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WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

The Squad's All (Mostly) Here

October 1, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings are set to kick off their 2021-22 season on Friday night when they welcome the Red Deer Rebels to town in their Home and Season Opener.

The Oil Kings enter this season as the back-to-back-to-back Central Division Champions following banner seasons in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 and with expectations of a potential four-peat, and much more, looming large.

The reason for the high expectations is the retuning fire power this team will bring after having six players selected in the past two NHL Drafts:

F Jake Neighbours - 1st-round, St. Louis Blues (2020)

F Dylan Guenther - 1st-round, Arizona Coyotes (2021)

G Sebastian Cossa - 1st-round, Detroit Red Wings (2021)

F Carson Latimer - 4th-round, Ottawa Senators (2021)

F Jakub Demek - 4th-round, Vegas Golden Knights (2021)

F Jalen Luypen - 7th-round, Chicago Blackhawks (2021)

Not to mention, three additional players who all attended NHL training camps throughout September.

F Josh Williams - Pittsburgh Penguins

D Simon Kubicek - Edmonton Oilers

D Ethan Peters - Toronto Maple Leafs

With Guenther being reassigned to the Oil Kings on September 30, it leaves Neighbours as the lone player still at an NHL training camp.

The eight NHL returnees will be joining up with several other veteran Oil Kings:

F Jacob Boucher

F Brendan Kuny

F Tyler Horstmann

F Jaxsen Wiebe

F Carter Souch

D Blake Heward

D Ross Stanley

D Carson Golder

D Logan Dowhaniuk

D Keagan Slaney

G Colby Knight

Three of those veterans will be making their Oil Kings debut when the lights flip on at Rogers Place on Friday, with Wiebe and Golder coming over to #TheKingdom through offseason trades and Boucher earning his way onto the team after coming to training camp as a free agent invite.

While it will be a veteran heavy lineup for the Oil Kings, the team will also feature a number of exciting fresh faces ready to kick off their WHL careers:

F Dawson Seitz - 1st-round, 2020 WHL Prospects Draft

F Kobe Verbicky - 2nd-round, 2018 WHL Prospects Draft

G Kolby Hay - 3rd-round, 2019 WHL Prospects Draft

F Shea Van Olm - 6th-round, 2019 WHL Prospects Draft

F John Szabo - 6th-round, 2020 WHL Prospects Draft

D Eric Johnston - 6th-round, 2019 WHL Prospects Draft

D Braeden Wynne - Listed, 2019

All told, the Oil Kings opening night roster will consist of 15 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders that bring with them a combined 1463 games of WHL experience to go along with 272 goals and 782 points.

The club will once again be led by Head Coach Brad Lauer, the reigning WHL Coach of the Year, and Assistant Coach Luke Pierce, who in their three years manning the Edmonton bench have secured a record of 104-32-10-9.

So now you know who's who in #TheKingdom, there is still one important who still to be discussed, and it's YOU, the fans.

Not only does Oil Kings hockey return to Rogers Place for the first time in 18 months on Friday, but for the first time in 18 months, the Oil Kings get to play in front of their fans, and it's something that has the entire locker-room ripe with eager anticipation.

"I can't wait, to say the least," said Sebastian Cossa with a giant grin as he discussed playing in front of the Rogers Place faithful once again.  "I think there will be a lot of nerves and a lot of excitement, it's a big game and with fans in the stands cheering us on again it's going to be a big push for the boys and we're all just extremely excited."

"It's going to be something that fuels us a lot," added Carson Latimer. "The guys are super fired up to play in front of our great fans again, it was something that was really missed last year, and we're excited to have them back this year."

Edmonton Oil Kings Season Seats, Flex-Packs, Weekend Passes and Single-Game tickets, for as low as $20 per game, are currently on sale at oilkings.ca. 

Check out the Edmonton Oil Kings Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from October 1, 2021


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