PROJECTED LINEUP: Oilers vs. Penguins

EDMONTON, AB – A homecoming for two of our own who now rep the Black & Yellow.

The Edmonton Oilers will welcome back former players and local products Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak to Oil Country on Thursday night for the first time as members of the Pittsburgh Penguins when the two sides clash at Rogers Place on Sportsnet West at 7:00 pm MST.

“It's always special to play friends,” Mattias Ekholm said. “It happens in this business, obviously, with trades and whatnot, so I'm sure it'll be extra special for them coming back to Edmonton for the first time. Other than that, I just hope we can get back on track and win a hockey game

"Hopefully, they have a pleasant experience, but not too pleasant.”

It was a much different interaction between Ekholm & Skinner this morning at Rogers Place than what the pair of former teammates became used to during their time together with the Oilers.

Just as Ekholm was being asked by Sportsnet’s Gene Principe in front of the Oilers’ dressing room before Thursday’s optional practice about facing his team’s former netminder, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect as Skinner passed by on his way to the visitors’ room at Rogers Place for the first time.

“There he is, huh?” Ekholm said. “We’re talking about you.”

With the cameras still rolling, the two shared a brief conversation in passing before carrying on with their mornings as two former teammates over parts of four seasons with the Oilers that shared a lot more heart-to-hearts than most during their rides together to the airport.

“We lived in the same neighbourhood, so it kind of came naturally about driving to the rink and to the airport,” Ekholm said. “It's a big drive here, so you get a little bit of time to talk about life in general, and usually, like in the playoffs, too, you don't want to get too high or low.

“It’s nice to sometimes have a teammate that you can air things out with if you need to, and sometimes not even talk about hockey at all. So I think we developed a really nice friendship and I appreciate them as a person.”

Skinner and Kulak played pivotal roles for the Oilers over parts of four seasons together with the club – including over back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Finals – before being traded to Pittsburgh back on Dec. 12, 2025, in a deal that brought Tristan Jarry to Edmonton with prospect Samuel Poulin.

Jarry will get the start against his former team on Thursday, starting back-to-back games for the Oilers after making 15 saves in a 2-1 loss to New Jersey on Tuesday. Skinner is slated to be the backup to Arturs Silovs tonight after picking up his sixth win in his last seven starts (6-1-0) in last night's 4-1 victory in Calgary.

The Penguins are playing the second of a back-to-back tonight in Edmonton and are 3-0-2 over their last five, while the Oilers are looking to get on a run this season after being denied another three-game win streak by the Devils last time out in their previous home contest on Tuesday.

"Just the consistency," Jack Roslovic said. "We're obviously an incredibly skilled team and we can put it together. The way we've been playing, I don't think the stats are a reflection of us, and I think that it's just the little lapses here and there that can be prevented. We just gotta start to clean up."

Roslovic will centre a line with Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie again tonight when the Oilers go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the second straight contest, after the trio consisting of two rookies and a veteran each got on the scoresheet by combining on Edmonton's lone goal against the Devils.

The 28-year-old likes what he's seeing from the two rookies he's lined up with, saying they've each brought intangibles on both sides of the puck to the line that've helped make them an effective partnership in the absence of some impact forwards from the lineup in Leon Draisaitl and Kasperi Kapanen.

"Obviously, Savy's a PK guy, and you can tell the defensive responsibility from him already, and his skill and his IQ is incredible," Roslovic said. "Howie is right there, too. He's got an unbelievable shot and is just full of energy, so it's fun to play with those guys. They bring it every night, and not only am I trying to keep them going, but they get me going, too. So it seems to be a good line."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be back on the top line playing wing next to Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman after serving as Edmonton's second-line centre in the previous two games while Leon Draisaitl was away on leave, and potentially an option to return on Saturday at home against the Washington Capitals.

Like his place in the lineup, Nugent-Hopkins' deployment as a top-line winger or second-to-third-line centre could continue to change as the Oilers get closer to the Trade Deadline in March, but the results he's helped produce while playing next to McDavid & Hyman have been hard to ignore.

"I think that can change," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "There's the opportunity of adding before the deadline if there's a forward. I think it's going to be difficult to find a centre, so that's one thing to be thinking of. The other thing is that the line has been playing so well. Nugent Hopkins has been a great left winger on that line with McDavid this year. Right now, we like that line together. But looking long-term, having three lines and finding some chemistry, I think I'm still undecided on that aspect."

The same goes for forward Vasily Podkolzin, who Knoblauch sees as a first- or second-line winger when the Oilers are fully healthy, but will rotate in with the centres tonight so Knoblauch can keep Edmonton's top two lines together on Thursday.

"I see Podz as a first-line left winger or second-line left winger, whether he's playing with Leon or Connor," Knoblauch said. "And right now with some uncertainty with our lines, I think long term it's probably him playing with Leon, and those two have been together for a long time. Kapanen coming back hasn't played very many games this year because of his injuries, but when he did come back, that line looked energized. They looked like they could score on a regular basis.

"So when those three are together and available, that's something I'd like to let run for a while."

Forward Kasperi Kapanen was on the ice for Thursday's pre-game skate, but he isn't likely to be an option for the Oilers in their next two games.

"He's on the ice. Very doubtful today, and we'd be fortunate to have him playing Saturday, but maybe sometime next week," Knoblauch said.

View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. the Penguins below:

Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Howard - Roslovic - Savoie
Janmark - Lazar - Mangiapane
Podkolzin - Frederic

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Emberson
Walman - Stastney
Regula

Jarry
Ingram