TALKING POINTS: Bowman speaks to media on opening day of Training Camp

Oilers General Manager & Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Stan Bowman answered questions from the media inside the Hall of Fame Room at Rogers Place on Wednesday on the opening day of 2026 Oilers Training Camp.

The executive spoke on a variety of topics, including Mike Babcock’s focus on getting the most out of the Oilers’ roster, the signing of Alex Formenton, the expectations of a three-goalie setup with the additions of Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi, and more.

Read the entire transcript and watch the media availability in its entirety below:

Bowman on if he has any injury updates on Frederik Andersen, Alec Regula, Matt Savoie or Mattias Janmark on Day 1 of Training Camp:

“No update, per se. They won't be full participants in Camp. Of those players you mentioned, Regula and Janmark are closer to playing just because they're going to be skating. Savoie and Andersen will not be skating, but I don't have a timeline on any of those players.”

Bowman on the mixed reaction to the signing of Alex Formenton:

“I would say that we knew going into it that this was something that wasn't going to be universally accepted or embraced. That's why we spent as much time as we did going through the details and doing our due diligence to make sure we believed it was the right decision. And I guess what I would say is that I understand. I understand that people will view it differently, and that's okay. That's one of the things that I'm a big believer in. We don't all have to agree on everything here, and people are entitled to their opinions, and they have strong feelings on it, and I totally respect that. I think that makes sense. But we did put a lot of time and consideration into that. We also knew it was a polarizing topic, which is why we spent so much time looking into it to get to the point where we feel comfortable that Alex is a member of our team.”

“He's going to be, and we believe that he's going to be, an asset to our team on the ice, but also as a teammate. I've had a lot of conversations with Alex, and he's grown a lot in the intervening years from where he was then to where he is now. He's shown that growth, and for that reason, we understand why people feel so passionately about it. We respect that, and we’re going to move forward.”

Bowman on the Oilers providing players, coaches & management with an opportunity to return to the game and get a fresh start:

“Yeah, it’s true that there have been situations in the past several years where the Oilers have been willing to give people an opportunity to come here and kind of get a fresh start. So again, I understand that some people may be fatigued by that. That's understandable, and I think each person's going to have to navigate that in the way that feels right to them."

"It's not for me to say whether they should or shouldn't feel a certain way. I think, as an organization, I've really felt the support being here myself while trying to make a positive impact on the group that you're with. It’s a privilege to be here working in this city for the fans here. I've been blown away by the support that the fans show to the team here. I saw it from a distance before I joined the Oilers, and I saw how passionate the fans are. I think that passion can come with frustration, too, with different things, but there's certainly nothing like it here, being part of it. So you want to do right by the community, and you want to make people proud of you for who you are and how you operate moving forward. I think that's really the message: we're trying to do the right thing and give us a chance to make them proud and be judged on what we do moving forward here. So that's how I look at it.”

Bowman on Hockey Canada reinstating Formenton before other players and how that factored into the decision  to sign the forward:

“That was a big factor for us. This isn't the forum to get into those details, but we spent a lot of time finding out why Alex was treated differently than the other players. There were specific reasons for that, which gave us the willingness to move forward with Alex relative to the other players. I don't want to get into those details, but we did spend a lot of time understanding. The people at Hockey Canada were very close to it, and they had a lot of information that isn't out in the public. They made that decision for a reason, and that did play a large role in us landing on that here today.”

Bowman on if he considered signing Matt Savoie to an eight-year contract extension before the start of the NHL's new Collective Bargaining Agreement (max seven-year contracts):

“Yeah, the landscape's definitely shifted, without a doubt. I think that Matt had a great season last year, in particular the second half of the season. I think once he found his stride right around the Olympic break, and when he came back is when his game sort of went to that next level. We're excited for when he'll be back with us."

“As far as his contract, I'm not going to comment, but I'm confident it'll work itself out in time. I think the landscape is shifting around the league. We saw a lot of deals the last couple of days, and even over the summer with where the salary cap is headed, so it's a big puzzle. Each team has a different puzzle than we do, so I think that's kind of part of it: trying to figure out what's strategically the best move in how we approach all of our contracts. So in time, we'll get to that, and we're excited for Matt. It's unfortunate he won't be starting the season, but he's not going to miss that much time, so I think he'll be a big part of it.”

