Oilers' Latest Practice Offers New Surprise

Caleb Kerney

Oct 2, 2024, 18:00

Caleb Kerney

Oct 2, 2024, 18:00

The Edmonton Oilers have one big surprise with their potential line combinations the morning of their game against the Seattle Kraken.

Perry Nelson-Imagn Images - Oilers' Latest Practice Offers New Surprise

EDMONTON -- He's back.

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He is the vital Edmonton Oilers defenseman, Darnell Nurse. An alternate captain, he is a big piece of the puzzle for a team with Stanley Cup expectations.

Nurse hasn't dressed for a single pre-season game to this date. However, he will be ready for game action tonight when the Oilers roll into the West Coast to play the Seattle Kraken.

Jason Gregor of Sport 1440 reported from practice this morning. The players who were skating are not going to participate in tonight's game. Corey Perry, Vasily Podkolzin, Ty Emberson, Troy Stecher, and Calvin Pickard skated this morning.

With that in mind, the lines and defense pairings could look like this for tonight's game.

Two major changes here from what we have seen so far this pre-season. The Oilers appear to be dressing a fourth line of Drake Caggulia, Noah Philp, and Derek Ryan. Caggulia and Philp have been impressive during this training camp, so getting another crack at the can makes a lot of sense.

The most curious pairing is Nurse with Travis Dermott. Dermott is at Oilers camp on a PTO and is looking to earn a deal.

Emberson was the first to get a chance to pair up with Nurse. It's a curious decision, with Dermott being left-handed and Emberson being right-handed.

However, it's pre-season, and nothing that happens during this time of the year is written in stone. It could simply be the coaching staff wanting to see how Dermott performs with that level of deployment and competition.

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Oilers fans will have an opportunity to see the Nurse-Dermott pairing tonight. The puck will drop around 8 PM Mountain Time. The game can be seen on the Oilers streaming service, Oilers+.

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