{"id":914280,"date":"2026-09-29T16:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/914280\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T16:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:48:33","slug":"five-takeaways-from-the-oilers-2026-training-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/914280\/","title":{"rendered":"Five takeaways from the Oilers\u2019 2026 training camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Training camp has wrapped up, all the pre-season games have been played, and the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> finished with a perfect 4-0 record in the exhibition games.<\/p>\n

The Oilers played with pace, got solid goaltending, and, for the most part, looked like a team that was buying into the system that head coach Mike Babcock is trying to implement. With that in mind, with the pre-season now in the books, here are five takeaways from training camp.<\/p>\n

Jarry and Levi both had excellent campsThe Oilers have a very good problem in the crease coming out of training camp, with both Tristan Jarry<\/a> and Devon Levi<\/a> playing very well in their respective outings. The problem now is figuring out who gets the bulk of the starts.Both netminders played in two games apiece, with Jarry posting a .952 save percentage (SV%) and a 1.23 goals-against average (GAA), while Levi posted a .946 SV% and a 1.20 GAA. Also, both netminders seemed to be confident handling the puck, with Jarry trying to score a goal on an empty net against the Vancouver Canucks on Sept. 24<\/a>, and he might have, had Elias Pettersson not knocked it down.Levi showed off his \u2018Mike Smith-esque\u2019 puck-handling skills throughout camp as well, with no better example than against the Winnipeg Jets, when he launched an 80-foot pass<\/a> to Kasperi Kapanen that created a scoring chance.Early signs point to some healthy competition in net this season, something Levi is prepared for, saying<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m definitely ready. I think it\u2019ll be a healthy competition too,\u201d he said. \u201cJarry\u2019s a great guy. We\u2019ve had some good conversations. We don\u2019t really look at it as like who\u2019s going to take it from one another \u2013 it\u2019s about who can help the team.\u201dOwen Michaels has been a pleasant surpriseRaise your hand if you thought Owen Michaels<\/a> would still be up with the Oilers after all the exhibition games had been played.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I don\u2019t see many hands raised.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think even the head coach thought so, either, with Mike Babcock saying<\/a>, \u201cHe wasn\u2019t on the radar at all, and then he keeps showing up in all the good clips. Suddenly, he wins these faceoffs, he tracks, he\u2019s in the right spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old played in four pre-season games and impressed throughout camp, especially last game against the Flames. The centreman was put in key situations to take draws and went 9-4 on the dot. The scoring chances were also 8-5 in the Oilers\u2019 favour when he was on the ice, while the high-danger chances were 3-0.<\/p>\n

Michaels is defensively sound, plays the game the right way, and with limited right-handed faceoff men and Jason Dickinson<\/a> out with an injury, it looks like he\u2019s earned a spot in the Oilers\u2019 lineup, at least for the first game of the season. If things work out, I could see Michaels carving out a similar role to what Derek Ryan<\/a> had.Kapanen looks to have edged out Howard for a top-six spotWith Matt Savoie<\/a> out with an injury, there\u2019s an opening in the top-six, and the Oilers, it seems, gave Isaac Howard every opportunity to grab it throughout training camp.Yet, Howard, who played in four pre-season games, was impactful in only one of those games, rising to the occasion when the Oilers sent an AHL-type lineup to Vancouver to take on the Canucks on Sept. 24. He scored a goal with his quick release,<\/a> picked up an assist and led the Oilers with seven shots.If Howard wanted to really grab hold of that top-six spot, he needed to have an excellent follow-up game against the Flames in the final exhibition game. However, he was just \u2018alright\u2019 on the second line through the first part of the game, and because Kasperi Kapanen was playing so well<\/a>, Howard was bumped down to the third line.Kapanen, on the other hand, played in two pre-season games and was very noticeable in both, especially last game. When he was elevated to the second line, he scored a marvellous goal, set up Ryan Shea for a tally, and was buzzing throughout the night. And based on the lines recently posted by Jason Gregor<\/a>, it looks like that performance may have gotten him the inside track to start in the top-six this season.Overall, the Finn\u2019s skill set seems tailor-made for the aggressive style that Babcock wants his team to play, and as I previously wrote, playing for his former coach, under whom he had his best season, along with that familiarity and comfort, might just get Kapanen back to the 40-point plateau<\/a> this season.Oilers have some intriguing call-up options this seasonWith the pre-season games, I tend to pay more attention to the bubble players rather than the vets who are merely getting into game shape, and there were many impressive standouts from the bubble crew who caught my eye throughout training camp, like Atro Lepp\u00e4nen, Connor Clattenburg, Quinn Hutson, Viljami Marjala, Eduards Tralmaks<\/a>, Damien Carfagna, and Tomas Cibulka.<\/p>\n

