Dickinson's Foot Setback Leaves Oilers Center Depth in Flux Heading Into Season Opener

The Edmonton Oilers wrapped a perfect preseason—4-0-0 with just five goals allowed across four games—by beating Calgary 4-1 on Saturday night. The defensive structure was sharp, the goaltending solid. But on the eve of opening night, the roster's center depth just splintered.

Jason Dickinson re-aggravated the broken foot he originally suffered at the end of the 2025-26 playoffs, according to coach Mike Babcock. The 31-year-old forward did not suit up in any preseason game and is unlikely to be ready for the season opener. Dickinson is a specialist—elite penalty killer, hard minutes down the middle—and his absence creates a genuine hole. He took an optional morning skate on September 26, a small positive sign, but the team is now scrambling to fill his role until he returns.

The Oilers' solution set is limited. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins can slide into the third-line center spot, but he's a complementary piece at this stage of his career, not a driver. Trent Frederic has center experience; Colton Dach has been experimented with at the position; Owen Michaels is on the roster. Josh Samanski, a young prospect with center-capable hands, remains in camp but does not appear in the opening-night forward group—a curious omission given the depth crisis. Without Dickinson's defensive grunt and penalty-kill stability, the second and third lines lose structure and accountability.

For prop purposes, this matters immediately. McDavid and Draisaitl will likely stay together to maximize their line's offensive output against weaker defensive assignments; that concentration amplifies their assist and point totals but also increases variance in their matchup difficulty. Nugent-Hopkins and his linemates—including Isaac Howard, a young and inconsistent player—will face tougher competition. Howard's inexperience and Nugent-Hopkins' complementary role suggest this trio will generate fewer scoring opportunities than a Dickinson-anchored line would provide. The assists prop for Nugent-Hopkins sits around 0.5 assists per game for the opening week; without Dickinson's defensive presence and penalty-kill touches, his assist floor drops further, as he'll be asked to grind in a lower-leverage second line rather than drive play.

Edmonton's preseason defensive performance—five goals in four games, a rarity—will be tested immediately. That lockdown hockey masked offensive limitations; without Dickinson to anchor the penalty kill and free up better matchups for the skilled players, the Oilers will lean even heavier on McDavid and Draisaitl to carry. Expect moneyline odds to compress slightly toward Edmonton as a home favorite this week, but second-line and third-line assist/points lines will trend downward before puck drop.