The Edmonton Oilers have expanded their leadership group for the 2026-27 season, naming defenseman Evan Bouchard and forward Zach Hyman as alternate captains.
They join captain Connor McDavid and existing alternates Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Notably, the league allows only two players to wear the “A” in any given game, so the four alternates will rotate the letter throughout the season.
Here’s how Oilers fans on X reacted, with one tweeting:
“This is absolutely ridiculous! 5 captains? You might as well give out another C to Leon.”
Another chimed in:
“5 letters handed out? Jeez…talk about watering down what should be a privilege and an honour. Everyone gets a participation medal on the mediocre Oilers.”
Here are some of the other top reactions on X:
“Bouch over Ekholm is a surprise. I guess they’re thinking future and who the #1 guy is,” a third fan wrote.
“I can tell most of the commenters don’t watch hockey, this has been very common to have more than 2 A in the league for a long time. Even going back to the 70s pull your heads out,” one X user opined.
“Just strip Bouch now. Babs ain’t having it,” another chimed in.
“4 A’s LMAO what is happening to the game I love,” added another.
Oilers insider shares his thoughts on the team’s first session under HC Mike Babcock
The Oilers are gearing up for the upcoming season and recently held their first training session under Mike Babcock on Thursday at Rogers Place.
Sharing his thoughts on the session, Oilers insider Bob Stauffer noted that there’s renewed energy among the players that was largely missing last season.
“No whiteboard used for the first 27 minutes of practice. You know, five-on-five stuff to begin — forecheck and transitional breakout. They want to play with tempo and pace, and then they left the ice for about 15 minutes, and then they started working on the penalty killing, which is a major place of emphasis for Edmonton,” said Stauffer.
Stauffer added that there’s renewed energy within the team that was not the case last season:
“We’re already seeing a very different feel, and I’ve talked to a lot of the players, and there’s a completely different energy around the team right now than maybe there was certainly last season.”
The sessions focused on high tempo, speed, structure, and playing without the puck, and each lasted about two hours.
Edited by Abhishek Dilta