Bowman on the hopes for Tristan Jarry after a disappointing finish to last season:

“Well, we're looking for a bounce back here from Tristan, without a doubt. I think Tristan had a really good start to last season, and he was playing good hockey at the time of the trade, came in and played a couple good games, got injured, and he was out for whatever it was. Then when he came back, he never found his game, and our team didn't really play great either in front of him. So it was somewhat of the worst circumstances, and then at that time of the year, it's tough to gain your confidence when you've missed some time; you've come back, and you haven't played your best.

“Those first couple of games when he returned from injury, and then from that point forward, it never came together for him. So we want Tristan to start this year the way he did last season. He was very effective in October and November. He was one of the better goalies in the East when we made the trade, so we're looking for a bounce back, and we're looking to kind of turn the page on last year. I think you have to reflect on it, but I think we've done a lot of that now. It's looking ahead. He had a really good summer of training. He was here with our group training all summer. He's in excellent condition. He's setting himself up in the best way possible to bounce back, and we're confident and hopeful it will happen.”

Bowman on the loss of Darnell Nurse, the additions on the Oilers’ blueline & the expected growth of Evan Bouchard this season:

“It's a different look compared to the way we've been the last 10 or so years with Darnell. He was a great Oiler, but sometimes change is good for everybody, for him and for the organization. So we have a different look there.

“I'm excited for Ryan Shea. I think he'll be an important addition to our group. As far as Evan Bouchard goes, I think his performance the last few seasons was outstanding. He's reaching that age where he's probably entering his best years. These next few years are probably when defencemen tend to be at the peak of their play in their mid-to-late 20s. It's a tough position to dominate when you're younger. You're the last line of defence there, and mistakes that you make can get magnified.

“I think Evan has shown the ability to make so many elite plays offensively that it somewhat overshadows his defensive ability. We don't really talk about that much. If I mentioned the name Evan Bouchard, you think of power play, you think of his shot, you think of his passing. He's become a very effective defender as well in all situations. You can't play 25 minutes a game if you're being sheltered defensively, so I think the sky's the limit for Evan. I think that he's a very important player. He helps our offensive players be as good as they are, and I think these next few years for Evan are going to be huge.”

Bowman on how Mike Babcock can help evolve Bouchard into more of an elite-level defenceman with his experience as a long-time NHL coach

“Yeah, I think both the combination of Mike and DJ. He did help have the ability to get to know Bouch a little bit at the World Championships this year. In talking to DJ right after we hired him, he was blown away by how good Evan was. He knew this guy was a good player coaching against him, but when I had him on my team here at the World Championships, he said, ‘He's even better than I suspected,’ so I think they're going to get the most out of him. I think all of our players can grow and improve, and I think you're right. Mike has coached some legendary defencemen. Niklas Lindstrom is probably the most prominent one that comes to mind, and I'm sure he can add some knowledge and some perspective on what made those players great to help Evan take his game up to the next level. So he's already at a really high level, but we have high hopes for him being a big leader on this team.”

Bowman on the exhibition schedule being reduced to four games and how that will impact minutes for the Oilers’ players this Training Camp & Preseason:

“It's a challenge. The vets can only play two of the four, so it's funny because in the past, the veterans never liked to play preseason games. Talking to some of them, they said, ‘Maybe two is a little light. We would’ve been nice to maybe get an extra one in,’ but that's not the rule. So they asked for this [ in CBA negotiations], and this is where we're at. But we don't have a lot of time. Obviously, our first game is 13 days from now, so we have to get right into it. We’ll make the best of it. Everyone's in the same situation. Veterans around the league are only playing two games, so our coaches have a lot of work to do over the next week to 10 days to be ready for that opener. I think we'll figure it out.”

Bowman on if the changes could help the Oilers get off to a faster start this season:

“No question. We have to be ready to go, and I think this time last summer was different than the previous two, when we had more time for the players to ramp up their training and be ready; not even really physically ready, but mentally ready for what's ahead. It’s anecdotal, but talking to some of the players that I have, I think they're ready, They're excited. They had too long an off-season, so I expect to see a better start from our team and we need a better start.”

