EDMONTON, AB – The Oilers will deploy their expected second line of Jeff Skinner, Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson on Monday night at Rogers Place for the first time in exhibition action against the Canucks.

The three forwards weren’t part of Monday’s morning practice at Rogers Place for inactive skaters, which included the likes of Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Ryan, Philp, Bouchard, Ekholm, Kemp, Akey, Nurse and Delia.

After Head Coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed their inclusion in the lineup, tonight will be the trio’s first opportunity to get competitive action together and begin finding some chemistry outside of Training Camp skates.

“All three of them will play together tonight at least to start the game, and we’ll see how it goes from there,” Knoblauch said. “They’ve been practicing with each other, but they want to get reps and play a game. That’s obviously where the real competition is and it’ll be good for the coaches also to see some building some chemistry.”

Knoblauch believes that each of their skill sets can contribute to a formidable second line for the Oilers this season, but that relies on them being able to work through any early issues that might arise over Edmonton’s final three exhibition games – beginning tonight in their final home game of the preseason.

“Obviously, Skinner is a goalscorer. Arvidsson has a little more edge to his game by getting in on the forecheck. He’s a bit more aggressive,” Knoblauch said. “Even though he’s not big on stature, he is big on having that tenacity.

“I think there’ll be growing pains, but they’re good hockey players and we’re optimistic that it’ll work out.”

The bench boss also confirmed that Connor McDavid will be in the lineup tonight and will centre the pair of Vasily Podkolzin and Corey Perry, with the former being acquired by the Oilers from the Canucks this offseason for a 2025 fourth-round pick.

With a goal and times spent on the penalty kill during Saturday’s victory over Seattle, Podkolzin is making a good impression to stick around in Edmonton as one of the club’s fourth-line forwards and will now get the opportunity to audition on the wing of the Oilers captain.

On Monday, the Oilers also released forward Mike Hoffman from his professional try-out (PTO).

Defenceman Darnell Nurse will have to wait at least another game to make his pre-season debut after being confirmed as out tonight by Knoblauch. After meeting with team doctors this morning, the Oilers will hope to have their veteran defenceman back in the lineup to begin adjusting to a new defence partner in either one or both of Edmonton’s final two pre-season games against Seattle (Wednesday) or Vancouver (Friday).

Edmonton’s full lineup will be made apparent during warmups at Rogers Place tonight at approximately 30 minutes before puck drop at Rogers Place, with the game being streamed live on Oilers+ at 7:00pm MT.