BLOG: Practice content, lines and talking points 02.04.21

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers held a full-pull practice at Rogers Place on Thursday.
Ethan Bear participated in the skate after missing the past two games. Goaltender Mike Smith was also on the ice.
Get all content and updates from Thursday below.

Lines and defence pairings appeared as follows:
RNH - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Shore - Haas - Archibald
Neal - Turris - Kassian
Ennis - Khaira - Chiasson (Nygard rotating in)
Defence:
Nurse - Barrie
Lagesson - Larsson
K. Russell - Bouchard
Jones - Koekkoek
Bear rotating in
Goal:
Koskinen
Smith
Grosenick

Head Coach Dave Tippett on Ethan Bear's status for the weekend:

"Bearsy (Ethan Bear), I haven't talked to the trainers yet. The goal was for him to go out, go through a practice and see where he is after practice. He seemed fine out there but I haven't talked to him yet. We'll see where that takes us this weekend."

Coach Tippett on the abundance of right-shot defencemen with the Oilers:

"It's a good problem to have. We have depth on our defence and I think we're going to need that and use it. It gives me another tool if you want to play 11 (forwards) and seven (defencemen), you can do that. What you're looking for is players in the right roles throughout your lineup between power play and penalty kill. And then it gets deeper than that with puck-movers and defenders. There's a lot more that goes into it but (Evan) Bouchard came in, played well the other night. He's put himself in the mix."

Tippett on rolling 11 forwards and seven defencemen vs. OTT and possibly going forward:

"There was some stuff I liked about it and then there was some other stuff. Some of it depends on how many special teams you have. It gives you the flexibility of roles within the game. Not bad. I'm not ruling it out. We'll see game-to-game."

Tippett on the added COVID-19 protocols:

"As far as the glass, I don't mind the glass coming out behind. It reminds me of the old Maple Leaf Gardens and Montreal where the fans were right there all the time. That wasn't a bad thing, it got some emotion in the game. We won't have fans but if they need more air blowing, I guess that's what it is.
"The corners of the benches will still act as, when the puck goes over the glass, they use those corners as a barometer. Hopefully, we don't get any bad situations like that. It's another one of the protocols that we're looking at. Every day, it seems like there are some adjustments and you have to be willing to roll with it and adjust as it goes along. And hope for the best."

Alex Chiasson on being put on waivers earlier in the week:

"That's the first time in my career. I'll be the first one to admit, it was a little bit disappointing as a player. Not towards the organization but towards myself. It hasn't been the start to the season I was hoping for. With all the new additions of extra players and all that, I was hoping to get off to a better start.
"On Monday, I was a little bit nervous. You never know what's going to happen, whether you got to pack and leave, and where you're heading to or staying here. It's on me now. Hopefully, I get a few opportunities again. I got to make I can find a way to stay in the lineup and find a way to put some points on the board. I haven't had many scoring chances and I haven't capitalized on any of them, really. It goes back to putting in the time in practice and preparation. You're trying to find your spot mentally. Hopefully, I can get back to that sooner rather than later.
"If I play well, they don't put me on waivers. That's how I see it."

Chiasson on the Oilers and North Division, in general, staying healthy:

"Just in Canada in general, I think there have been so many restrictions. Here in Alberta or in Quebec, where I'm from, and even Ontario where we were there a couple of weeks ago, there's just not a whole lot to do.
"For us as a team, we realize how big of an impact that can have on our team. I'm hoping the majority of the guys just try to be as careful as they can. It seems like our team has done a good job and our whole (North) Division, too. It sounds like everyone has done good. You get one bad luck break and you've seen it on teams, it spreads like wildfire. You just got to be careful. If our team can stay healthy, we won't have to play condensed schedule and we're allowed to have two or three days off here like we're having to get guys back healthy and get our game back."