As the NHL pre-season continues, many players outside of the regular season rotation are getting to show what they can do. But with training camp rosters slowly getting cut down, it will be interesting to see what groups teams like the Edmonton Oilers bring to opening night.

If there's one thing the NHL pre-season is not, it's uniform. The number of exhibition games and the spacing of those games varies significantly from team to team, and game locations can stretch from neutral sites like Kansas City all the way to distant locales like Australia.

That's part of the reason why roster cut-downs also occur on different schedules from one team to the next. AHL training camps are now getting underway, but general managers have different objectives in mind. 

One common thread is that clubs will tend to ice a more NHL-experienced lineup for home games — aiming to provide fans with a chance to see their favorite stars and have something to cheer about, while also minimizing any unnecessary travel for their more established players.

This weekend, the Edmonton Oilers are taking a slightly different approach. After playing four games in the first six nights of their pre-season calendar and putting up a record of 2-2-0, GM Ken Holland trimmed his roster down to 33 players on Saturday. It's expected that he'll need to get to 21 in order to be salary-cap compliant by Monday, Oct. 9, one day before the beginning of the regular season.

Edmonton's complete group, which includes injured Mattias Ekholm, Ryan McLeod and Sam Gagner, will now all be together for a two-game west-coast road trip. The Oilers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, will take part in a team-bonding day on Sunday, then will take on the Kraken in Seattle on Monday night.

After earning a 2-1 road win in Calgary on Friday, the Oilers' busy schedule seemed to catch up with them on Saturday. Icing a lineup that was dominated by non-NHL regulars, Edmonton started strong, outshooting Vancouver 14-5 in the opening frame and taking a 1-0 lead. Adam Erne, who is with the team on a PTO, was the scorer. Another PTO candidate, Brandon Sutter, picked up the primary assist.

With the Canucks dressing a lineup that should look very similar to the group that will line up against the Oilers for the clubs' regular-season opener on Oct. 11 at Rogers Arena, the game momentum on Saturday did a 180 midway through the second period. This shift in the game began with new Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes scoring a pair of goals less than two minutes apart. 

That gave his team a lead that they wouldn't surrender on their way to a 5-2 final. The Canucks outshot the Oilers 23-12 in the final two periods and went 2-for-6 with the man advantage in the game. They were also a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill on a night when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl took in the proceedings from the press box.

"I thought we gave ourselves a chance by playing fast and getting on top of them and controlling most of the game through the first half," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Then, you make a mistake here and there and it kind of compounded. We took some penalties, but we'll learn from it and move on."

And while the final score didn't favor the Oilers, Woodcroft praised his young players for what they were able to achieve on Saturday night.

At 6-foot-4 and 23 years old, Raphael Lavoie is fighting for a roster spot on the big club, as he is no longer waiver-exempt. An impressive third-period goal off the rush helped move him a little closer to that objective.

Drafted 38th overall in 2019, Lavoie has not yet played a regular-season NHL game. The opportunity to test himself against what was basically a fully-loaded Canucks team is "invaluable," said Woodcroft.

"Until they experience it and feel what it's like to play against players of J.T. Miller's ability or Elias Pettersson's ability, Quinn Hughes ... You can talk about it all you want, but until you experience it yourself, that's when the real learning begins."

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday, other unproven players found ways to get themselves noticed despite being on the road, with a less-than-prime lineup around them.

On home ice at UBS Arena, the New York Islanders outshot the New York Rangers 33-26 on their way to a 5-3 win. The Islanders' scorers were all names you'd expect to hear on any regular-season night: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Cal Clutterbuck and Anders Lee. Meanwhile, the Rangers got a goal from Barclay Goodrow but the others came from 20-year-old Brennan Othmann and 21-year-old Will Cuylle — on a night when Chris Kreider sat out, but Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad were in the Blueshirts' lineup.

At Amalie Arena on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning took down the Nashville Predators 5-4. The Preds' goals came from 19-year-old Joakim Kemell, who made a quick adjustment to North American hockey when he joined the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals last spring from his native Finland, and from Phil Tomasino and Tommy Novak (2), who both split last season between Milwaukee and Nashville. 

In Detroit, undersized 25-year-old free agent signing Matthew Phillips scored his first goal in a Washington uniform as the Capitals fell 5-2 to the Red Wings. Ryan Strome had the Caps' other goal. On the home side, 21-year-old sophomore pro Cross Hanas had a good night for Detroit, earning second-star honors thanks to a goal and an assist. Dylan Larkin also chipped in two goals, while Moritz Seider and Austin Czarnik added singles.

With just four games on Sunday's schedule, more roster cuts will likely be announced around the league. 

As for the Oilers, they'll be together, working on team chemistry in a fun environment ahead of a crucial season for the franchise. Then, it's on to Climate Pledge Arena on Monday night for a date with the Seattle Kraken. With just three games played to date, the Kraken are 2-0-1 so far in pre-season. 

The Coachella Valley Firebirds' AHL training camp is now underway, so Seattle's cuts began on Thursday. Two particularly notable names from the club's run to the Calder Cup Final last spring remain with the big club: 22-year-old free-agent signing Tye Kartye, who impressed during a five-game playoff call-up by Seattle, and defenseman Ryker Evans, the Kraken's second-ever draft pick behind Matty Beniers from the 2021 expansion season.

When their business in Seattle is complete, the Oilers will return to Rogers Place to finish out their exhibition schedule. They'll host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday before the Kraken come to town on Friday night. 

The Oilers' regular season will kick off with a home-and-home against the Canucks — Wednesday, Oct. 11 in Vancouver, then Saturday, Oct. 14 in Edmonton.