 

The identities of the sixth and seventh defencemen are Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher. What we don’t know is whether Emberson, who played 76 games for the Oilers last season and signed a two-year contract with an AAV of $1.3 million, will play over Stecher, who played well in eight playoff games for the Oilers last spring. Emberson has youth on his side and the team clearly wants him to grow with them otherwise they wouldn’t have signed him to a multi-year extension; but playoff hockey proved to be too fast for Emberson last spring. Stecher was surprisingly the best partner for Nurse last season, and you know what you’ll get with Stecher.

Josh Brown could factor into the mix at some point in the season, but he won’t earn a spot out of camp. Regula and Leppänen are the two names that could surprise in this camp. Regula has a better shot than Leppänen based on his having NHL experience and his being a right shot. Leppänen’s offensive skillset is intriguing, but an injury on the left side is his most likely path to NHL playing time this season.

Forwards

The departures of Evander Kane, Corey Perry, Connor Brown, and Viktor Arvidsson have set the stage for a reset of sorts for the Oilers forward group. Derek Ryan’s retirement has also left a depth forward role vacated.

Mangiapane is one obvious replacement. I see him starting in the top six, but his role could change throughout the season, especially once Hyman returns from his injury.

Matt Savoie, who was acquired for Ryan McLeod last summer, is poised to take a spot in the top six as well. There’s an opening for the ninth overall pick from the 2022 NHL draft, and he appears ready to take it. He appeared much quicker than he did last season based on his play in the prospects games last weekend, and his body is more ready to handle the rigours of a full NHL 82-game schedule.

Howard is expected to play in the NHL this season. Some people think he will start in the top six, but I need to see more of him in preseason games before making that determination. He certainly has a top six skillset. The questions for me lie away from the puck. If he can show that he can do the little things like forechecking, winning wall battles, and being in the right positions defensively, then he will improve his chances at a top six role. He left me wanting more in those areas in the prospects games last weekend, and he didn’t impress me when he had the puck with the exception of a few nice passes.

Tomasek will certainly get a chance to show what he can do in the NHL. I think he will get bounced around the lineup consistently unless he catches lightning in a bottle with a particular line at some point.

Curtis Lazar will also factor into the conversation. He’s a fourth liner at best, but he’s a speedy right-handed forward that can play centre or wing as well as penalty kill. All of that has value.

I genuinely don’t see anyone making a surprise run at a forward spot in this camp, not even Noah Philp. Philp has a lot of fans in Edmonton, including myself. I don’t think the Oilers would’ve signed Tomasek and Lazar, two right-handed options for face-offs that have more professional experience than Philp, if they truly believe that Philp is a part of the plan going forward though. I think Philp is a good skater with decent hockey sense, but I don’t see him as anything more than an AHL-NHL tweener.

If you want a couple of names to keep on your radar, then I would pick Jarventie or Viljami Marjala. Jarventie hasn’t played a lot of hockey in the last couple of years due to a knee injury, but he’s about ready to pop at any moment. He won’t earn a spot out of camp, but he’s a potential call-up option this season. 

Marjala was signed by the Oilers on June 7, 2025. The 22-year old has spent the last three years playing for TPS Turku in the Liiga. He got 52 points in 54 games there last season. Marjala looked really good in the prospects games last weekend. He scored a breakaway goal and set up Savoie for a nice goal on the rush after getting promoted to the top line in the first game. Look for him to make some noise with the Bakersfield Condors this season.

My opening night roster

This is how I believe the Oilers lineup will look when they take the ice for their season opener at Rogers Place against the Calgary Flames on October 8:

Nugent-Hopkins ($5.25M)	McDavid ($12.5M)	Mangiapane ($3.6M)
Podkolzin ($1M)	Draisaitl ($14M)	Savoie ($886,666)
Howard ($950k)	Frederic ($3.85M)	Tomasek ($1.2M)
Janmark ($1.45M)	Henrique ($3M)	Kapanen ($1.3M)
	Lazar ($775k)

Ekholm ($6M)	Bouchard ($10.5M)
Nurse ($9.25M)	Stecher ($785k)
Kulak ($2.75M)	Walman ($3.4M)
	Emberson ($1.3M)

Skinner ($2.6M)

Pickard ($1M)

IR: Hyman ($5.5M)

Total Player Cap Hit: $92,724,166

Mangiapane is a placeholder for Hyman on that top line. Once Hyman returns, I could easily see Mangiapane carving out a third line role for himself.

