3 Reasons the Oilers Got Better This Offseason

Knoblauch was the key reason the Oilers lacked success and couldn’t find a way to win a Stanley Cup. He was behind the bench for both trips to the Stanley Cup Final, but his inability to react accordingly to a strong Panthers forecheck lost them two championship opportunities.

On top of that, Knoblauch didn’t seem to want to listen to the stats available to him. When asked by members of the media why he continued to play Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid together at even strength, even though it wasn’t working, his response was that it would “figure itself out.”

For some reason, Knoblauch also chose to play Jake Walman on the right side, which he has never been good at, and continued to play him with Darnell Nurse, which also didn’t work.

It didn’t help that Knoblauch never held the leaders accountable, or gave the younger players, like Isaac Howard, a true shot in the lineup to succeed.

The issues with Knoblauch continued to pile up, and firing him became a neccessity.

Mike Babcock was the choice for the new head coach for the Oilers, and while that was mainly driven by the players who wanted someone who could push them to their limits, it was met with a lot of negative feedback by the fans.

One thing is for sure though, Babcock is an upgrade on Knoblauch. How much of an upgrade he actually is remains to be seen.

Darnell Nurse Was Traded With No Retention

In one of the most shocking moves of the summer, not just for the Oilers but in the entire league, the Oilers traded Nurse to the San Jose Sharks, and didn’t retain anything on his $9.25 million contract.

Having that amount of cap space available to them allows the Oilers to accrue cap space for the 2027 Trade Deadline to be serious buyers, which usually isn’t something they have the luxury of doing, and it also improves their blue line depth with some addition by subtraction.

Walman, who struggled last season, can step into the second-pairing role, likely alongside Connor Murphy, and with the addition of Ryan Shea as well, the Oilers finally have a strong left side. Walman’s struggles stemmed from injury issues and misuse from Knoblauch. One of those issues have been fixed, so if he can stay healthy, he is a prime candidate for a bounce back campaign.

Goaltending Situation Was Completely Revamped

Fans were nervous when they learned Connor Ingram wasn’t going to be returning to the Oilers this season, considering Tristan Jarry’s inconsistency is a major concern, and the next best goaltender in their system was Matt Tomkins or Connor Ungar.

However, the Oilers acquired Devon Levi from the Buffalo Sabres, and signed Frederik Andersen to a team-friendly one-year deal. Andersen is coming off a Stanley Cup victory with the Carolina Hurricanes, and Levi is someone who has a super high ceiling and can be the Oilers’ starter in two or three seasons.

Adding a true starter and adding depth is something fans have been asking the team to do for what feels like forever, and the Oilers finally did it. Andersen comes with some risk in terms of potential injuries, and Levi is unproven, but taking those risks and investing in the future is exactly what this team needed to do to start to improve.

Heading into the 2026-27 season, the Oilers are in a strong position to win the Western Conference. They have improved in every area that they needed to and could truly be in the best position they’ve been in since McDavid was drafted, to push for a Stanley Cup.

As the 2026-27 season approaches, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.