The Oilers Just Got Some VERY Good News...

The Edmonton Oilers just received some great news as multiple Oilers returned to the ice at practice as they hope to return from injuries, including one player in particular who was expected to make his return to the lineup later tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. Welcome back to Oilers Digest. I am your host, Joseph Greco, and in today's video, we're going to be looking ahead to tonight's game against the LA Kings, including one player in particular, Zach Hyman, who is moving closer to a return and is expected to return to the lineup later tonight against the LA Kings as I mentioned earlier this week we had Bob Stauffer indicate that Hyman and Philip Holmlander were both on the ice ahead of their game against the San Jose Sharks as we know Holmlander made his debut a couple days ago against the Sharks and Hyman was taking rotations with Dickinson and Kapanen on that second line with Mike Babcock then going on to say that he expected Zach Hyman to return to the lineup today against the LA Kings so about a few weeks ago we saw Zach Hyman miss the second game of the season he played in that first game against the Vancouver Canucks he was not very effective and a lot of question marks were surrounding as to why he was not playing his best hockey and ultimately we found out that he was dealing with some sort of injury and as we could tell October 9th he did return to practice and he is projected to return to the Oilers lineup later this evening against the LA Kings he's projected to return alongside Jay Dickinson on that second line Kapanen has been in that slot I do expect Kapanen to slide down either to the left on his offside or onto the third line I presume that maybe they want to continue trying Hollander on his left side alongside Dickinson and Zach Hyman so obviously Zach Hyman is someone who provides a lot of offense for the Edmonton Oilers last year in 58 games providing 52 points he's a consistent 20 to 30 goal scorer obviously he had that 54 goal season but someone who's very effective for the Oilers on the power play very effective just getting in front of the goalie inside his crease and getting those dirty goals obviously he's not projected to play alongside Connor McDavid who is a player in which he's found a lot of success with but Zach Hyman has a lot of history with Mike Babcock he Mike Babcock was his former coach back in Toronto and Hyman was always a player that Mike Babcock heavily relied on so I do expect Hyman to continue to perform despite the fact that he's not projected to play alongside Connor McDavid as all signs are pointing towards but Draisaitl and McDavid and Draisaitl remaining as that top unit considering how dominant they have been five on five as i indicated in my most recent video additionally alongside Zach Hyman we have received a lot of positive news regarding a lot of Oilers who seemingly hit the ice after this weekend's practice as we know early storyline for the Edmonton Oilers has been the injury especially when it comes to top six forwards in Nugent Hopkins, Hyman, and Savoy. Well, it seems as though that after practice the other day, we saw Nugent-Hopkins, Colton Bouchard, Matt Savoy, Mattias Janmark all hitting the ice. Now, obviously, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is someone who is expected to be day-to-day, and Mike Babcock indicated two weeks. We are approaching that two-week mark with no real official timeline for a return for Nugent Hopkins. But as of this moment, he's not projected to return to the lineup tonight. but I do expect Nugent-Hopkins to return within the next two to three games after tonight against the Kings they do have Utah on Thursday and then Utah again on Saturday so I do expect Nugent Hopkins to be ready to go in one of those two games similar to Zach Hyman get that first skate join the team for practice for one skate and then get back into the lineup in the most recent game Matt Savoy being on the ice is also very encouraging for the Oilers it was assumed it'd be November that he is returning it's very encouraging to see him on the ice here October 13th a little bit ahead of schedule obviously you don't want to rush things make sure he gets up to 100% health but very encouraging to see Matt Savoy returning to the ice a little bit earlier than expected and obviously Nugent Hopkins and Savoy considering that the Oilers have had such an effective start at the with despite all these injuries now you're adding a 56 point player Nugent Hopkins which ultimately I understand a lot of these points did come on the power play obviously 29 power play points and 56 points total and a minus nine so not the best five on five season for Nugent Hopkins and that is a little bit of a concern that I have flagged multiple times but the team is performing much better at five on five and I think that under head coach Mike Babcock a new system that the team continues to get comfortable with we will see a better five on five season for Ryan Nugent Hopkins additionally I'm not 100% sure his spot on power play will be safe for him considering how well Vasily Putgol and has been playing i'm not sure that Putgol and should be getting demoted just because Nugent Hopkins returns to the lineup so we will see what happens when the time comes but seeing as how the Oilers have had a scorching hot start after that first ugly game against the Canucks very encouraging to see lots of injured players coming back to join the lineup and help spread the depth apart and get really like your solidified real top six and then your solidified bottom six getting more reps in and just building from what they've already started on and obviously Matt Savoy last season 37 points 82 games he really had a strong second half of the season after that olympic break and as i mentioned multiple times that this injury is just so unfortunate for a guy like Matt Savoy who was hoping to take that next step and now he's gonna have to kind of play catch up in the lineup catch up in terms of getting back to speed because of how much time he's missed all training camp start of the season here so for Matt Savoy you're hoping that when he does return to the lineup he is able to start producing as soon as possible get some reps on the penalty kill get some reps in the top six and start to produce at a consistent rate as soon as possible now as of the current moment the starter in net against the Kings is Devin Levi nothing surprising here obviously Tristan Jarry did get the start against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday and he did have an effective game only letting in one goal but Devin Levi seemingly has received a lot of the bulk of the starts as of late with the trust of Mike