BLOG: Sunday's skate at Rogers Place 04.25.21

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers held practice at Rogers Place Sunday before heading to Winnipeg for a brief two-game road series against the Jets.
Ryan McLeod joined the club for practice after being recalled last week and serving his mandatory seven-day quarantine. Jesse Puljujarvi was not on the ice for the second straight practice. Zack Kassian and Joakim Nygard were also not present.
Mike Smith took shots from the starter's crease before exiting the ice early.
Get all written content, video coverage and post-practice commentary below.

Head Coach Dave Tippett's update on goalie Mike Smith:

"He's full go. He went out, took all the power play stuff this morning and took a little bit of practice and then left. The other two guys got the bulk of the work in the shooting drills but he's fine."

Coach Tippett on Jesse Puljujarvi's absence the last two skates:

"He's been out for a couple of days. With caution, we left him away. We expect him to be there ready tomorrow."

Tippett on the possibility of seeing Dmitry Kulikov and Ryan McLeod in the lineup on Monday:

"Kulikov for sure. I got to talk to Mack (McLeod) and see how he felt here this morning. He's been in quarantine for a bit. Young guy, I would think he would be anxious to play if he gets the opportunity but I'll talk to him about that and we'll see tomorrow morning."

Tippett on whether he would slot McLeod in at centre or wing:

"Projection is at centre. That's where he's played most of the year. He's played a little bit of wing but more at centre.

Tippett on giving McLeod time on special teams:

"He got some reps with the second power-play unit today. I don't anticipate using him on the PK right away. We'll get him up and going first. Both of those are key parts of his game. That's the thing about him, he's a good two-way player, has good skill, can play power-play minutes and is a really good, solid two-way player that can kill penalties. I envision that becomes part of the package that he has. Throwing him into both sides of the special teams early, we'll probably see how we get him up and going first."

Tippett on line matching against certain teams:

"I believe there are matchups both ways. Matchups to defend people and matchups to exploit people. Sometimes the matchup that you get, you like. I really believe that sometimes you can overthink the game. A player like Connor or Leon, are you going to take them off the ice just because they put somebody else on? I think our top guys can play against anybody. There's a rhythm to the game and different challenges that come in but that's the game within the game. I'm not a guy that likes to take players out of rhythm because we're trying to run away from a matchup somewhere."

Tippett's expectations for McLeod stepping in:

"I think you got to keep everything in perspective, for sure. It's a young player that's coming in and he's had some really good success this year. I just hope he keeps playing the way he was. If he does that, he can be an effective player. Every young player that comes into the League, there are some jitters. But you see a lot of young players that come into the League and they takeoff, too. We'll see how he reacts to it.
"Is it harder to come in at the end of the year at the stretch drive? Maybe. But the other thing about it is he's had a whole year of just proving himself and playing well done there. He doesn't have to change a thing coming in. When a player jumps in at the start of the year, he's not sure what to expect. Mack (McLeod) knows exactly how to play and that will give him confidence."

Tippett's take on home-ice advantage in the playoffs:

"I think it is less (important) now with the lack of fans. There are some things with (line) changes and some things that come into it, the tactical things, but I think home ice is less of a factor this year with no fans."

Tippett on the Oilers prospect system in Bakersfield:

"Jay (Woodcroft) and his staff do an excellent job down there. These guys are very well-prepared when they come here. You saw what happened with Yamamoto last year. He came up about halfway through and he had an impact on our team. The system that we have in place here, having coaches down in Bakersfield like we do is invaluable for the franchise.
"You have to develop players in today's game. When you have a steady stream of them coming in that have put the work in down there and learned to play the pro game, it's a huge advantage for your organization. We're very lucky to have quality people down there that have done a great job with our prospects."

Oilers Captain Connor McDavid on potentially meeting the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs:

"There's lots of hockey left to be played and lots of things still to be decided. Of course, when you're playing a team that might be a matchup later down the road, you always want to make sure that you bring you're A-Game."

McDavid on playing three games in 15 days:

"When you come off these little breaks, it almost doesn't matter what you did before. It's almost a reset, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing. In our case, I think it's a bad thing. We were playing some good hockey but ultimately, we've gone through breaks like this before and we've come out and played well and we've come out and haven't played well. We obviously know which one we want to do. It's a very big game for us tomorrow night."

McDavid on McLeod joining the Oilers:

"He's obviously had a tremendous season and got a very well-deserved call-up. Even coming off of a week break, I thought he looked good out there today. He can definitely bring some size, some speed and some skill. He can almost be like Yamo was for us last year where he just brings a little bit of a jolt of energy into our lineup. We're really hoping for him to play well and I think he can do it."

McDavid on McLeod's personality:

"He's a great kid. He's someone that you like to be around. He's got that nice hockey smile that everyone wants to see and he loves the game. It's always good when you can bring in a guy like that."

McDavid on the excitement of making an NHL debut:

"There's tons of excitement and tons of nerves. He (McLeod) is going to get to experience all of that at some point. It's fun to go through. It's your dream come true to play in this League and when you get a chance to do that for the first time, it's something that you will never, ever forget. He's got some good days ahead of him, for sure. Hopefully, he can build on what he's done in the American League."