Edmonton Oilers forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid during Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinal against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place on Monday April 20, 2026. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia File Photo

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Together? Apart?

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One of the biggest decisions to be made by new Edmonton Oilers Head Coach Mike Babcock this season is what to do with 29 and 97.

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Every other coach before him faced the same dilemma. So, what makes this different?

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That and more in this edition of…

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9. The Edmonton Oilers posted their fewest Wins (41) last season in five years. But prior to that, if you except the 47 victories in 2016-17, this past campaign was the worst performance since 2007-08. That cannot happen again.

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8. Devon Levi is one of three goaltenders who will vie for time in the crease for the Oilers this season. The newly acquired puck stopper talked about the need for change after spending all 2025-26 in the AHL. Levi told The Montreal Gazette “I’m excited to get settled in and start playing”.

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7. This past weekend saw the annual Glenn Anderson & Oilers Alumni Day of Golf return to the city. The worthy beneficiary is the Cross Cancer Institute and of course the people it treats in times of great and urgent need. Colton Dach was one of the present-day Oilers to get in the swing of things.

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6. There is a generation of Oilers fans who will always be connected in a real and emotional way to the Edmonton teams that gave birth to the NHL careers of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Gagner, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall. I am one of them. So, seeing the photo of Taylor Hall and his young son hoisting the Stanley Cup in Gravenhurst, Ontario this week did my heart good.

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5. Former Oiler and Alberta Golden Bear Noah Philp has retired at age 27. Philp is walking away from a contract he had signed in the Swedish league. I see it as an unselfish decision. By staying there even if his heart was not 100% in it (which the player has stated that it was not), then Philp would have been taking the place of another player who desperately wants it.

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4. One of the Oiler wild cards entering this season is newly acquired Defender Shakir Mukhamadullin. I get the attraction of the 6’4 D-man who can skate as well as he can. But a couple things from last season’s stats with San Jose make me want to see more before I proclaim much. One is the 61 giveaways in 50 games. Two are the 35 Hits in those same 50 GP.

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3. One of the off-season commentaries in Oil Country has been all about how Ryan Nugent-Hopkins may play an important role on a third line alongside Jason Dickinson. While I have little doubt that could work, I will first need to be convinced that this club does not still need The Nuge’s services in the top six. For that to work, a young winger like Ike Howard or Colton Dach would need to pop. But even then, Nugent-Hopkins’ services as a Center may super-cede all that. So, until I see all that…colour me skeptical.

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2. Stan Bowman was on Bob Stauffer’s popular Oilers Now! radio program on Friday afternoon. The G.M. spoke about the dynamic of the club entering the season with available cap space, something Bowman has not had at his disposal ever since he first arrived in Edmonton: “We had no space at all. You’re very handcuffed as to what you can do, and it’s tough because opportunities pop up every year during the year. If a player comes available in November that makes two and a half million that you like, but they don’t want, they’re just trying to shed salary. We were never even in the market for that. That was impossible.”