Pickard allowed one goal on seven shots after replacing Stuart Skinner in the Oilers' 6-0 loss to the Jets on opening night. With a back-to-back this weekend, Pickard will start the easier of the two matchups vs. the Blackhawks on Saturday. The Oilers are the biggest favourites (-348) on Saturday's slate and Pickard had a 27-save shutout in his only game against them last season.

Pickard allowed one goal on seven shots after replacing Stuart Skinner in the Oilers' 6-0 loss to the Jets on opening night. With a back-to-back this weekend, Pickard will start the easier of the two matchups vs. the Blackhawks on Saturday. The Oilers are the biggest favourites (-348) on Saturday's slate and Pickard had a 27-save shutout in his only game against them last season.

Jones will be a healthy scratch on Thursday, allowing Riley Tufte to draw into the lineup. Jones was held without a point or shot on goal while registering a -1 plus/minus in 9:42 of ice time in the Bruins' season-opening 6-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

Stecher will be a healthy scratch in the season opener for the Oilers, allowing Travis Dermott to make his debut with the team. The 30-year-old Stecher joined the Oilers late last season and tallied two points (0G / 2A), a +4 plus/minus, 10 blocks, and 15 hits in seven games.

Dermott signed with Oilers earlier this week after a successful PTO and will make his debut in their season-opener on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Dermott has 329 games of NHL experience and spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Arizona Coyotes, tallying seven points (2G / 5A), a -14 plus/minus, 64 blocks, and 52 hits. He will line up on the third defensive pair alongside Brett Kulak.

For the first time in his young career, Skinner enters the 2024-25 campaign as the undisputed starting goalie for the Edmonton Oilers. The 25-year-old Skinner had an up-and-down 2023-24 season, posting a 2.62 GAA and .905 SV% in 59 games (36-16-5), but had a 17-game stretch to end the season (11-2-3) where he allowed three or fewer goals in all but one game, posting a .922 SV% before leading his club to the Stanley Cup finals. Skinner and the Oilers will open the season against a Winnipeg Jets club he posted a 2-0-1 record against along with a 2.27 GAA and .910 SV%.

Bakersfield (AHL) shored up its offensive on Monday as Edmonton signed Cameron Wright to a one-year, two-way contract worth $952,000 AAV. The 26-year-old forward spent 2023-24 split between Bakersfield (AHL) and Fort Wayne (ECHL) and had a combined 16 goals and 26 points in 52 games played.

Ryan was late to practice on Friday and only participated in a few drills after it was announced that he was day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. The 37-year-old is entering his tenth NHL season and was expected to battle for a spot in Edmonton's bottom-six after scoring five goals, 12 points and eight PIMs in 70 games in 2023-24.

Jones has been sidelined by an undisclosed injury during training camp but shed his non-contact jersey for Thursday's practice. Jones came over from Anaheim has a free agent this summer and had 15 points (5G / 10A) in 52 games a season ago. Now that he's back healthy, he should be a member of the Bruins' fourth line on opening night.

Jones has been sidelined during his first training camp with the Bruins due to an undisclosed injury. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters on Tuesday that he's "getting close," which is a good sign that he could be available for the Bruins' season opener.

Kane will undergo surgery and will miss training camp and the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Oilers' GM Stan Bowman said that Kane is going to be "out for a while." Kane still hasn't undergone surgery, so expect him to miss a significant portion of the season and he should open the fantasy hockey season on the waiver wire.

Edmonton locked up a massive piece of their future on Tuesday after the Oilers agreed to an eight-year, $112 million contract extension ($14,000,000 AAV) with Leon Draisaitl starting at the beginning of the 2025-26 season. The upcoming 2024-25 campaign will mark Draisaitl's 11th NHL season, having surpassed the 100+ point plateau in five of the last six years. He will look to build off last year's rare down(ish) campaign which saw him still pick up an impressive 41 goals and 106 points in 81 games played.

Edmonton and St.Louis continued to make news on Tuesday as they made a minor deal involving Paul Fischer and a 2028 3rd-round pick heading from St. Louis to Edmonton for future considerations. The 19-year-old Fischer was St. Louis' 2023 5th-round pick (138th overall) and had spent his freshman season with the University of Notre Dame (NCAA) where he had two goals and 16 points in 34 games played.

With Edmonton needing to offload salary after St.Louis tenured two of their restricted free agents this week (Broberg, Holloway), they have dealt Cody Ceci and a 2025 3rd-round pick to San Jose for Ty Emberson. Emberson made his NHL debut in 2023-24 and had a goal and 10 points in 30 games played. The 24-year-old should make a solid replacement for Ceci and a dependable sixth defenseman on the Oilers' third defensive unit.

Edmonton continued to add to their roster on Sunday as they acquired Vasily Podkolzin from Vancouver for a 2025 4th-round pick (Ottawa). Podkolzin was Vancouver's 2019 1st round pick (10th overall) but had fallen out of favor with the Canucks after producing only two assists, and 20 SOG in 19 games played in 2023-24.

There is an expectation around the Oilers' camp that 33-year-old Evander Kane will undergo surgery for an undisclosed injury and will likely start the season on the Long-Term Injured Reserve. The bruising right-winger missed the Oilers last five games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs due to an injury that would not allow him to sit on the bench and will look to right the ship after collecting 24 goals and 44 points in 77 games played in 2023-24.