While training camp is still just over one week away, quite a number of Edmonton Oilers players are in Alberta’s capital already, eager to get started on trying to repeat last year’s journey to the Stanley Cup final.
“I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like another three weeks of working out,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said with a chuckle on Monday after taking part in an informal skate at the Downtown Community Arena with some of his hockey teammates.
On Tuesday, Day 2 of the informal skate, Oilers captain Connor McDavid told reporters that he purposely took it easier in terms of his training routine this off-season. He said that was partly because of how short the summer was, but also because he may have done too much the summer before, resulting in some fatigue.
Draisaitl, who just one week ago signed a massive eight-year contract extension that will pay him an average of $14 million a year, spoke about how “lots of guys are here already.”
“Obviously there’s some excitement,” he said.
Knowing Draisaitl will stay with the team for years to come contributes to that excitement, but also the opportunity to get even better after losing in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup final to the Florida Panthers.
In the off-season, the Oilers’ management team made a flurry of moves that resulted in fairly significant changes to its stable of defencemen. It also included potentially key additions to an already potent offence when they signed veteran scorers Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson.
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Skinner scored 24 goals with the Buffalo Sabres last season but managed to score 40 goals in 2018-19 and has reached the 30-goal mark several times in his NHL career. A number of hockey commentators believe he will likely end up on a line with Draisaitl or McDavid.
“As a winger, it’s nice to know you’re going to play with good players,” said Skinner, a 32-year-old forward entering his 15th NHL season.
Despite having played 1,006 regular season games in his career already, Skinner has never played in an NHL playoff game, something he indicated he is excited to do.
“I think everyone saw the run they (Oilers) were on last year,” he said.
“I think you’ve got a lot of guys who are hungry to repeat that run.”
Arvidsson told reporters why the Oilers push to win now was a big reason he signed with the club in the summer.
“I’m at the point in my career where I see myself pushing for that, so it was a no-brainer when they wanted to make a deal.”
Despite all the Oilers’ roster changes, Draisaitl noted “there’s a lot of the same pieces.”
“And we definitely want to be a similar style of hockey team, but we’re going to be our own team and we’re not going to have anything to do with the team last year,” he explained. “But obviously we’re going to try and be better.”
The 28-year-old German superstar spoke about how important getting off to a good start early in the season will be, something the Oilers were unable to do last season after winning just two of their first 12 games.
“That’s our priority — getting off to a good start,” Draisaitl said.
In 2023-24, McDavid, put together another phenomenal season in by scoring 132 points in the regular season before piling up 42 points in 25 playoff games, earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s playoff MVP even though his team did not hoist the Stanley Cup.
As he prepares to lead his teammates into the new season, he suggested — like Draisaitl — that keeping lessons learned from the year before will be key to a good start.
“(Last season,) I think our group had good intentions, (but) I think we got a little bit ahead of ourselves coming out of the gate and obviously it showed,” he said. “A big lesson would have been not getting ahead of yourself and taking care of what’s in front of you.”
The Oilers’ rookie camp gets underway on Wednesday and will see those attendees head to Penticton, B.C., on Friday for the Young Stars Classic.
The Oilers’ first pre-season game will be Sept. 22 against the Winnipeg Jets. The club will also face off at home against the Jets on Oct. 9 for the Oilers’ regular-season opener.
— with files from Global News’ Slav Kornik
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