Bowman on the coaching staff focusing on growing the team’s defensive game at Camp while not impacting the offence that’s been Edmonton’s strong suit in recent seasons:

“I think Mike can probably give you a better X and O's perspective on that in the coming days. What I'll say is that it's true we haven't struggled to score goals in the past, and we still have to work at it, but we've had the same group of guys together on the power play, and they've consistently performed at a high level. So I would hope that they can continue that. I think the five-on-five offence- the one thing I've noticed about hockey is that everything is connected. So when you are an offensive team that scores a lot of even-strength goals, sometimes there's a reason for that, and it's because you play a higher risk. The reward is offensive opportunities. The risk is giving the other team a lot of easy looks, odd-man rushes, and putting your team in a bad spot to defend. So I think we need to tighten that up. The coaching staff has spent a lot of time preparing, so I think there's going to be some different things that are focused on. So it should lead to a better team defence.”

“When you think of defence, sometimes people just think of the goalie or the two defencemen, but it really is the way that the five players interact on the ice and the decisions they make when they have the puck in the neutral zone or high in the offensive zone. Do they make high-risk, low-reward plays which then put the team in a bad spot and give up a lot? We gave up far too many odd-man opportunities last year, so we have to be better at that. Does that come at the expense of scoring goals? You might say it could, so that's the balance: how do we still generate the offence without being as risky and handing opportunities to the opposition?”

“That's for the coaches to figure out, and I'm sure you're going to have X and O questions for them, but I think from a high level we have to walk that fine line between being more responsible as a unit of five players than just the goalie or the defence.”

Bowman on working with Babcock as he makes his return behind an NHL bench:

“We've been very clear with Mike about what we expect of him, and we're not going to tolerate any of the stuff that you just alluded to. Mike's been fantastic. He's been energetic; he's been upbeat and positive. He wants nothing more than for our younger players to come and thrive in this situation, and it's about building their habits so they can be effective players for us, and we're going to make sure that happens. We're going to be on top of that and make sure that's the way it goes.”

Bowman on the focus of improving the penalty kill and the signing of players who can help make improvements in that area by owning roles:

“The penalty kill and special teams in general are crucial to the success. We've had good success in the power play. That doesn't mean it just happens because we've been good. But I feel confident with our group and the continuity of our offensive players. We should be able to be solid in the power play. The penalty kill, it's a combination of player personnel and tactical adjustments. Those are the two things that it takes to be successful and not be predictable. Goaltending is probably the most important part of the penalty kill, because there are going to be breakdowns. You've got one less player on the ice; you can't protect everything."

“The goal of the penalty kill is to allow the opportunity. Everyone knows that, and then it's up to the goalie to save that. You can't block everything. So if everyone does their job, we should be able to make sure we're all on the same page. DJ’s had good success with the penalty kill in the past. That's his focus. He gets everyone involved. It's not just one guy. I think DJ’s brought a lot of ideas."

"Having pace to your game is important, so I think Joseph is going to be an important penalty killer as well. He's got speed. Formenton has speed. Last year we used McDavid. That's up to the coaches if they want to use him again. But Connor is certainly the fastest player, so there's that element. Savoie was an effective penalty killer. He's going to miss the start of the season. We have other guys that have done it. Jason Dickinson, I think, will be. He's been effective at that. Then you've got Kapanen, Podkolzin, and you've got other guys, so I think they do need to settle on who our go-to guys are as part of our kill. On the back end, Ryan Shea was very effective in that. So that was something we did notice. That's why we pursued him as much as we did, so we expect him to be part of that as well."

"I think we have enough options. Then it's about finding out which combinations work. My experience is sometimes the combinations you plan out all summer, ‘this is going to be it,’ for whatever reason it doesn't come together that way, and some other combination you try out that you didn't think would work becomes that. But I think, however they get there, we need to get something that we can have confidence as a group that when that penalty comes, this group is going to be able to get it done for us.”

Bowman on becoming better at rebounds after leading the League from the blueline for shots on goal percentage (42 percent):

“I think that's something we talked about just this morning actually with Mike was that we do a good job of getting the puck to the net, but you're not going to score goals. So the expectation is not to score on those shots, but to create chaos at the net through screens, tips, rebounds, second chances. When the other team gets out of sorts from their coverage, and it's just a random play, that's when our players are at their best because we do have creativity up front. But this idea of standing out of the sideboards as the puck is shot from the point- we’ve got to get away from that. We have to have more net activity so that it's hard on the defenders, hard on the goalie. If we can do that, I think it's going to translate to more offence.”

