Mike Babcock made his message clear: Isaac Howard was staying in the NHL picture while most of Edmonton's Vancouver lineup was headed elsewhere.
The Oilers head coach described the group sent to Vancouver on Thursday as an “American League lineup,” turning the preseason game into one of the final auditions before Edmonton's roster was trimmed.
That lineup included Howard, Josh Samanski, Quinn Hutson, Viljami Marjala, Aku Räty and Eduards Tralmaks up front. Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney formed the top defence pairing, with Tristan Jarry starting in goal.
The message behind the lineup was difficult to miss. Edmonton's established NHL players stayed home to practice while Babcock gave the remaining bubble players one more night to make their case.
Babcock also indicated the NHL group would come together ahead of Saturday's preseason finale against Calgary. That game was positioned as Edmonton's dress rehearsal before the regular season.
"Mike Babcock said the Oilers were sending a primary AHL lineup for the game against Vancouver.
Ike Howard & Tristan Jarry will play, the rest of the lineup, aside from one of Stastney or Emberson most likely, get sent down to Bakersfield soon, I assume."
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Howard and Jarry were notable exceptions in Vancouver. Howard responded with a goal and an assist, while Jarry stopped 25 shots in Edmonton's 2-1 win. NHL
Babcock draws a line through Oilers camp
What happened next confirmed what the Vancouver lineup had already suggested. Edmonton made a major round of cuts Friday, sending much of that group out of NHL camp.
Hutson, Marjala, Räty, Tomas Cibulka and Connor Ungar were loaned to Bakersfield. Tralmaks and Riley Stillman were placed on waivers for assignment to the Condors.
David Lewandowski and Rudolfs Berzkalns were among the players returned to junior. The Oilers had effectively used Vancouver as one final evaluation before tightening the locker room around their NHL group.
Howard made sure he separated himself from that crowd. He fired a team-high 7 shots against Vancouver, giving Babcock the kind of aggressive performance he needed from the 22-year-old.
Samanski also remained firmly in the conversation after centering Edmonton's second line Thursday. His situation carried more weight than most of the prospects around him as the final roster took shape.
Babcock didn't need to announce every decision before puck drop. The lineup itself told most of the story, and Friday's cuts finished the message.
Did Mike Babcock make the right call by separating his NHL group from the Oilers' final bubble players?
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