Can a team that played 211 games over the last two seasons, only to have its heart broken twice, summon the necessary energy and enthusiasm to make a third marathon run?

We’re about to find out as the Edmonton Oilers open the drapes on another Stanley Cup window.

Going to two-straight Finals is a massive physical and emotional investment at the best of times. Playing all the way into late June and losing both of those Finals seems almost too much to bear. Is it?

Will the Oilers be able to shake it off and launch another nine-month campaign? They’ll say all the right things, but pushing through those scars isn’t going to be easy, especially in October and November when the playoffs seem a million miles away.

The mood around the team will be one of the things to watch when the Oilers open training camp Thursday morning.

Here are some others:

IKE HOWARD AND MATT SAVOIE

With the Oilers having spent so many draft picks over the last few years loading up for playoff runs, it’s imperative they have a Next Wave of young players to produce on entry level contracts and bridge the gap between now and the future.

Ike Howard arrived with a lot of fan fare but the top player in NCAA hockey last year didn’t stand out in a pair of exhibition games at rookie camp. No big deal. It’s a new team at new level and he has no familiarity with his teammates. The real picture will become clearer after four or five NHL pre-season games.

Matt Savoie, with a year of AHL under his belt, looks a little more pro-ready at the moment, which is to be expected given that he’s already played a year of pro. But the same holds true with him — the competition gets harder by the day in main camp, and his ability to stand in there with NHL veterans will determine where he starts the season.

These are important pieces, but whether they fit in now or later remains to be seen.

ANDREW MANGIAPANE

This isn’t the first player who comes to mind when a Stanley Cup contender is trying to round out its top six. Mangiapane is a small forward who averages about 15 goals a season and played 13:02 a night in Washington last year. But ask Zach Hyman (72 goals in his last four years with the Leafs, 144 goals in his first four years with the Oilers) what can happen when a player comes to Edmonton and gets top six minutes.

What kind of chemistry will Mangiapane be able to establish, and how much will his goal total spike in one of the most coveted spots for a winger in the NHL?

ZACH HYMAN

How far away is Hyman, who needed surgery to repair a dislocated wrist, from returning to his spot on the first line? It’s April, May and June that matter, not October, but if Hyman isn’t ready, or isn’t his usual self, the Oilers are going to feel it.

Hyman didn’t shoot a puck all summer, which isn’t the end of the world given that most of his goals come from about five feet out, but it does illustrate the severity of the injury and the depth of the rehab process.

DARK HORSES

Will somebody emerge from the shadows and play himself into the opening night lineup? Finnish kid Viljami Marjala (22), put up 52 points in 54 games in the top Finnish league last year and looked good in rookie camp. Maybe another European free agent signing — 6-foot-5 German centre Josh Samanski, 23 — could step up and surprise. Can 6-foot-4, 211-pound right shot defenceman Alec Regula, who played 22 career games with Chicago, play himself in the six-seven spot on the blue line?

There are openings to be had this year.

DAVID TOMASEK

The most high-profile player in Edmonton’s European haul is the 6-foot-2, 210-pound 29-year-old right winger. He lead the Swedish League in scoring last year with 57 points in 47 games last year. Of course, all of the best players in the world are in the NHL, not Sweden, so you have to take those totals with a grain of salt, but they say he’s looked good in the captain’s skates.

The Oilers desperately need wingers who can generate offence and have some size. Florida’s depth beat them two years in a row so it’s something they have to improve on. He is one of the players they are counting on to step up and fill a role. Will he?

THE GOALTENDING MOVE

The Oilers acknowledged that some some sort of change is needed with their netminding situation when they replaced their goalie coach in the off-season. Dustin Schwartz is out and Peter Aubry is in while the tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard remains in place. How soon will we be able to notice a difference in Skinner’s consistency?

Skinner is a traditionally slow starter but with the lineup changes, the rookies and the injury to Hyman, the Oilers need him to be part of the solution, not part of the problem when the season begins.

POWER PLAY

Edmonton’s nuclear weapon is trending down — from the highest percentage in NHL history (32.4 percent) three years ago to fourth best in the NHL (26.3) two years ago to 12th in the league (23.7) last year.

As with the goaltending situation, the personnel remains the same but they’ll have a new coach in Paul McFarland (six seasons as an assistant in Seattle, Florida and Toronto and head coach with the Calgary Hitmen last year) to try and add some wrinkles and jumpstart their most effective weapon.

THE McDAVID DEAL

Nobody needs to worry about this being a distraction. It might distract the media and the fans, but the players are professionals and won’t give it a second thought.

It’s a real issue, though, that is going to impact the future of the team, so it can’t be ignored.

McDavid signing an eight-year deal doesn’t make sense because the salary cap keeps rising and who knows where the Oilers will be in four or five years. McDavid needs to see where the franchise is trending before he commits. The last thing he wants is to be in locked into a sinking ship.

The wise thing is probably to wait until after Christmas to see what the team looks like. If the Oilers look like a power house again and some of the new guys show that they can be impact players, that might help with his decision. In the meantime, buckle up and hope for the best.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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