PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Hurricanes

The Edmonton Oilers will have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back in the lineup as they continue their five-game homestand at Rogers Place with a visit from the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Hurricanes

EDMONTON, AB – Two of the League's top-performing teams in the early stages of this 2026-27 NHL season are about to get a whole lot stronger on Thursday night.

The Edmonton Oilers will welcome Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back into the lineup for the first time this season when they host the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes at Rogers Place on Thursday, after head Coach Mike Babcock confirmed his availability following Tuesday's 4-3 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild.

The longest-tenured Oilers forward left the pre-game skate on Sept. 29 ahead of the club's season opener against the Canucks with a lower-body injury, before being placed on Injured Reserve on Oct. 1 and missing all nine of the club's games.

The 33-year-old, who's entering his 16th season wearing Blue & Orange after the Oilers selected him first overall in the 2011 NHL Draft, needs seven more games to surpass Kevin Lowe for the franchise's all-time games-played record. 

The Burnaby product recorded 20 goals and 36 assists in 72 games last year and has 804 points (291G, 513A) over 1,031 career regular-season games in an Oilers uniform, registering eight points (2G, 6A) over his last eight games against Carolina.

Nugent-Hopkins is expected to return as the second-line centre with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl performing strongly on the top line alongside Vasily Podkolzin.

No. 93's return to make his season debut gives the club & fans a major boost for a team that's already firing on all cylinders after picking up the extra point on Tuesday against one of the Western Conference's top teams in the Wild.

It'll be a welcome addition for Edmonton against a Carolina team that's won eight of their last nine games after beating the Canucks 6-3 in Vancouver on Tuesday, and that is poised to welcome back another elite offensive weapon in Seth Jarvis, who was activated off the injured non-roster list on Wednesday.

Jarvis underwent shoulder surgery in June and was expected to miss approximately four to six months, but has been cleared to return ahead of schedule after missing the first 11 games of the 2026-27 campaign,

The 24-year-old forward had 32 goals and 34 assists in 71 regular-season games in 2025-26 and should immediately contribute on the top line and on the top power-play unit for the defending champions, who are 8-2-1 this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH THE HURRICANES

The Oilers & Hurricanes are meeting for the first of two games this season on Thursday night at Rogers Place after splitting their season series in 2025-26, with both wins going to the road teams.

The Oilers secured a 4-3 overtime win over the eventual Stanley Cup Champions at the Lenovo Center on Nov. 15 behind Leon Draisail's goal just 19 seconds into the extra frame, giving the German a three-point night (1G, 2A). Connor McDavid also finished with a trio of points, scoring twice and adding an assist.

In the reverse fixture on Mar. 6 in Edmonton, the Hurricanes came away with a 6-3 win thanks to a two-goal performance from Jackson Blake and three assists from K'Andre Miller, while Zach Hyman had a pair of goals for the Oilers.

Edmonton is 44-33-13 all-time against Carolina in the regular season, with a 27-13-6 record on home ice against them. The Oilers have earned at least a point in four of their last five games vs. the Hurricanes, going 3-1-1 over that span.

LAST TIME OUT

The Oilers went 3-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 3-for-3 penalty kill to stem the tide against the Wild on Tuesday in a 4-3 overtime victory, where Evan Bouchard notched the game-winner with 1:28 left in sudden death on a four-on-three power play after Minnesota tied the game midway through the third period with a pair of goals.

Connor McDavid had three assists to make NHL history as the fastest player to reach 20 assists in a single season, and the sixth player to record 25 points in the first 10 games of a season.

Leon Draisaitl potted a pair of power-play goals 1:06 apart across the first and second periods before Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman scored 2:37 apart midway through the final frame to force overtime, where Quinn Hughes' mistake on a too-many-men call sent the Oilers to their game-winning man advantage.

Edmonton is the highest-scoring team in the NHL with an average of 4.56 goals per game, led by their dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. McDavid leads the NHL with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in nine games, while Draisaitl has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists).

Forward Mathieu Joseph has goals in back-to-back games.