Stan Bowman put a little Edmonton back into the Edmonton Oilers ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

The general manager who moved out homegrown products Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak in a goalie swap with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season, repatriated former Chicago Blackhawks forward Colton Dach — a player Bowman drafted in Chicago — in time to make his hometown debut Friday against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.

“I think it’s a great opportunity, I’m super excited to be here,” said the 23-year-old native of St. Albert. “I’m just going to try to bring some physicality, some energy and use my size to my advantage, knowing my game and just using my assets to my advantage.”

At 6-foot-4, 218 pounds, Dach led all Blackhawks with 189 hits in 53 games this season, and continues to lead the way on the Oilers in that department, as he sits in the top 10 in the NHL.

“For me, a lot of it’s probably in the forecheck trying to wear defencemen down,” Dach said. “I think if you get on them early enough in the game they’re not really going to be wanting to go back for pucks. Trying to wear them down.

“When there’s a chance to make a big hit, you make a big hit. You follow through with it and just try and use my size.”

Talk about a trade that really hit home.

“It’s pretty crazy. I think my mom and dad, they were probably the two most excited people on the planet yesterday when they found out,” Dach said, adding his parents and sister got tickets for his Oilers debut Friday, while his older brother, Kirby, is a forward with the Montreal Canadiens. “So, it’s pretty crazy. We were coming to games since I don’t remember how old I was, but it’s a pretty surreal moment.

“I remember one time we got to come, I think Sheldon Souray brought us to Rexall (Place) for a practice one time and we got to tour the locker-room and stuff, got some autographs then. I don’t remember how old I was, but we were diehard Oilers (fans). It was a 30-minute drive to come in and watch the games, so it was pretty cool.”

The last Oilers game he was at was during an off-season when the Oilers went on one of their recent runs to the Stanley Cup Final.

“I didn’t go last year, I went the year before though to one of the games versus Dallas,” Dach said. “I think (Logan) Stankoven was on there, I played a few games with him at the world juniors, so I went and watched him in that one. But I haven’t been in a little bit.”

Dach was one of three Blackhawks added to the Oilers roster ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline, with defenceman Connor Murphy arriving Tuesday, and Dach getting into Edmonton on Thursday alongside forward Jason Dickinson.

“It’s a little different,” Dach said of the two trades that moved them out as a group. “I’m pretty happy that Jason and Connor are here as well.

“Travelling with Jason yesterday helped a lot, I was calling him probably like every 15 minutes about what to pack and what I have to do. That was helpful, but it’s pretty crazy.”

Not to mention a little less stressful, now that he’s playing with someone like Connor McDavid, instead of against him.

“I remember this year, he picked the puck up behind the net and we had a little neutral-zone trouble with him coming at me,” Dach recalled. “And I came back to the bench, ‘I just don’t know what to do.’

“Definitely nice being on his team.”

Dach is also familiar with new teammate and Oilers rookie Matt Savoie, as the two both grew up playing hockey in St. Albert.

“We played together on Team Alberta U-16, I think it was Canada Games,” Dach said. “I played against him my whole life because he always played underage, so we would always meet in my second year or something like that. We kind of always played against each other.”

Of course, playing for his hometown team comes with some different expectations and a larger spotlight that he might have been used to in Chicago.

But Dach doesn’t see it as added pressure.

“I don’t really think so, I’m still going out there and playing the game,” he said. “Maybe walking into the rink it’s a little different, but when I tie my skates and step on the ice it’s going to be the same.”

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

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