The Edmonton Oilers will be a possession team under new head coach Mike Babcock. His teams are aggressive in puck pursuit, contest all passing lanes and produce offence via neutral-zone turnovers. Babcock’s players are relentless workers, and all skaters will be involved in efforts to gain possession of the puck.Based on the current roster, who will thrive in that environment? Players who recognize danger stay on the defensive side of the puck and recover quickly. These men have strong shot and goal suppression numbers. Each player will arrive at Oilers training camp this fall to opportunity and expectation.OpportunityBabcock will arrive at camp in search of forwards who can be demons on the forecheck. The template will be Zach Hyman, who won enormous playing time as a rookie (16:42 per game) under Babcock in 2016-17. There are no rookies likely to get that kind of prominence on this year’s Oilers team, but there are young players who will get noticed due to furious forechecking.The most obvious name is Colton Dach. He’s fast (max speed is 68th percentile), hits like a truck and hits a lot (22.5 hits per 60 in five-on-five with Edmonton during the regular season, and 32.8 in the playoffs). Dach was successful in tandem with veteran Trent Frederic after coming over in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks. He has some skill, but is probably best suited to the third or fourth line. Dach did score two goals in 80 five-on-five minutes with the Oilers after arriving, so there is some offensive potential in the young winger.Established veterans on the team, like Hyman and Vasily Podkolzin, have been playing an aggressive style for years. Both men will provide some forechecking bite on the skill lines. Dach and others will be counted on to deliver from the depth lines. If Dach succeeds, he could surprise in terms of ice time, as Babcock has been known to elevate players or entire lines if things are going well.Another way to identify aggressive checkers is via interrupting opposition sorties in the neutral zone. The NHL has no measure for that category (“plays that alter passing success” isn’t an official stat), but Matt Savoie did have 1.5 takeaways per 60 in 2025-26, and that’s a valuable skill. The tracking of the stat is wildly inconsistent with the eye test, but Savoie is a player who can get his stick in the lane effectively, and his line can create offence from those turnovers.ExpectationPlayerGA-60XGA-60Connor Murphy2.012.47Ty Emberson2.012.38Spencer Stastney2.582.73Darnell Nurse2.72.65Mattias Ekholm2.812.66Evan Bouchard2.822.7Jake Walman3.562.94Alec Regula3.842.59All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat TrickThe possession numbers for Edmonton defencemen are about what one might expect. The third pairing (Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney) allowed the lowest GA-60 due in part to playing against the weakest competition. Connor Murphy played more substantial opponents and delivered a strong number, an indication of quality play.