Oilers notes: Dickinson's absence has Oilers juggling centres

Edmonton Oilers head coach Mike Babcock poured a bucket full of cold water on the theory that centre Jason Dickinson had reinjured his troublesome ankle at Thursday morning’s pre-game Utah skate as he limped to the dressing room.

“I’m not concerned about his ankle, that’s not why he was out. So we can put that to bed,” said Babcock, dismissing a reporter’s post-game question about the coach’s level of concern for the valuable third-line centre, who was hampered in camp and has played only three of the first seven games of the season.

Babcock wasn’t pressed on what the new issue was and didn’t offer up what the different medical diagnosis was on Dickinson. So we don’t know what the new problem is. Maybe it’s as simple as a groin strain.

All we know is he isn’t gaining any traction. He’s played with discomfort since busting his ankle, taking a shot from buddy Connor Murphy in early April last season. He gutted it out against Anaheim, displaying a hefty amount of pain threshold during the Oilers first-round playoff series. But it was a series of stops and starts over the summer with his rehab, Dickinson admitted. The balky ankle gave him problems in camp.

Now, something else. His frustration level must be on high alert.

He played 9:43 his first game back against the Ducks in Anaheim, then 13:43 against San Jose, and 13:21 in Los Angeles on the just-completed road trip as he’s tried to climb aboard a moving train.

The Oilers, already without injured centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and with Babcock still deciding if he wanted Leon Draisaitl, one of the game’s top three centres along with Connor McDavid and Nate MacKinnon, on 97’s wing rather than in the middle, were left to play whack-a-mole for a replacement for Dickinson against Utah.

They tried newcomer Filip Hallander, who came over from Pittsburgh in the trade for defenceman Spencer Stastney, to start the Utah game. But Hallander, while working hard, does his best work on the forecheck and is strong in board battles. He is way more winger than centre. While he may have played some centre back in Sweden, in his previous 18 games over four NHL seasons prior to Oilers trade, he had taken just two draws. He took one against Utah and won it, so now he’s 1-2 in his career.

Don’t be surprised if Draisaitl is back at centre in Utah against a deep Mammoth forward group if Zach Hyman returns from his upper-body injury, maybe with Kasperi Kapanen on the other wing to give them two offensive lines. McDavid could stay with Vasily Podkolzin with maybe a rotating right-wing.

That bench minor to the Oilers in the second period Thursday that Clayton Keller turned into a 2-0 power-play goal came after Utah’s Anders Lee belted Podkolzin. The Oilers didn’t like the hit, maybe groused that it could have been interference and a short time after that, when Mammoth’s Nick Schmaltz came by their bench, Draisaitl checked him. “Someone was near the bench, wasn’t a good penalty. We grabbed someone’s head,” said Babcock.

The Oilers fan base, always so loyal but now with many supporters upset at the price of tickets, had 2,171 unsold seats for the Utah game, They announced 16,176 at the 18,347 seat Rogers Place. Crowds in the 16,000 range haven’t happened here in years. Almost four years to the day, Oct. 20, 2022 they drew 16,023 when they outlasted Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 here, with McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins each getting four points.

The Oilers announced a full house for their opener against Vancouver Sept. 29, but had 18,070 for their second home game against Seattle Oct. 3.

This ‘n that: Podkolzin is playing four minutes more a game than last season. He’s averaging 19:29 after 15:23 in 2025-26. Part of that is extra work on the power play. He averaged 28 seconds on a second unit last season and is 3:33 through the first seven games … With Tristan Jarry getting his third start for the Oilers in Utah Saturday, we’ll see if the Mammoth plays backup goaltender Sebastian Cossa, giving Karel Vejmelka a breather. If so, we’ll have the last two Edmonton Oil Kings’ goalies to get their teams to the Memorial Cup. Jarry won it in 2014, and Cossa was the tender in 2022, when the Oil Kings won the WHL championship but were done in by injuries at the tournament … McDavid is averaging 23:54 in his seven games. Injuries to Nugent-Hopkins and Dickinson have certainly had a hand in that, but his ice-time might be even higher if the Oilers had more power plays. He’s only had 26:06 in seven games on the power play. Still have no idea why they insist on playing him on the penalty kill, too, 11:26 on a team with a bevy of bottom-six penalty killers. Seems overkill. “I look at it every night and I go ‘What the heck am I doing? It has to stop, but I’m also trying to survive,” said Babcock with his injury-riddled forward group. He was including Draisaitl and Podkolzin in there as forwards playing too much, but 97 is a minute over last season’s 22:59 average … By way of comparison with fellow NHL centres this season, Nathan MacKinnon is 20:36, Draisaitl 21.26, Jack Eichel 20:17 … If Jake Walman, who stopped a Jackson LaCombe shot on his arm/hand in Anaheim on the last trip, is good to go in Utah, expect Shakir Mukhamadullin to come out. He didn’t do a good job on Logan Cooley’s 3-1 goal Thursday, tying up the player in front of the net, even though he was much bigger. “That was a freebie,” said Babcock. This appears to be the young defenceman’s weakness. He doesn’t use his 6-foot-5 size to advantage, needing more fibre. In 88 career games, he has 34 penalty minutes … Former Oilers trainer Ken Lowe’s daughter Melissa, who had been the Oil Kings’ strength and conditioning coach for eight years, has moved on to Nebraska-Omaha for the same position. If looking for references, she had ex Oil Kings Marc Lajoie and Gavin Hodnett on the Nebraska roster, coached by Clare Drake’s grandson Mike Gabinet … Josh Samanski’s double minor for high-sticking Kevin Stenlund in the first period Thursday was accidental but it might not have endeared the fourth-line centre to Babcock, as Utah scored on the power play. Samanski works hard but he’s also taken four minor penalties in his six games, too many for a guy averaging just 7:44 a game … With the Oilers in Salt Lake City Saturday, it behooves them to pay attention to Utah’s power play, clicking at 37.5 per cent. They’ve scored 12 power-play goals in their eight games, with multiple goals in five games. Six different players have scored. Without injured staples Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers have a pedestrian 21.7 percentage, with just five power-play goals in seven games … The Oilers have the highest shooting percentage in the entire league at 17.8 per cent on their low 174 shots, likely not sustainable. Vegas has more than 100 more shots at 279, albeit in two more games … Mattias Ekholm was an angry Viking after Utah’s Jack McBain plowed Draisaitl into the boards from behind Thursday, wading into the scrum, grabbing all comers as a leader should. He leads the Oilers with 14 penalty minutes … Utah has a very deep forward group. “They have as balanced a lineup as you’re going to see throughout the league, they play four lines, big and fast,” said McDavid … But you can see why GM Bill Armstrong has undoubtedly been on the horn to Detroit’s interim GM Shawn Horcoff about unsigned 6-foot-6 defenceman Simon Edvinsson. They need, at worst, a second pairing defenceman because Nate Schmidt, bless his hard-working heart, likely belongs in a third pair. Utah has one of the deepest prospect pools to make a possible deal with Detroit … Interesting to see ex Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto now listed at 178 pounds in Utah. Must have spent a lot of time in the gym. He was 160 with gusts to 165 pounds, here. Yamamoto, who had a breakaway on a power play in the first period Thursday, getting in behind Evan Bouchard, helped set up Barrett Hayton’s rebound. He has four points in his three games this season. He spent most of the 2024-25 season in the AHL after leaving the Oilers but seems to have reinvented himself in Utah, and has head coach Alain Tourigny as an unabashed fan.

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