My version of the Draisaitl line might have some people scratching their heads wondering why I would strap two kids to the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner. Doesn’t he deserve better linemates, especially after committing to Edmonton for eight more years?

Draisaitl LOVES playing with Podkolzin because he does the heavy work to get Draisaitl the puck. Draisaitl also believes that there’s more untapped offensive potential in Podkolzin, as do I. They played 497:28 together at five-on-five in 71 games last season, so it isn’t far-fetched to suggest that Podkolzin will spend most of the season on Draisaitl’s wing once again. 

Savoie played his four NHL games with Draisaitl last season, and I thought they had excellent chemistry. After their first practice together, Draisaitl said this about Savoie:

“Yeah, he looked great I thought. He moves really well. You can tell he’s got a lot of hockey sense to him.”

Elliotte Friedman asked Draisaitl about Savoie and Howard during an exclusive interview for 32 Thoughts that was released on Wednesday morning, and this is what Draisaitl said about Savoie:

“I’ve been skating with him for about three weeks, and he looks good, looks really good. I think he’s got everything you need to be a really impactful NHL player… I got really high hopes for him, he looks really good.”

It doesn’t sound like Draisaitl would be disappointed to have Savoie on his wing. Savoie only got one assist in his four game stint playing with Draisaitl and the Oilers last season, but I feel there’s a lot more offence to come from him alongside Draisaitl this season.

First NHL assist for Matthew Savoie, who's making his Oilers debut 🙌

📺: SNW, SN1, Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com/wcGjY3vRJA

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 22, 2025

I have Howard starting on the third line. Howard doesn’t profile as a checking forward, but my idea is to create a third scoring line. I put Tomasek on the third line to start because Howard needs linemates who can think the game at his level from an offensive perspective. Frederic wants more of an opportunity to play centre, and he can do a lot of the heavy lifting on that line. He can use his speed and physicality on the forecheck, and he can chip in offensively too. Frederic and Tomasek are defensively responsible players that can produce. Howard has defensive insurance with those two players in case he struggles in that regard.

I need to see Howard play more before I can feel certain about his place on the team, but I have no issue seeing where he’s at to start the season. He’s on an entry-level contract, and he’s exempt from waivers. The Oilers could play him for up to nine games without burning a year off his contract. Howard could get sent to Bakersfield early in the season, and that wouldn’t be the end of the world for a 21-year old in his first professional season. He could also force his way onto the team. Time will tell.

I would also have time for Adam Henrique as the centre on that line, but I opted for more speed on the third line. Having Henrique as a fourth line centre is a luxury. You know what you’re getting out of Mattias Janmark, and Kasperi Kapanen brings speed and physicality with the occasional big goal. That’s a fourth line that should keep the puck out of the net and at least break even at five-on-five.

The defence pairings I listed aren’t much different than the ones that were used after the trade deadline last season when the team was fully healthy (which wasn’t often). Stecher on the second pairing over Walman isn’t an indication of the skill level of those two players. I have Stecher with Nurse because Nurse seemed to play the best with Stecher last season. 

Mark Stuart is running the defence this season, and he might have his own ideas on how the defencemen should be paired, but I don’t think he will reinvent the wheel to start the season. I also think that Ekholm’s adductor injury will limit his mobility to the point where the pairings will have to get shuffled around to get him away from the other team’s best players more often at some point in the season, but not right away.

We have to remember that forward lines and defence pairings get changed often. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch might change the lines after one period on opening night for all we know. That’s my best guess on how the team will start the season though.

Unsigned players at camp

William Nicholl (2024 7th round), Tommy Lafreniere (2025 3rd round), and David Lewandowski (2025 4th round) will all be heading back to their respective junior teams at some point. They will be among the first cuts at Oilers camp. Rem Pitlick, Rhett Pitlick, Matt Copponi, Luke Prokop, and Mason Millman all signed AHL deals with the Condors this summer, so expect them to be sent to the Condors camp early.

