3 Oilers players who have impressed in training camp so far
The Edmonton Oilers are one week into training camp and have three preseason games behind them, so who are the players that have made the most noise so far?
This time of year is not for the Connor McDavids or Leon Draisaitls — it’s rather about identifying those stragglers and bubble players who are fighting tooth and nail to grab one of those last few spots in the lineup.
For those players, this is a battle and one of the most important times of the season. It’s their first chance to come into a new year and make a new first impression that could make or break their goal of playing in the NHL.
It’s not often that these types of players take the spotlight away from the stars, but when you’re in a hockey-mad market like Edmonton, even the smallest of roster battles can make the front page.
With that said, let’s examine a few of these players who have shown well in camp/preseason so far and assess their odds of making the NHL team.
1. Raphael Lavoie
When it comes to players outside of the NHL roster making noise this preseason, Raphael Lavoie is at the top of the list.
There is a lot to like from the Quebecois sniper, whether it be his blistering shot or his tenacity on the boards, but it still may not be enough to earn him an NHL gig. Lavoie has appeared as good as ever in camp, and that will likely earn him a good, long look in the weeks before the regular season gets going. However, there is not a clear-cut spot for him on this Oilers roster.
Lavoie is a goalscorer who plays a heavy game, and while he looked very good in that role while playing on a line with Draisaitl on Monday, it’s highly unlikely he’d be able to get anything more than a bottom-six role on this team.
He scored against the Winnipeg Jets in the team’s preseason opener and nearly had multiple against the Calgary Flames on Monday. A lower-body injury will keep him on the shelf until Friday.
He’s looked good, but the opportunity presented by a cup-contending Oilers team is not plentiful.
2. Noah Philp
One of the best stories of this year’s training camp has been Noah Philp, who is back playing hockey after taking all of last season off for personal reasons.
You would expect a player who has been off the ice for so long to have a bit of rust to his game, but the 26-year-old has looked solid thus far. Philp is currently battling for a role as the team’s fourth-line centre to start the season alongside NHL veteran Derek Ryan and AHL farmhands Lane Pederson and James Hamblin.
He plays a responsible 200-foot game and has looked fairly comfortable with the speed of the game. Philp is certainly NHL-sized, standing at six-foot-three and 198 lbs, making him the biggest of the players angling for that 4C role.
The opportunity is certainly there for Philp if he can continue to impress over the rest of training camp. He lacks the NHL experience of the other players, which could hamper his odds, but there is a definitive chance he could wind up grabbing ahold of that spot at some point later in the season, if not the start.
3. Matt Savoie
There is no doubt that Matt Savoie, the Oilers’ offseason trade pickup, possesses some serious skill.
The 20-year-old St. Albert native has impressed in training camp, showing off his silky smooth hands and on-ice vision against his teammates. Though he has been a bit quiet in the preseason so far, he’s shown glimpses of brilliance.
Just take a look at this move he made against Flames’ defender Artem Grushinikov on Monday night.
Oh hello there Matt Savoie 👀 – Woz
🎥: @dhockey13 pic.twitter.com/1v5Xo8iu8y
— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) September 24, 2024
He won’t dominate the NHL ranks like he has the WHL over the past few years, and Savoie will have to battle through being a smaller player, but he has looked every bit like the 2022 first-round pick that he is.
Savoie is probably bound for the AHL to start the season, but he could easily see NHL action this year.