There are few parallels for what Babcock is about to attempt in Edmonton in their most critical Cup-or-bust season.

The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers meet Tuesday as the NHL 2026-27 season begins. Puck drop from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada, is at 10 p.m. ET.

The Edmonton Oilers are set to open the 2026-27 NHL campaign on Tuesday evening against the divisional rival Vancouver Canucks, but they’re going to be shorthanded considerably. The Oilers, who are already without the services of forwards Jason Dickinson and Matt Savoie,

The Mike Babcock era begins with the Edmonton Oilers laying a massive price at home against the Vancouver Canucks, but my Canucks vs. Oilers prediction and NHL picks see Edmonton getting the job done without this turning into a track meet.

Babcock’s lineup for Saturday’s game was as close to opening night as fans have seen so far in the preseason. The options at centre included Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and two wingers playing in the middle (Trent Frederic and Colton Dach).

The Edmonton Oilers are getting set to kick off a new era under new head coach Mike Babcock with their season opener on Tuesday night, but they’ll do it without their longest-tenured player.

EDMONTON --The journey back from a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-7 series against the Anaheim Ducks started with a strong first period for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round. That led into a convincing 4-1 win here at Rogers ...