BLOG: Foegele finding his fit alongside Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins

PHILADELPHIA, PA – In the eyes of Head Coach Jay Woodcroft, winger Warren Foegele and his linemates Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins earned every bit of success they experienced in Tuesday’s 6-1 victory over Nashville.

The bench boss has been especially pleased for No. 37, who’s been nothing short of steady for the Blue & Orange throughout Training Camp and the early stages of the regular season for the Edmonton Oilers.

“What we like to say is ‘earned, not given,’ and I think he's been someone that has had a good Camp, came in great shape, and he’s highly motivated. He's someone that has a certain [desirable] skill set," Woodcroft said of Foegele.

"What I liked about it is that he earned that opportunity to play with those two guys and made good on it, which is a feather in his cap.”

The 27-year-old saw an increased opportunity during Tuesday night’s victory over the Predators after a shuffling of the lines following a 0-2 start to the Oilers season led to the winger being elevated into the top-six alongside Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins – two steady, reliable players that complemented his similar workmanlike approach.

The line proved to be the Blue & Orange’s most influential trio, combining to produce nine points that came as a product of some hard collective forechecking, winning battles, and getting to the dirty areas to find more scoring opportunities.

Foegele picked up his first points of the season with a goal and an assist.

“All three of us work super hard,” Foegele said. “For me, I'm playing with two elite guys. Nuge is coming off a hundred-point season; he's so smart and can make such good passes. Then, you’ve got Hyms, who's such a worker bee and protects the puck so well.

“It's just trying to get them the puck, create space and work hard. We were fortunate enough to get a couple of bounces there. “

At the heart of the hard work is Hyman, whose individual work rate toward winning the important battles helped lead directly to three of Edmonton’s four even-strength goals and a four-point night on Tuesday for the 31-year-old.

Beyond goals and assists, the winger’s drive and determination to win also set the standard for everyone in the Oilers locker room.

“I think it's contagious,” Woodcroft said. “One thing that I don't think gets talked enough about is how good of a teammate he is, and one of the hallmarks of being a good teammate is doing work for others – work that might not show up on a stat sheet or might not show up on the highlight film, but is certainly appreciated by the people you play with and the people you play for. Zach is that type of player.”

“I know his linemates enjoy playing with him."

'Earned, not given' is one of the phrases that's used a lot inside the Oilers locker room, but Foegele hopes that 'winning the day' – another one of the mottos of the Blue & Orange under Coach Woodcroft – will help him continue to make the most of his opportunities over a long 82-game season by keeping his approach centred around taking care of the day's business.

"I think focusing on the day-to-day is probably your best chance of success," he said. "If you're reaching for stars way far in advance, you're probably not going to get there. So for myself, I've kind of figured out to just focus on the day and try to chip off the things I need to do to be a good player."