WINNIPEG, MB -The Oilers lineup for their pre-season tilt with the Jets in Winnipeg will consist of a healthy mix of NHL players and youth.
"Our lineup going into Winnipeg is still scattered with a bunch of young prospects and a lot of players that have spent a significant time in the American League," said Head Coach Todd McLellan. "We want to give them another opportunity to play and I believe Winnipeg will have a fairly stacked lineup so it will be a great opportunity for us to evaluate our team against some of the best players they have.
McLellan confirmed 2017 first-round pick Kailer Yamamoto will be among the younger skaters to take the ice for the orange and blue tonight.
"Yamamoto is going, he'll play on a line with (Jussi) Jokinen and (Ryan) Nugent-Hopkins to start with and we'll see how he handles himself," said McLellan. "It's a big game for a lot of our guys. A big test because it will be a taxing game on our team but also a test to see how individuals handle their speed, their pace, their size and playing on the road as well."
Yamamoto was impressive in the Oilers split-squad game with the Flames on Monday night, scoring a goal and adding an assist in Calgary.
JOKINEN'S DEBUT
Off-season signing Jussi Jokinen will skate in his first game with the Oilers, having sat out Monday's split-squad slate. The veteran of just shy of 900 NHL games is eager to shake the rust off and make his debut for his new club.
"I'm excited to get back to playing," Jokinen said. "I think I played my last game on April 4, or something like that so it's been five and a half months or almost six months. It's been a long time training so I'm really excited to put the Oilers jersey on and get back to playing."
The thought was we'd see the line of Jokinen, Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi, but as McLellan indicated Yamamoto will take the right-wing spot. Jokinen was signed to a one-year contract on July 7.
