The Oilers addressed their biggest concern heading into the 2025-26 season by signing superstar captain Connor McDavid to a short-term extension.
But for a team that reached the Stanley Cup final the past two seasons, Edmonton still heads into the campaign with a surprising number of question marks.
None of the questions surrounding goaltending, depth, defence or McDavid’s linemates are new, and they linger over the team even after McDavid signed a two-year, $25-million US extension on Monday.
At $12.5 million, the annual average value of McDavid’s contract is lower than teammate Leon Draisaitl’s $14 million.
General manager Stan Bowman said the amount was what McDavid wanted. The captain is more interested in winning the Stanley Cup.
“It’s obvious what he wants, he wants to win,” Bowman said, adding his focus now is to win sooner rather than later.
“We’re not trying to build this up to be good down the road. We want to win now.”
Much like last season, when they reached and lost the Stanley Cup final to Florida for a second straight year, how the Oilers deal with the other issues will go a long way in determining if they can make it a third consecutive final appearance.
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“Everything has to go right. For everything to go right you have to build and become a good, solid team and be able to win different ways, special teams, five-on-five play, goaltending, all those things have to fall into place,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who himself signed a three-year extension before the start of the season.
“We’re at a great starting point, we’ve got a great team, a lot of good players, if things go right we will have that opportunity. But to say it will just happen is a little delusional.”
Trying to find suitable, long-term linemates for McDavid remains a challenge. Zach Hyman was at home alongside McDavid and Draisaitl last season but he’s out for the first few weeks with a wrist injury.
“I know the Oilers have had many prospects slotted in near the top of the lineup and it hasn’t gone well,” said Knoblauch who has been experimenting with wingers through training camp.
The possibilities include Trent Frederic, Adam Henrique, Andrew Mangiapane and rookie Matt Savoie.
While McDavid and Draisaitl playing together presents a formidable challenge for opponents, it also eases the issue of ice time for others. Knoblauch said last season there was an average of 49 minutes of even-strength ice time per game.
McDavid and Draisaitl averaged 17 minutes each when they were centring different lines, leaving about 15 minutes for the third and fourth units.
“It’s tough for them to get regular minutes,” said Knoblauch.
“With [McDavid and Draisaitl] playing together, there’s more ice time for everybody. You play those two through four [lines] a lot more consistently and one line doesn’t get left out.”
Goaltending, especially Stuart Skinner who is beginning his fourth season as the team’s No. 1 starter, has been an easy target for disgruntled Oilers fans.
The team traded for Connor Ingram from the Utah Mammoth, but Oilers management was quick to label it as an insurance move to support Skinner and backup Calvin Pickard.
“We have our two guys and we have confidence in them, Stuart and Picks are our goaltenders right now,” said Knoblauch.
“Connor is just the insurance policy and we feel those two are our best options. Stuart Skinner is our starter and Calvin Pickard is our backup.”
Defensively the Oilers have depth and experience with their top-two pairings of Mattias Ekholm with Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse with Jake Walman, who just signed a seven-year $49-million extension.
Brett Kulak, Ty Emberson, Troy Stecher and Alex Regula provide depth.
The keys here are for Ekholm to stay healthy, Regula to get healthy, Bouchard to improve his defensive play and Nurse to be more consistent.
If the Oilers do manage to make a third straight appearance in the final, history suggests “third time lucky” doesn’t cut it in the NHL. In the past 70 years, six teams have lost back-to-back finals and only one — the 1956 Montreal Canadiens — won the Cup in their third trip.
The last team to reach the final in consecutive seasons was the 1977-78 Boston Bruins and it took them 10 more years before they got back there.
He’s not exactly skinny, but Skinner did drop about 15 pounds in the off-season. Going into the season, he says he feels lighter and is much more agile. He’s also welcomed the addition of new goaltending coach Peter Aubry.
“There’s a lot of aspects he can help me with,” says Skinner.
“Building my game stronger and stronger, building better habits. It’s little things but doing those things really, really well.”
Both Skinner and Pickard are entering the final year of their contracts.
The Oilers have a number of young players, or new players, that Knoblauch has high hopes for: rookies Savoie and Noah Philip and veterans Frederic, a late-season trade acquisition, and free-agent signing Mangiapane.
“You need that young, youthful energy,” said Knoblauch.
“It’ll be more important during the regular season when you get to the dog days.”