Bakersfield Condors Roster Projection

I’m less confident about my line combinations and defence pairings for the Condors than I am for the Oilers, but this is my best shot at it.

Seth Griffith no longer has an NHL contract with the Oilers, but he’s signed to an AHL deal with the Condors. He will lead the charge offensively for them once again this season. James Hamblin will be a big part of the Condors offence again as well. Those two are the gristled veterans of this reimagined Condors forward group.

Noah Philp and Max Jones both saw action with the Oilers last season. Philp is a great skater and he’s done nothing but improve over his professional career. He has developed into a solid all-around centre at the AHL level. Jones is a former first round pick that saw NHL action last season. He’s a wrecking ball with halfway decent hands.

The Condors will get a bit of an influx of European skill this season. Jarventie’s health is at a point where he should be able to contribute meaningfully this season, which will be exciting for Condors fans and Oilers fans to see. 

After watching Marjala play in the prospects games last weekend, I’m intrigued to see how he fares in Bakersfield. He can play centre, as Condors head coach Colin Chaulk had him do last weekend; but I think he’s smart enough to play any forward position. The Condors have a lot of options at centre, and Marjala’s skill should be utilized in the top six, even if it means he has to play the wing.

Josh Samanski has a tantalizing mix of size and skill. The 6’5”, 189 lb centre already has four years of professional experience in the DEL. He put up 40 points in 52 games for the Straubing Tigers last season. He needs to fill out his frame a bit more because he got pushed around a little bit in those prospect games last weekend, but that will come with time.

Rhett Pitlick and Matt Copponi got games with the Condors after their college seasons finished last season. Pitlick had 40 points in 39 games for Minnesota State University – Mankato before getting six assists in six games for the Condors to finish his season. Copponi got 24 points in 40 games for Boston University before getting two assists in three games for the Condors. Both are with the Condors on AHL deals this season. The Oilers had until August 15, 2025 to sign Copponi to an NHL deal before losing his NHL rights, but they opted not to sign him. They could still sign him if they wanted to though, so that’s a situation to monitor this season.

Rem Pitlick, Rhett’s older brother, has 54 points in 132 NHL games. The 2016 3rd round pick got 13 points in 18 games for the San Jose Barracuda last season. He joined the Condors on an AHL deal this season.

The Condors defence has undergone some major changes. Cam Dineen and Josh Brown are the only holdovers from last season.

Regula, assuming he clears waivers, should have a big role on this team. The 6’4”, 211 lb righty missed all of last season with a knee injury, but he’s got all the tools to be an NHL defender. Hopefully a season in a big role with the Condors will get his career jumpstarted after missing an entire season of hockey.

Leppänen is a dynamic offensive defenceman that will add a lot of skill to this defence unit. He will have to adjust to the speed of the North American game, but his offensive instincts should allow him to adapt to the AHL level nicely.

Oilers 2023 second round pick Beau Akey will make his professional debut for the Condors this season. He took a bit of a step backwards last season after missing the majority of the 2023-24 season with a shoulder injury, but he has a ton of potential. The 20-year old will look to get his professional career started on the right foot this season.

Riley Stillman has 163 games of NHL experience under his belt at 27 years of age. He will be a reliable defenceman for the Condors this season, and he could be a calming influence for Akey if paired together.

I expect Damien Carfagna to factor in somewhere along the way this season as injuries and callups dictate. Carfagna took a big leap with 28 points in 38 games for Ohio State University last season, and he was the best Oilers defenceman in the prospect games last weekend.

As mentioned earlier, Tomkins will be the starting goaltender for the Condors. I’m not entirely sure about the backup position, but I don’t think Jonsson would be playing in North America this season if the plan was going to be to stick him in the ECHL.

Chaulk will have a lot to learn about his new roster in the early stages of the season, but he has a lot of new weapons to utilize. The Condors narrowly missed a playoff spot last season. Hopefully the new additions are enough to propel the Condors into a playoff spot this season.