Tralmaks was noticeable using his big 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame to protect pucks; Hutson\u2019s offensive instincts were on display, while Connor Clattenburg did Connor Clattenburg-type things and flattened the opposition.<\/p>\n

On the blue line, the pairing of Lepp\u00e4nen and Carfagna<\/a> was one of, if not the best, pairings against the Winnipeg Jets on Sept. 22, with Lepp\u00e4nen scoring in that game. Both blueliners showed excellent mobility and puck movement, while Cibulka was solid in his one-game outing, making nice retrievals, using his body to protect pucks, and picking up an assist.<\/p>\n

OT WINNER \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n

Viljami Marjala snipes home the pass from Zach Hyman to win it for the Edmonton Oilers! <\/p>\n

But the player who impressed me the most out of the fringe players was Marjala. Of course, when you bury an OT winner<\/a>, you\u2019re going to be in the spotlight, but it was his playmaking and subtle yet effective passes that really stood out to me throughout camp.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the Oilers have done a good job of putting together some solid call-up options if injuries occur this season.<\/p>\n

Mike Babcock is off to a good start in EdmontonWhen the rumours of Mike Babcock<\/a> signing with the Oilers first surfaced, there was backlash, and given the stories about the mistreatment of previous players, it was deserved. I was very impartial about the signing, but at the same time, in order to have a full perception of someone, you need the whole picture.<\/p>\n

So, after his hiring, I made a point of seeking out the positive stories about Babcock because the negative ones are naturally the ones that spread faster.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the end of training camp, and we saw our first real look at Babcock with the Oilers. So far, the early returns have been quite positive.<\/p>\n

In addition to being a walking quote machine and handling negative opinions from Mark Messier<\/a> well, he\u2019s also made his expectations clear to his players, stressing the importance of the little details, from in-game situations to routine drills in practice. And what we\u2019ve seen so far from this Oilers squad is that they\u2019re playing with pace, defending better, and competing at a high level throughout training camp.Looking online, the feeling around Babcock has been mostly positive from fans so far, but most importantly, the players seem to feel good about it, with Hyman saying<\/a>, \u201cI think that you\u2019re seeing changes on the ice, and it feels good as a player, and it\u2019s all positive. It\u2019s been really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, now that training camp is done, I\u2019d say Babcock passed the first step. But now, the real fun begins, and the pressure on him amps up, with the Oilers opening the season on Sept. 30 against the Canucks.<\/p>\n

PRESENTED BY YEGplus\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

YEGplus is Edmonton International Airport\u2019s new rewards program.\u00a0Members earn 1 point for every dollar spent on shopping and dining with participating airport partners by scanning their itemized receipts.\u00a0\u00a0Members can also earn points on airport parking by booking parking at YEG or jetSet Parking directly through the YEGplus platform.\u00a0\u00a0Points can be redeemed for rewards like airport parking or YEG Bon Voyage Promo Cards.<\/p>\n

Best of all \u2013 it\u2019s completely free to join.\u00a0 For more info, check out yegplus.com\/pod<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Training camp has wrapped up, all the pre-season games have been played, and the Edmonton Oilers finished with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":914281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-914280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}