Babcock continuing to grow and his performances continue to grow as he's looked a whole lot more confident since that game against the Canucks obviously he had a struggle struggled in that first game or should I say second game of the season but his first start of the season against the Vancouver Canucks but again as I mentioned in that video and I've mentioned since a lot of those goals were unfortunate breakdowns the defense and something's a little bit out of his control definitely a little bit nervous but since then he's had two very quality starts 950 and a .935 save percentage he's been really making some of the more impressive saves that this team has been missing for the last several seasons so considering that consistency has been there from Devin Levi in a short span and obviously Tristan Jari as I mentioned had a good game but looking back to last season and the first start of this season too shaky to kind of rely on on a night in night out basis I project it to be two two starts for Levi and then one start for Jarry this week whether or not which game I would assume maybe they try and give Tristan Jari the game at home versus Utah with Devin Levi getting both road games this weekend but obviously who am I to assume because I'm not the head coach but that is how I would approach this week obviously as we know as I mentioned three straight starts for Devin Levi and then he had that night off on Saturday so he's had quite some time off to kind of recoup and dial back in. We know he takes his mentality and his his approach to the game very serious, always meditating and staying focused on what task at hand is. So for Devin Levi obviously a couple days off recoup and get a team against the LA Kings that are hungry for their first one of the season, they're winless through five or six games which is pretty brutal start for the LA Kings So they're going to be hungry, motivated. They're playing at home. The Oilers and them obviously have that rivalry in which the Oilers seemingly always kick them out of the playoffs. So something to monitor for Devin Levi. Should he get the nod, it's likely an aggressive start to the game from the LA Kings as well as facing off against former Oiler Corey Perry. Now, one player who missed Saturday's game against the San Jose Sharks and was not one of the players who has been listed as injured and did not skate was Jake Walman. So obviously, Jake Walman came in through the season very much so re-energized, stating how healthy he was, how good he felt, and how he felt as though he was in the best shape of his career. And obviously, Jake Walman has remained unavailable since Saturday. No real update in that regard, just listed as out or day-to-day, depending on what platforms you check on. So something to monitor is certainly the status of Jake Walman, who ultimately, although he didn't have a good start to the season, is still a valuable player when he's at his best for the Oilers. Additionally, as I've mentioned, the Oilers are renewing that rivalry with the Los Angeles Kings. The Los Angeles Kings are looking for their first win of the regular season, as we could see here. The Oilers, after that first game of the season, have picked up the pace and are one of the best teams in the NHL and one of the best teams in their division. and then as you start to look down the LA Kings with less wins than the Vancouver Canucks and the same amount of wins as the Calgary Flames obviously the LA Kings are a team notorious for kind of forcing games to overtime and just collecting the loser points but if it gets the loser point territory I do believe it favors the Oilers as well in that regard so favorable matchup here for the Edmonton Oilers. If you're the Oilers you want to keep momentum going by picking up a win against a relatively easy opponent because Utah are no scrubs so they've got after tonight they've got Utah twice Utah's a high scoring young team as well as a good goaltender and good defensive core so if you're the Edmonton Oilers you want to take care of business tonight against the Kings as I mentioned get the easy win if possible LA Kings lineup is pretty weak and outside of Kempe Panarin and Byfield nothing really and you know what Brent Clark as well there's a lot of holes in that game so if you're the Oilers again just take it to them five on five take it to them on power play do what you can and obviously the Oilers have gotten the better of the Kings in the postseason as we see here 2025 playoffs Oilers won 4-2 series after trailing two nothing early in that series but in terms of regular season success the LA Kings have certainly kind of had the Oilers number last season in particular the Oilers went one one and one so again as I mentioned the LA Kings are a team that really loves those loser points kind of boring bland hockey get that point in overtime style hasn't changed now that Jim Hiller's gone it's still the same product of hockey which is just clog up the middle play for overtime try and get an extra point if you get the loser point they're satisfied with that as well so again I know I sound like a broken record if you're the Oilers you want to bring the pace to the game that first line's most likely going to continue to be dominant I think they're going to be all over that defensive group in LA so again you just want to take care of business as easily and effective as you can tonight with if you're the Edmonton Oilers obviously power play for the Oilers is something to monitor as I do want to see that conversion rate go a little bit more up but all in all that penalty kill has been pretty solid just to wrap up some of the keys for the Oilers tonight is if you're Devin Levi you want to continue to build on those two starts that you've had in the last two games and then if you're the Oilers you want to continue to manage your defensive game limit as many shots as possible on Devin Levi and do not overlook a winless Kings team when your back's up against the wall like the kings have it right now you're going to come out hungry you're going to come out energized you got Corey Perry who's certainly going to try and bring a little bit of energy now that he's been inserted into the top six of that king's lineup so the oilers could have a returning Zach Hyman which is huge huge for the offense huge for the power play huge for the morale of the team obviously getting healthier and healthier as i mentioned Devin Levi Jake Walman question marks there Devin Levi likely the starter hungry la kings team but oiler should be ready and willing to go take care of business in la later tonight that's all i have for you guys today make sure you've enjoyed the video give it a thumbs up subscribe if you're new and i'll catch you in the next video doodles