Pontus Aberg will make his Edmonton Oilers debut Tuesday night in San Jose.
The Oilers acquired Aberg on Sunday in a trade with the Nashville Predators for forward Mark Letestu.
Aberg is looking forward to a fresh start with a new team.
“I only played one game out of the last seven for the Predators, so that was frustrating,” said Aberg. “I think the Oilers are a real good fit for me, it’s always nice to come to a team that wants to play you, so I’m happy to be here.”
“It’s been a while but I’m going to work hard out there and try and use my speed,” added Aberg on what Oiler fans can expect from him.
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan confirmed that Aberg will play on a line with Ryan Strome and Jesse Puljujarvi.
“They are skilled, Jesse has got to evolve and continue to play, Strome is playing with some confidence and Pontus – we need to figure out where he can fit in and where we can get the best out of him,” said McLellan on the newly formed line.
“We like the way our lines have played over the last few games so we wanted to keep them as similar as possible. As we move forward we want to see everybody improve, not just that new line, everybody needs to move the needle in the right direction.”
The Oilers will try and sweep their three game California road trip. Overall they have won three in a row, and four of their last five.
The Oilers also made a roster move prior to the game. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli was on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer on Tuesday when he mentioned that the team would soon be calling up defenceman Ethan Bear from Bakersfield.
Listen: Peter Chiarelli chats with Bob Stauffer on Oilers NOW a day after the NHL trade deadline
The Oilers made it official shortly after and Bear is expected to join the Oilers in San Jose. Bear has six goals and 16 points in 34 games with Bakersfield this season. He was drafted by the Oilers in the 5th round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Lucic-McDavid-Slepyshev
Cammalleri-Draisaitl-Rattie
Puljujarvi-Strome-Aberg
Caggiula-Khaira-Pakarinen
Russell will be a game time decision on defenceman.
Talbot starts in goal.
Catch the Oilers and Sharks on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 7 p.m. The game starts at 8:30 p.m.
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