Bowman on his expectations for Devon Levi this season:

“Just watching Devon here in these pre-training camp skates, he's been outstanding. I think his quickness is very noticeable. He is lightning fast, a very active goalie, a very athletic and highly competitive kid, so you know he's got something to prove. I know he's got belief in himself. We believe in him as a goalie, and until you prove it at the NHL level, that's the challenge. He's been a very good goaltender, certainly through college and the American League, but for him, I think this opportunity is there, and we want him to push and show us he's the guy.”

Bowman on Babcock’s task of getting the most out of this Oilers team after his longer hiatus away from NHL:

“Yeah, he's got tons of energy. Being around Mike every day, he's got so many ideas. He's incredibly detailed. Our team is going to be very prepared to play. Nothing goes unnoticed by Mike, and I think at the end of the day, you have to play the game on instinct. You can't be out there strategically thinking your way around the ice. It's way too fast. But I think what Mike's good at is that you gotta build up those habits. If you can build up the habits, the payoff might not be necessarily early in the year, but this is such a fast game that you have to be able to play on instinct. I think Mike's strength is to be able to instill those habits in our team so that the guys understand exactly what their role is, what the other four guys on the ice are doing so that they can play fast. I think the biggest thing in talking to Mike is about how our team can play a fast game. When I say fast, I don't just mean skating fast. That's part of it. But you gotta think the game quickly to be able to react, and I think that's all about those habits that we're gonna start building over the next two weeks.”

Bowman on potential reputational impacts after the Formenton signing:

“As I said earlier, we understand that this isn't something that would be universally supported, and that's why we took our time to think that through, and we respect people's opinions. That's the way this works. Not everyone sees things the same way, and we understand that. So we hope that, in time, people will see that our situation is a good one and that Alex is going to be a good member of the community and a good member of our team. So we hope that plays itself out, but we're not here to tell people how they're supposed to feel. We respect their opinions, and it's okay to have different viewpoints.”

Bowman on how the leadership roles can evolve for Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl:

“I think the thing about Connor and Leon is their passion to win is unmatched from any other player that I've been around. It's not about individual awards. They've won so many individual accolades. The hardest thing to do is to win that team championship and to lift the cup, and that's really their motivation right now. It's not individual, and I think coming into the league as a young player, and you're a highly regarded star, you're trying to establish yourself to be the best you can be individually. I think both of them have shown they can do that, but now it's a different goal. It's being the player that's going to do what it takes to help lead our team to win, and sometimes that's going to be scoring the goal, setting up the goal, or sometimes it's not going to be that. It's going to be the two-way game, and I think they're all in on that. I've had conversations with both of them. Their passion to win is unmatched and they're excited to get going.”

Bowman on where the 2026-27 Oilers could fall between being a fast-starting or a late-peaking team after differing results in the past two seasons:

“Yeah, I think last year, we had some players who were going to take steps of growth through the season because they hadn't reached their peak level yet. I think this is probably even a little bit of a different situation because we are going to see our team progress over the season."

“I think we're going to do that because of the way that we're going to be organized differently and the habits that we're going to be building. They may not be locked in game one of the season because we don't have a long training camp for Mike to instill his way of play and his habits that he wants our team to build. So I think the biggest thing is that we do have individual players… Howard is probably the most noticeable, and Matt Savoie, or the other younger players. They're going to improve over the course of the year. You may not get as much improvement from our veterans. Like, their games individually aren't going to become new skills that they add. But I think what they will do is hopefully build some different habits that are going to lead to a more successful outcome for our team, and I think that's what we need.”

Bowman on if coaching can help push the Oilers over the hump to win a Stanley Cup:

“Yeah, I do expect our coach to play a big role in getting our team there, because it's a different focus. Just in the meeting that we just had with our group, the way that we want to play as a team, there are some different things that Mike's going to be stressing and demanding from our team. And I think for that reason, it is probably different than it's been in the past.”