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Oilers announce final cuts and show off new-look lines on eve of season

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Sep 28 2026, 6:52 pm
Oilers announce final cuts and show off new-look lines on eve of season
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers lineup is set for opening night.

On the eve of Tuesday’s home opener against the Vancouver Canucks, the Oilers finally trimmed down their roster one last time to adhere to the NHL’s 23-man limit. It’s been an intense training camp with new head coach Mike Babcock at the helm, and the most intriguing roster battle has been at the bottom of the forward group.

Both Josh Samanski and Owen Michaels have been competing for that final NHL spot, and the team made a decision on those players on Monday morning. Just before taking to Rogers Place ice for a practice, the Oilers announced that Samanski had been loaned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

That means that Michaels has officially made Edmonton’s opening night roster.

“[Michaels] played well,” Babcock said after practice. “Very effective player. He can really skate. Very effective player. He won two championships [in the NCAA] […] He wasn’t supposed to be here, but that’s the great thing about plans; you get to change them.”

This is a bit of a setback for Samanski, who seemed to finally carve out a niche on the Oilers roster late last season and into the playoffs. He had a good showing at the IIHF Championships with Germany over the summer, and he was expected to have an inside track at making Edmonton’s NHL roster out of camp.

Babcock gave reporters an idea of why Samanski didn’t make the cut and what his road back to the NHL looks like.

“Just get down there and get to work,” Babcock said. “The simple thing is you got to figure out who you’re going to be in the National Hockey League, and then you go down in the AHL, they put you in a totally different role.

“You have to become an elite face-off guy, elite penalty killer, a great two-way defensive centre to play here, because in the American League, they want him to be on the power play, play on the first line […] He’s old enough now to understand that’s what he’s got to do to get back.”

With the roster now set in stone, the next question is how Babcock will organize his lineup to open up the season. Luckily, he didn’t wait long to trot out what appears to be the lines that the Oilers are working with once the puck drops against the Canucks on Tuesday night.

This is what Edmonton’s lines looked like during Monday morning’s practice:

Max Jones was skating as an extra forward, while the injured Jason Dickinson was on the ice but was not skating with a regular line. Babcock confirmed that Dickinson would not be an option on opening night.

Babcock also revealed that Tristan Jarry will get the start against the Canucks.

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