The Edmonton Oilers have posted the National Hockey League’s best winning percentage despite spending much of the young season short-handed at centre. One of their biggest reinforcements arrives Thursday. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will make his season debut against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes (8-2-1) after missing the first nine games. The 33-year-old’s return gives head coach Mike Babcock a significant option at centre, a position depleted by injuries early in 2026-27. Jason Dickinson’s availability has also been limited. The 31-year-old centre, whom the Oilers signed to a five-year contract extension and is pegged as a key piece on the third line and on the penalty kill, missed the first three games after aggravating a foot injury from last spring during training camp and has sat out the last three as well. For Babcock, the return of Nugent-Hopkins, who lined up at second-line centre alongside wingers Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen at Thursday’s morning skate, means “the minutes won’t be out of whack.” “We’ll be able to just roll out the door and let everyone go, and suddenly, we’ll be in a way better situation centre-wise,” Babcock told reporters following Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild. Several other players have taken on elevated roles at centre with Nugent-Hopkins and Dickinson out of the lineup, including Colton Dach, Owen Michaels, Trent Frederic and Josh Samanski. The Oilers are 7-1-1 heading into the clash with the ‘Canes (7 p.m.), a start to the season Nugent-Hopkins credited to hard work. “The compete (level) night in, night out,” Nugent-Hopkins told reporters after the morning skate. “No matter how the puck play is going for us, we’re just trying to do the right things away from the puck and competing and making it hard to play against. That’s a big reason why we’ve strung some (wins) together.” Champs in town The defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes visit Rogers Place on Thursday having won eight of their last nine games. Their lone loss during that stretch, however, came Sunday against the lowly Calgary Flames, who sit in the NHL basement heading into Thursday’s action. With the game at Calgary’s Saddledome tied 2-2 after two periods, the Flames outshot the Hurricanes 12-2 over the first half of the third before Yegor Sharangovich scored the eventual winner with four minutes remaining. “It was sloppy. We definitely created enough chances to win and score a ton of goals, but we were not committing to the other end, which is what we usually do,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the game. Carolina rebounded Tuesday in Vancouver with a 6-3 win over the Canucks. Edmonton is the fourth stop on the Hurricanes’ five-game trip, which began last Saturday in Winnipeg and ends Saturday in St. Louis. On the injury front, the Hurricanes are without captain Jordan Staal, former Oilers star forward Taylor Hall and centre Mark Jankowski, but activated forward Seth Jarvis off injured reserve Wednesday. Projected Oilers lineup Forward Defence Goal
