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Edmonton Oilers have named two new assistant captains

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Sep 17 2026, 9:01 pm
Edmonton Oilers have named two new assistant captains
Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports

The Edmonton Oilers’ leadership group will look a bit different when the team hits the ice for the 2026-27 season.

Connor McDavid will be wearing the C for the 11th straight season, while Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will continue to serve as assistant captains.

After that is where things change.

After being an assistant captain in Edmonton for the last seven seasons, Darnell Nurse was traded to the San Jose Sharks this summer. That left a vacant captaincy role up for grabs, and rather than selecting one player to fill the role, head coach Mike Babcock went with two.

The Oilers revealed on Thursday afternoon that both Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard will also wear letters this coming season.

Being part of a leadership group at the NHL level isn’t new to Hyman, who wore an A in his final season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is the first time Bouchard will wear a letter at the NHL level, though he has plenty of leadership experience, having served as captain of the OHL’s London Knights for two seasons.

There is plenty of pressure facing this leadership group following a disappointing 2025-26 season.

Several, including McDavid and Draisaitl, have made it clear that the Oilers weren’t ready to go from the start a season ago, and they were never truly able to recover. Suffice it to say, they will be playing a big role in the team coming out of the gates hot to start the 2027-28 campaign.

That work began today, as the Oilers hit the ice for their opening day of training camp. They will all have a few weeks to get back into the flow of things before their home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 29 against the Vancouver Canucks.

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