Camp Opens Short-Handed. Savoie Might Be the Quick Fix; The Rest Is Murkier.

Stan Bowman's optimism about Matt Savoie is the closest thing to good news Edmonton has gotten in a week. After the Oilers confirmed that both Savoie and Frederik Andersen would miss the start of training camp, Bowman suggested Savoie's absence could be short-term — a meaningful distinction from the four other players currently out with no clear return window.

The rest of the injury picture is less tidy. Andersen, the 36-year-old veteran signed in July specifically to bring stability to a goaltending situation that needed it, won't be on the ice when Babcock runs his first practice. Henrique, Janmark, and Regula remain out as well. That's five players unavailable as camp opens, and only one of them comes with anything resembling a timeline.

What makes this stretch uncomfortable isn't any single absence — it's the accumulation. Babcock was hired to install structure and fix the habits that turned a McDavid-and-Draisaitl roster into a .500 team last season. That work starts in camp, in real time, against real competition. Running those early sessions without your starting goaltender and a chunk of your forward depth limits what you can actually evaluate. You can sketch a system; you can't fully stress-test it.

September 29 against Vancouver is still the date. Bowman's read on Savoie suggests at least one piece of the puzzle slots back in before then. Whether Andersen and the others follow in time is the question that matters most right now.