- Mike Babcock says Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will start the season on the same line
- Vasily Podkolzin skated on the right side of that top line to open Oilers camp
- Read below for what Babcock said about running his first NHL practice since 2019
Mike Babcock answered Edmonton’s loudest question on his first day of work.
The new Oilers coach said Thursday that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will make up two-thirds of his top line when Edmonton opens the season against Vancouver on Sept. 29. He was asked how he plans to use his two stars after running the first two on-ice sessions of training camp.
“I’m going to try and start with the two of them together, for sure. The third piece on each of those top three lines, I don’t know that. And I also don’t know just on health.”
Watch Babcock’s full availability from Rogers Place:
That closes out a debate every Edmonton coach has inherited for a decade. Babcock is McDavid’s sixth head coach with the Oilers and Draisaitl’s seventh, and his Toronto record pointed the other way, which is why we looked at the case for splitting them up back in August.
Vasily Podkolzin drew the first look on the right side. Jason Gregor posted the first group as it hit the ice:
Isaac Howard opened camp in the top six with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman. On the back end, Ryan Shea lined up alongside Evan Bouchard while Mattias Ekholm skated on the third pair with Shakir Mukhamadullin.
Two groups of roughly 20 players went through about four hours of high-tempo work, and the coach felt every minute of it. “My feet hurt right now,” Babcock told a media scrum afterward.
Draisaitl was asked for his first impression of the new staff.
“It was great, it was intense. He’s energetic. He wants things done a certain way and he wants them done right. I think anyone in the building could hear it and probably see it.”
The German also weighed in on Edmonton’s shortened exhibition slate:
Thursday was the 63-year-old’s first NHL practice since the Maple Leafs fired him 23 games into 2019-20. He said the Oilers came to him, not the other way around.
“If they hadn’t come and talked to me, it’s not like I was looking for work. When I see my deer pictures in the morning, I can’t believe I’m doing this as a matter of fact.”
Edmonton’s preseason opener against Winnipeg goes Saturday at Rogers Place.
