TLDR: The season starts on Tuesday, September 29, with McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line under a brand-new coach, and a Vancouver team that still doesn't know when its No. 1 goalie will be back. The last time these 2 met at Rogers Place, Edmonton won 6-1.
Edmonton opens its first season under Mike Babcock with McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line, hosting a Vancouver team that doesn't have Thatcher Demko in net. The Oilers are clear home favorites. The game likely comes down to whether the Canucks' backup plan in goal can hold up against Edmonton's top line, and whether Babcock's system fixes the defensive leaks that ended last season against Anaheim.
+Home ice against a Vancouver team missing its No. 1 goalie
+Beat Vancouver 6-1 in the last meeting
−Andersen expected to miss camp, per NHL.com
−Allowed 4+ goals in 4 of last 5
−Dickinson and Janmark out of the lineup
Mike Babcock gets his first real game behind the Edmonton bench, and his first big decision is already public. He's putting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together on the top line to start the year, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centering the second. Draisaitl said the room needed consistency after years of flip-flopping line combinations, and Babcock's pitch is structure: if everyone knows where everyone is, the stars get more room. McDavid is on his 6th head coach since 2015-16, so the patience for a slow start is not unlimited.
Vancouver's problem is in net. Thatcher Demko is on injured reserve and isn't expected to be ready for the start of the season. His 2025-26 ended with hip surgery after he left a game in January, and he was at camp without taking part in drills. The Canucks signed Chris Driedger to a PTO as insurance. Filip Chytil is also on IR, which takes a center out of a lineup that doesn't have many to spare. Edmonton has absences too. Jason Dickinson is out, Mattias Janmark is on IR, and NHL.com reported Frederik Andersen was expected to miss camp. The board has the Oilers as clear home favorites.
There's also last spring to deal with. Edmonton's season ended with a 1-4 run against Anaheim, and three of those losses came with 4 or more goals allowed. Babcock was hired to fix that. Vancouver finished last season 3-2 in its last 5, with 1-goal wins over San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles before it went to Rogers Place and lost 6-1.
Those form lines are from April, so read them as last season's shape and nothing more. What does carry over is how different these rosters are right now. Edmonton goes into a Babcock system with its 2 best forwards stacked together. Vancouver is waiting on a goalie and missing a center, so it'll be leaning on depth pieces from night 1.
Puck drop is 8:00 PM MT at Rogers Place. It's opening night, both teams are short a few names, and the Oilers want to show that a structured Edmonton team looks different from the one Anaheim ran out of the playoffs. If Vancouver's backup plan in goal holds up, this stays close. If it doesn't, McDavid and Draisaitl will find the gaps.
