In case anyone was wondering what would happen if Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard took on the likes of Isak Rosen, Danil Zhilkin and Viggo Bjorck, the Edmonton Oilers supplied the answer Saturday at Rogers Place.

They beat the Winnipeg Jets for fun, which is to be expected when one team has a couple of Hart Trophy winners and one of the best offensive defencemen of his era and the other doesn’t ice a single player who had more than 10 points in the NHL last year.

So, while we have to be careful not to get too wound up about how the Oilers looked in their first pre-season game under new head coach Mike Babcock, there were some really positive signs in that 5-2 win.

Starting with Alex Formenton.

The newly-acquired winger wasted no time making his mark on training camp, scoring his first goal of the pre-season en route to a third-star performance.

Of all the players you noticed Saturday, he was at the very top of the list.

“What a difference-maker he’s going to be for us,” said Babcock. “Elite penalty killer, he puts pressure on the other team. I thought him (Mathieu Joseph and Colton Dach) were unreal. That was my favourite line tonight, by far.”

Formenton scored on a nice backhand deke to make it 4-1 in the second period, danced around a Jets defender at centre ice and stormed in on another breakaway later in the frame and drew a penalty in the third period when he got hauled down on yet another partial breakaway.

He had four shots on net, second only to McDavid, and was also out with the first penalty killing unit.

“It was nice to get a goal but it was nice to get the legs moving and get up to pace,” he said, adding he still has to sharpen the finer points of his game. “I’ve had laser focus on trying to get better each day.”

And any concern about how he’d be received by the crowd was put to rest with a hearty round of applause when they announced his goal, and again when they sent him out as one of the three stars.

“It was very welcoming. I’m just trying to do everything I can to show that support back.”

This could be a massive get for the Oilers. He’s got McDavid-like speed, he’s six-foot-three, he scored 18 goals in his last season in the NHL (2021-22) and he’s a penalty-kill specialist. Not bad, considering the Oilers got him for nothing and he’s only making $850,000.

Next up on the dazzling debut front was defenceman Ryan Shea.

Shea had a career-high 35 points last year (after his previous career-high of five points in 2024-25) and you wondered which total best represents who he is as a player.

Well, he popped a goal and two assists in his first game and looked right at home next to Bouchard, so he’s on the right track to picking up where he left off last year.

“My path was a little longer than most, so I don’t take anything for granted,” said the 29-year-old. “There is no reason my confidence should be down right now and after that game I think I got used to playing with Bouch and those guys a little more.”

He looked like he knew what he was doing when he scored Edmonton’s first goal, juking around a Jets player and sniping one inside the post 6:52 into the first period. That’s the kind of time and space you get when 97 and 29 are on the ice.

“I think they were all worried about the other guys on the ice, so I was a little surprised,” he laughed. “I was about to make a pass and no (Jets) came to me so I think it was the right decision to shoot.”

Being paired up with Bouchard means you’re usually out there with McDavid and Draisaitl. When you talk about golden opportunities for a late bloomer, this is it.

“It’s pretty crazy, the way they find each other, the game is easy when you’re on the ice with them, they open the ice so much for everyone else. The quicker I can get them the puck the better off we’ll be.”

It wasn’t all roses and applause, though.

Ike Howard was hoping to make a better impact but he didn’t get much done in his first game. He was minus one with one shot in 13 minutes of uneventful ice time.

“He’s had a really good camp,” said Babcock. “I didn’t like him as much tonight, but what I’d say is let’s not judge him. I could tell when he was walking around (after the game) that he wasn’t very happy. So he knows. He’ll be better.

“But his work ethic, his determination, his checking back have been way better. But that line (with Josh Samanski and Max Jones) of all our lines struggled the most.”

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