When the CHL released their team rankings at the start of the season, only 3 WHL teams made their Top 10 Cut. Of those 3 teams, The Edmonton Oil Kings and the Spokane Chiefs both made the cut. Since the season began, the Oil Kings have maintained their high ranking so far but the Chiefs have struggled to stay prove themselves as elite in a highly competitive U.S. Division. 

Through 11 games so far Spokane finds themselves muddled in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference with a 6-5-0 record. All of their losses have come to teams above them in the standings, and all of their wins have come against teams below them in the standings. This should bode well for the Oil Kings chances tonight, as Spokane arrives coming off a 5-0 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday.

Edmonton is returning home after a brief weekend trip to Northern Saskatchewan, where they started with a 4-3 OT win in Prince Albert before losing to Saskatoon in heartbreaking fashion on a goal with less than 5 seconds before that one would have been headed to OT as well. The top line of Sawchyn, Holinka, and Iginla was held off the scoresheet for the first time in 4 games with the loss to Saskatoon. It’s only the second time in this young season that none of that trio was able to produce any offense.

The Oil Kings will be looking to extend their home winning streak to start the season, as they have not lost a game at Rogers Place yet this season and have outscored opponents 20-7 through those 4 games. Currently Edmonton sits tied with those same Saskatoon Blades atop the Eastern Conference with a 9-3-0 record. 

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. 

Ethan MacKenzie - The hard-working defender has seen his confidence and value skyrocket so far in this season, and the fans are loving it. Ethan is on a 3 game point streak coming home, with 4 points over that time including scoring the exciting overtime winner in Prince Albert over the weekend. His 9 points through 12 games is tops among defensemen on the team, and only trails that trio of the Oil Kings top line for the overall team scoring lead right now. With 4 goals already, he’s on pace to shatter his personal best of 5 goals from last season and could be looking to tie that mark with another big goal tonight.

Andrew O’Neill - A few briefings ago, I had some concerns about the Oil Kings results in the faceoff circle. They have since really turned it around, and leading that charge has been Andrew O’Neill’s success. Who had a rather impressive 19 of 35 faceoff wins over the 2 game Saskatchewan trip. He has not been filling the scoresheets the way others do, but his value is evident in the trust the coaches have in his faceoff ability. He often leads the team in faceoffs taken and faceoffs won, and is consistently a plus player. He has not had a minus performance since the loss in Medicine Hat a couple weeks ago, and is regularly a nuisance for opposing teams to focus on. To top off his strong, unsung performance, Andrew was also announced as a C Tier prospect by NHL Central Scouting this week. A ranking that projects him as a potential 3rd Round Draft pick this year. He shared this ranking with teammates Joe Iginla, Noa Ta’amu, and Parker Snell.

Kayden Stroeder - Last week, Kayden Stroeder was announced to be competing for Team Canada White at the U17 World hockey Challenge. Later that day, he scored 2 points, including his first goal of the season, against the Portland Winterhawks in the Oil Kings win. He then went on the road trip and secured an assist for his 4th point through 5 games since returning to the lineup from injury. Coach Smith has been shuffling the lineup to deal with injuries and performance, but it doesn’t appear to be affecting the performance of the rookie from Lanigan, SK. 

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. 

Gavin Hodnett - Unfortunately, going to have to keep Gavin here for another round as he battles back from his injury. He has not played since being rolled over in that Lethbridge game last week, and news is he is out week-to-week with this injury. We wish all the best in the recovery of our Captain, and can’t wait to see him back in the lineup and on the throne once he’s healthy.

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. 

Parker Snell took his first career loss at the WHL level on Saturday against Saskatoon, and what a difficult way to take that loss indeed. After allowing the tying goal on a Saskatoon breakaway through his five-hole only 3 and a half minutes away from the victory, the Blades managed to sneak one through Snell’s glove that I’m sure the young netminder wants back.

