PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Flames (Preseason)

The Edmonton Oilers will conclude their pre-season schedule on Saturday night at Rogers Place in an exhibition Battle of Alberta against the Calgary Flames.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Flames (Preseason)

EDMONTON, AB – One last chance to lock it in before the start of the regular season.

The Edmonton Oilers will play host to the Calgary Flames in their final pre-season tune-up on Saturday night at Rogers Place before the focus shifts to Tuesday's season opener against the Vancouver Canucks.

The Oilers made a total of 15 roster moves on Friday, reducing the Training Camp roster to the 34 players that'll make up the core of their 23-man squad for when the puck drops on the 2026-27 NHL campaign this Tuesday on home ice.

With only one pre-season game left and the group down to its veterans and the last few holdouts competing for roster spots, there's a shared belief in the locker room that the focus needs to shift towards making the most of these last few days to nail down the details for when games really start to matter.

"It's easier for the coaching staff, more importantly," Leon Draisaitl said. "You have one meeting, you've 

Draisaitl said it'll be important for him & the rest of the top power-play unit to work out any issues they might have over their final 60 minutes of exhibition, after the emphasis during the previous practices and pre-season games was placed on building a new foundation for how they want to play.

"We haven't had much time to work on it," Draisaitl added. "We need to take the next couple of days to dial it in and get back to our patterns and what we want to accomplish. There isn't much time left and we have to get on it."

Connor Murphy echoed the details mentioned by his teammate, saying that Head Coach Mike Babcock has made everyone more accountable -- like how they're taking ownership of helping their netminders keep the puck out of their net and reduce goals against.

"You take it personally as a defenceman when you're giving up a lot of shots and chances, and then even our playoff series last year, it was a lot of rush goals and PK goals and everything. That hurts, so it gives you motivation to hunker down on the details.

"Babs definitely praises the details and the characteristics of being good defensively, and that's being hard and willing to make it hard against everyone."

Coach Babcock provided an update on forward Sam Dickinson that the 31-year-old suffered a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury that impacted his late-season arrival from the Chicago Blackhawks, which leaves a chance for someone to stake claim to a role in his absence.

"I don't really know what's going on there. I know that he's had a setback," Babcock said. "The physical part's one thing, the mental part's another. When you keep having these setbacks, it's hard. I'm not sure if you noticed, but they're flying out there. If you can't fly, it's hard to play, so someone else gets an opportunity and we'll see who it is."