Hot Links: Tuesday, September 24

Morning everyone! Feels like an eternity since the Oilers played a preseason game, but that ends tonight with the arrival of the Arizona Coyotes to town. Puck drops a shade after 7 PM MST, so circle back around for our coverage later this evening.

Training camp continues and the verbiage out of it from the local bucketmen is that Connor McDavid looks as good as he ever has, simply dominating his peers out there. Leon Draisaitl called him a freak. Here’s hoping The Young Pope is back to full speed come early October and the Oilers captain doesn’t even miss a shift this season. They’ll need every second of McDavid they can get.

There are a handful of cuts still to come, and a couple of spots worth paying attention to. The Oilers will need to shed a couple of defenders and guys like Ethan Bear, Evan Bouchard, and Brandon Manning could go either way, albeit for different reasons. Manning is the type you’d happily let rot in the press box if it didn’t cost you so goddamn much money to do it, but in his case there would be real savings by signing a replacement-level body and flinging him to California. Bear and Bouchard both need minutes, but perhaps the plan involves Bear making the team and Benning making an exit. Pay attention over the next week, as there are some tough decisions ahead for Dave Tippett, Ken Holland and company.

Craig MacTavish’s Lokomotiv outfit limped to a 3-5 start this season, and that has been enough for the power that be to send him packing. Look for the Oilers to announce his imminent rehiring this week.

That’ll about do it for the high points, dig into the links and let us know what you thinks in the comments. We’ll see you later on.

From Us

Yesterday (Copper and Blue)

Sunil’s Super Fan Podcast - Episode 5 feat. WheatNOil (Copper and Blue)

From Elsewhere

The Battle On The Blue (Oilersnation)

Craig MacTavish Fired By Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Oilersnation)

Oilers Awards Hopefuls (Art Ross: Connor McDavid) (Oilersnation)

Oilers Notes: Smith Adds New Dynamic To Edmonton Crease (Sun)

Connor McDavid Pushing The Limits In Practice, Looks Like He’s Ready (Sun)

Nearly Six Months Post-Injury, McDavid Eyes Return To Game Action (Sportsnet)

Competition Fierce For Last Roster Spots As Edmonton Oilers Camp Enters Final Week (Journal)

McDavid On His Long Summer And Rebounding From Injury (Sportsnet)

For Money

Injuries And Prospects: A Brief Oilers History Of Devastating Derailments (The Athletic)

Connor McDavid’s Nearing Return And Four Other Things We’ve Learned From Oilers Camp (The Athletic)

How Five Months In Kelowna Changed Leon Draisaitl’s Hockey Career (The Athletic)