The goaltending carousel keeps going and tonight should be Simcoe’s turn to get back in net, coming off the Overtime victory on Friday. Simcoe is currently 4-2 to start the year, with a 2.52 GAA and .909 Sv%. He did not draw the Chiefs game last season, so this will be his first career start against Spokane.

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.

Spokane is a relative unknown to the Oil Kings team and fans, as we only play them once per year and they only visit our beautiful city every second year. This will only be the 17th meeting between the 2 teams in the 19 seasons since Edmonton returned to the WHL. Spokane holds a strong edge in the overall series, as Edmonton is 5-10-0-1 all time against the Chiefs, and actually only 2-6-0-0 here in Edmonton.

In last year’s matchup in Spokane, Edmonton took the victory by a 6-3 margin. Cole Miller, Rylen Roersma, Gracyn Sawchyn, Holinka, Jecho, and Hodnett all had goals as the Oil Kings jumped out to a 4-0 first period lead and never looked back.

This is a big matchup between 2 teams expected to do big things this year, and Edmonton will be looking to close that gap in the all-time matchup. Expect this game to come with a playoff feel between two highly regarded teams this year.

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.

Yesterday, The NHL’s Central Scouting released their first tier list  for the upcoming 2026 draft. Among the few players that received an “A” ranking was Spokane forward, and leading scorer, Mathis Preston. The 17 year old is ranked fairly consistently as a consensus Top 10 pick in next year’s draft, and has started this season as a point per game player with 11 points through 11 games. He had an excellent Hlinka-Grestzky tournament for Canada in the summer, and is following up a fantastic 45 points from his rookie season last year. 

Anyone who watched Preston play for Canada during that tournament knows that he has jets for skates, and a wicked shot release that can elude goaltenders from anywhere. But you may also recall that Noa Ta’amu frustrated Preston and had him stymied consistently in Canada’s game against the USA. Preston scored, but only when Ta’amu wasn’t matched up against him. This should be something to watch for tonight if Ta’amu and Preston end up matched up against each other again.

The leadership for Spokane is made up of a trio of NHL drafted talents with experience for the Chiefs. 2025 third round pick Owen Martin, along with 2025 picks William MacIsaac and Nathan Hayes are wearing the letters and imparting the wisdom of some NHL trained talent to the up and coming Chiefs. Lucky for Edmonton, Berkly Catton is still playing for the Seattle Kraken so the 2024 first round pick won’t be a threat to the Oil Kings tonight. 

On defense, Kaden Allen is drawing some NHL interest as he was ranked as a late-round prospect who could hear his name called next Summer. MacIsaac leads the charge as the top guy on their backend, tasked with playing the tough minutes. And Hayes fills out a strong core in the defensive lineup.

In net, expect to see Carter Esler get the start as he has been relied upon to be a rock in net for Spokane in their wins. He has 2 shutouts (and only 3 goals against) through his 4 wins so far, and Spokane’s success goes as far as Esler does. In his 3 losses, he has 10 goals against. Even still, his 1.86 GAA and .935 Sv % are fantastic numbers and hold him in the upper tiers of the WHL’s goaltending class this season.

This is Spokane’s first trip to Edmonton since January 2024, and we as fans get the privilege of seeing Mathis Preston tonight before his name in all likelihood goes among the top players to the NHL next year. It’s Taco Tuesday in Edmonton tonight, one of only two Tuesday games this season, so be sure to grab your fill of $2 tacos on the concourse during the game. You can watch the game for free on Victory+, listen along on iHeartRadio, or head on down to Rogers Place to grab a ticket and take in all the action live. Puck Drop is at 7pm local Edmonton time. The next game will be Saturday Evening in Edmonton as the Oil Kings welcome the Regina Pats to Edmonton for a rematch of the Oil Kings 4-3 victory in Regina. This will be another edition of our Power Saturday contest, so keep your eyes peeled to get your guess in for a chance to win your choice from our great prizes available. Make sure you’re following us here at The Roil Line for all future Roil Briefings!