There’s been a lot of noise around Connor McDavid off the ice since the Edmonton Oilers surrendered a second straight Stanley Cup to the Florida Panthers.
While McDavid’s long, drawn-out contract saga has become the main talking point among Oilers fans and the NHL world, the expectation is that the noise will be drowned out just a little when the Oilers take the ice tonight against the Seattle Kraken as part of their preseason schedule.
Oilers vs. Kraken In Preseason: Update on Connor McDavid
The Oilers’ previous preseason game against the Winnipeg Jets was an eventful one as Edmonton neatly wrapped up a 3-2 win at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.
Quinn Hutson and Hobey Baker Award winner Ike Howard were among the scorers for Edmonton, whereas backup goaltender Calvin Pickard was his usual steely self, stopping all eight shots before being replaced in the second period.
That win took Edmonton to a 2-1 record in preseason. They will now return home to continue their prep at Rogers Place.
The Oilers will have more firepower when they take the ice against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night. McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and new signing Andrew Mangiapane are all expected to feature against Seattle, while we will also see Stuart Skinner in goal.
The Kraken vs. Oilers game will be streamed live on Oilers+ starting at 9 pm ET.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is also expected to make a curious change when they take the ice tonight. In a change that is sure to get fans talking, McDavid and Draisaitl will play on the same line.
With Zach Hyman out injured, Knoblauch is intent on experimenting with his lineup in preseason. The Oilers head coach also mentioned that he will consider having McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line to open the season.
“We want to see what we have from everybody else, we want to see how guys mesh, and without Hyman we’re kind of maybe a little slim on having top-six winger talent, and then you kind of have pieces and maybe you have two lines (third and fourth) that you don’t really like,” Knoblauch told reporters.
The Oilers head coach added that when McDavid and Draisaitl are playing together, they get ‘a lot more’ out of the rest of the three lines. “That might sound a bit ironic, but the others get more ice time that is available. When those two are playing 21 and 22 minutes (apart), there isn’t much ice time left for the third and fourth lines, and often they feel left out,” Knoblauch mentioned.
With that change, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is expected to marshal the second line.