The preseason is done, and the games that matter start tonight. Your 2025-26 Edmonton Oil Kings will begin their regular season tonight in Red Deer, AB with a familiar opening night trip to face the Rebels. If you haven't yet read our Season Preview, you can find that HERE. This will be the 7th time that Edmonton begins the season in Red Deer, and hold a 2-3-1 record in those games. Overall, Edmonton has faced the Rebels 10 times on opening night, and their overall record is at 4-5-1. The Oil Kings will be looking to tie up the modern era opening night head-to-head, and some revenge for losing the preseason finale last Sunday.
Over 18 seasons the Oil Kings are 9-8-1 in Season Opening games, but have had most of their success when they get to open at home. They do tend to get off to a hot start in Game 1, as they have scored the first goal in 12 of those 18 games, and 9 of those 12 times the first goal came within the first 10 minutes of the first period. The fastest goal to start the season goes to Brett Pollock in the 2015-16 Season, as he scored 40 seconds into the game. The latest they have scored their first goal of the season was in 2010-11 when Michael St.Croix ended a shutout bid at 5:47 of the 3rd period. This was the closest the Oil Kings ever came to being Shutout in Game 1.
While the Oil Kings may have never been Shutout in a Game 1, they likewise have never achieved a shutout in a Game 1. Historically, the defense and goaltending has been slow to start as the Oil Kings have given up at least 2 goals in 16 out of 18 Season Opening games. If history is any guide, expect this to be a high scoring affair on both sides of the ice.
On The Throne
Those players that are considered to be trending upwards, on a hot streak, or otherwise impressing will be seen as being On The Throne. These are based off preseason for the time being, but will be a look at recent games throughout the season.
Kayden Stroeder - Stroeder gets to stay On The Throne after an extremely strong preseason outing. Playing in all 4 preseason games, and leading the team with 3 goals and 2 assists, he is easily our preseason First Star. Stroeder should be on the ice for opening faceoff, he should be starting on the first line, and he should be a key piece of the gameplan to get the team off to a hot start to the season. The rookie is looking to follow up his 8 points in 16 games last season, with a rookie season to remember. He only managed one assist in the preseason game with the Rebels last week, watch for him to improve on that in this one.
Joe Iginla - The son of former NHL-star Jarome Iginla, and younger brother of new Utah Mammoth Tij Iginla, is looking to carve out his own name this year. He finished the preseason with 2 goals against these same Rebels last week, and was only 1 point behind Stroeder for the preseason after also playing in all 4 games. Iginla put up 5 points in 5 games during his 15-year-old season, but was underwhelming with only 16 points in 61 games in his first full season last year. With more responsibilities and more pressures on him to excel this year, look for him to take a big step in his development as part of a strong youth movement with the lineup this year. How he follows up his 2-goals from last week, now that the games matter, should say a lot for where his trajectory is headed this year.
Josh Lee - Perhaps nobody has had a better opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed in this preseason than Josh Lee. With Blake Fiddler and Parker Alcos away, Lee has been thrust into the role of #1 right defense and has had a strong showing across 3 games in this role. His 3 points in 3 games were all powerplay points, as he became a key contributor to helping the Powerplay be successful. Once his counterparts return from their NHL camps, Lee will likely slide back down to 3rd pair, but it’s a testament to the team depth that he can play successfully up and down the depth chart.
NHL Camp Returnees - Andrew O’Neill (Edmonton) and Ethan MacKenzie (Minnesota) are back from their respective NHL Rookie/Prospect Showcases after being released from their tryout deals. We’ll hold them up on the throne, though, for having the opportunity to have been and learned at these camps. MacKenzie got to partake in the Wild vs Blackhawks game on Sunday, and had a great opportunity to setup the winning goal in the 3rd period. O’Neill had less impact in his Showcase game in Calgary, but I’m sure he learned a lot in his short time with the Oilers coaches and trainers.
Off The Throne
Players that are struggling through a rough patch, on a cold streak, or possibly battling the puck at times will be viewed as being Off The Throne. Preseason is not the place to look for struggling players, so we’ll keep it simple to start the season.
Tucker Tullikopf - After his callup from the Camrose Kodiaks for the weekend preseason games, Tucker was sent back down to the AJHL team again. In 2 games he had zero points and a -2 rating. He’s still a reliable player, and we’d like to wish him the best during his time in Camrose. Hopefully he’ll get another chance to show his skills later in the year.
Cage Smith - Expectations on Cage were high last season when he was called up. He had 109 points in his U15 Prep season before being drafted, and has consistently had more than a point per game throughout his time in the CSSHL, so Oil Kings fans are anxious to see that translate to the WHL team. So far, it has not appeared, and Cage only played in the first of the Oil Kings preseason games against Prince George. Not a great sign for where he stands in Coach Gator’s eyes.
At the Gate
Who is the man standing between the pipes, the soldier standing between the opponent’s hopes and dreams? The man in the mask, and heavy padding, is the man At the Gate. This is our section where we will look at the starting goaltenders. With only 2 goalies still on the roster, the only mystery is who gets the starting nod?
