PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Flames

The Edmonton Oilers will begin their 2025-26 regular season on Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 8:00 p.m. MDT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Flames

EDMONTON, AB – Are you all in?

The Blue & Orange certainly are.

Set to begin what they hope will be another successful regular season, the Edmonton Oilers will kick off another NHL campaign in search of their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night when they host the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place in their 2025-26 Home Opener.

The determination from the Oilers to deliver a championship to Edmonton after coming up short in back-to-back losses to the Florida Panthers in the Final has driven every one of their actions throughout the summer, training camp and preseason that've led them to this moment and helped them grow stronger as a team to best position themselves for another run at bringing home the Stanley Cup.

Whatever it takes to win.

That mindset has been embraced and exemplified by their captain, Connor McDavid, who committed further to his teammates & organization on Monday by signing a two-year contract extension at a $12.5 million AAV to continue trying to win with this core group, taking a team-friendly deal that will help management strengthen the squad with some extra funds over the coming years with the NHL's salary cap expected to rise.

"Ultimately, our hearts are here in Edmonton," McDavid said. "Our hearts are here with the core guys and with the guys in this room.”

“Obviously, the city and the fans are important to us, and we want to win here. We want to bring it back here and make our city proud. But mostly, for the guys in this room, we've been through a lot together, and seeing it through together is important.”

With the captain's mandate that he's committed to doing whatever's necessary to win in Edmonton, the Oilers are preparing to have a better start to the season, which hasn't quite been their strong point the last two years, beginning on Wednesday in their Home Opener against their rivals from Calgary.

"I think we got a good team," McDavid said. "We've got a chance, but it starts [Wednesday] night and starts with a good regular season and an even shorter picture, having a good start to the season. So obviously that's what we want to do. Something that has not been our M.O. the last couple of years. So getting off to a good start is important."

McDavid has been alongside fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl and winger Trent Frederic on the top line for nearly all of preseason, with his regular linemate Zach Hyman officially starting the season on Long Term Injury Reserve as he continues to recover from surgery for a broken wrist he suffered during the playoffs in the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars.

Rookies Matt Savoie, Isaac Howard and forwards Noah Philp and David Tomasek all cracked Edmonton's opening night lineup after some cap shuffling involved with finalizing rosters around the NHL on Monday, with Howard and Tomasek being called up from AHL Bakersfield and looking set for their NHL debuts against the Flames on the fourth line with Adam Henrique.

Savoie, who looks poised for a breakout and was on the right wing of the second line with Andrew Mangiapane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins during Tuesday's practice at Rogers Place, looks to lead the youth movement up front for the Oilers that will be relied upon this season for production and energy.

"Extremely, extremely important," McDavid said of young players on the roster. "You need older guys, you need core guys, and you need some young talent. Stan and Jeff have done a great job of going out and adding that in under difficult circumstances. Savs, Howie Podsy, and Rags is going to start with us, so there are a lot of promising things going on, and I think that that's exciting and important for our group. They're going to be a big part of this, just as everyone in this room will be."

After recording a goal and two assists while showing good two-way play for the Oilers over five pre-season games, Noah Philp will centre a powerful, physical and fast third line alongside Vasily Podkolzin & Kasperi Kapanen that's been designed by Coach Knoblauch to be hard to play against.

Knoblauch said he liked what he saw from Philp last season when was recalled to the Oilers for a three-game stint late in the regular season – the third of his career after all 15 of his NHL games came in 2024-25, including his debut and first point against Nashville on Oct. 31 – and this year he's looked like a much-improved player.

"Size and speed," he said. "Big guys that cover a lot of ice and can move around quite well, and you get the three of them playing with a high energy, high tempo, and they're going to be difficult to play against. You saw it last year a little bit. When we had all our injuries, we recalled Noah at the end of the year. I know Noah played on a line with Kapanen, and Jones was on their left winger, but now it's Podkolzin and they played really well together. There were only a few games, and it was at the end of the season, so I don't want to look too much into it, but we needed to have a line like that and felt it could help to have an identity that's hard to play against."

The Oilers captain wasn't the only one who committed to Edmonton on Monday after defenceman Jake Walman was signed to a seven-year contract extension by the club worth an AAV of $7 million, locking in the 29-year-old as a significant piece of the blueline in Oil Country moving forward.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said that Walman is unlikely to play against the Flames because of an injury he sustained during the preseason, meaning that Alec Regula is poised to make his Oilers debut alongside Darnell Nurse on the second pairing based on Tuesday's practice combinations.

Regula hasn't played a professional game since Mar. 24, 2024, when he was a member of the AHL's Providence Bruins, before he underwent knee surgery and was claimed off waivers from Boston in December of last year while undergoing a "gruelling" rehab process that was the "toughest" he's faced.

Through a good showing at Camp, the 25-year-old showed why the Oilers chose to be patient with him, and Coach Knoblauch thinks he's only going to get better with more competitive action as he adapts to NHL speed and gets more comfortable on Edmonton's blueline.

"Alec had a great training camp, and we feel that with some playing time, he's only going to get better," he said. "He's a big guy who can move the puck. He uses his body well, but he's not overly physical. He's not looking for the big hits. I think he's got a good head on his shoulders, reads the play well, and he can provide some offence.

"I think probably the biggest way to provide offence is just getting it into the forwards' hands and not having to go glass out. It's early. He's only been playing exhibition, and things can change. Sometimes you see the best in exhibition and guys fall out, but we feel very confident about his game and we feel that he can only get better."