I alluded to this in my Season Preview yesterday, but I’m inclined to believe that Ethan Simcoe gets the nod for opening night. He faced Red Deer on Sunday, and held his own in a tight game. A third period powerplay goal for Red Deer broke the 3-3 tie, and they held the lead, but I’m thinking Simcoe wants some redemption and the team will be fired up to support him.
This would be Simcoe’s first career regular season start against the Rebels. He’s facing some stiff competition from his fellow netminder Parker Snell, and I believe that the Oil Kings coaching staff will give Ethan the first chance to set the bar that Snell would need to surpass.
The Roil Ledger
How well do the Oil Kings match up with their opponents? How have they fared against them in recent seasons? Is there a lot of red in that ledger, or have the results been more positive? We’ll take a look at recent history and notable stats between the two teams. I covered the Rebels and Oil Kings history of season openers against each other, but how do they fare against each other as an overall?
The rivalry between Edmonton and Red Deer in the WHL is perhaps even larger than the rivalry between Edmonton and Calgary at times. Being only a short trip down the QEII Highway, and divisional opponents means that these teams see each other early and often every season. Last year this was a series dominated by Edmonton, taking 7 of 8 games and outscoring the Rebels 38-11 in the season series.
It wasn’t too long ago, however, that the Rebels swept the full season series 9-0-0 in 2022-23. But, the year before that saw the Oil Kings sweep the Rebels from the postseason in the second round.
Since 2020, the season series looks the same as the overall season opener series, with a near stalemate. The Oil Kings have a 21-20-2 record in all regular season games against Red Deer in the past 5 years, which shows the ups and downs of a WHL Roster, but also shows that these teams are always closely matched and only 1 year away from being able to flip the script on each other.
The Threats Beyond the Wall
What awaits the Oil Kings on the other side of the ice? Who should they be keeping an eye on? How has the opponent stacked up around the league? We’ll be looking at the players to watch, those high on prospect draft boards, and the ones already drafted by NHL teams. The team’s place in the standings, win or loss streaks, and other important information to prime everyone to be ready for the opposition.
The Red Deer Rebels are entering the season looking to return to the playoffs after a down year and missing the playoffs in 2024-25. They have a new coaching staff and made some upgrades to their defence, but not too many changes to the roster otherwise.
Up front, there are many threats on this Rebels team, with last year’s leading scorers Matthew Gard and Ty Coupland headlining that list. Each finished with 36 points in the season and should improve on both of those numbers with an older and improved team this year. Gard is at NHL Camp with the Philadelphia Flyers, so Coupland will have to take the lead to start the year. Jaxon Fuder, after an impressive rookie season, was invited to the Dallas Stars rookie camp and has impressed in their prospect tournament. He will also be unavailable to start the year.
2023 first-round pick Beckett Hamilton has had a strong preseason, capped with a hat trick in the finale against Edmonton last week. Preventing Hamilton from repeating what he did last game will be paramount to Edmonton’s success. Talon Brigley, entering his fifth season with the Rebels, is looking to cap his WHL Career this year by breaking the Red Deer franchise record for games played. He enters the season only 39 games away at 262 Games Played.
Rookies Landon McSwain, Grayden Peterson, and Owen Shadrick have made opening night roster and should be interesting to keep an eye on. McSwain did have 2 points against Edmonton in the Preseason victory.
The Defense of the Rebels has seen more change. Defenders Keith McInnis and Nate Yellowaga both joined the team from the Brooks Bandits and have made their opening night roster. McInnis matched Hamilton with 4 points through the preseason, including 2 assists against Edmonton.
Luke Vlooswyk is back after a strong rookie year, but he is in Philadelphia for NHL Development Camp and won’t be a factor this weekend. His fellow sophomore, Jake Missura, will be there and shouldn’t be underestimated, and 2024 first-round pick Graeme Pickering appears ready to be a key contributor in his rookie season.
Starting goaltender Chase Wutzke is away at Minnesota Wild training camp, but he will be back this season and should create a solid pair with Peyton Shore. Wutzke managed 17 wins on a lacklustre team last year after managing 19 wins on a much better team in the year prior.
Shore will likely get the start in the season opener. He managed the win the preseason finale, and a rematch of the Simcoe/Shore matchup should make for a great way to start the season. This would bode well for Edmonton, as Shore’s overall stat profile is not spectacular.
Matthew Kondro is a wild-card in this situation. He will remain with the team while Wutzke is away, but he also had a strong preseason and could push to be the #2 instead of Shore with some strong outings to start the year.
The games start to matter now. All of the camp and preseason activities come into play to determine what the coaches have learned and who should be playing in what places in the lineup. Tonight in Red Deer we get to see the results of these offseason activities. Tomorrow, they make their way back to Edmonton for the rematch. Make sure you’re following us here at The Roil Line for all future Roil Briefings!