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Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid celebrates scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)

Oilers 2025-26 Midseason Awards

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Brian Swane | Last updated Jan 2, 2026 2:46 PM ET

As 2025 drew to a close on Wednesday (Dec. 31), the Edmonton Oilers reached the midpoint of their 82-game schedule, losing 6-2 to the visiting Boston Bruins at Rogers Place.

With a record of 20-15-6, Edmonton has its fewest wins through 41 games since 2019-20, when the Oilers went 20-17-4 over the first half of the season.

Despite their mediocre record, the Oilers woke up on New Year’s Day sitting atop the Pacific Division standings with 46 points, one more than both the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights.

After going 9-4-1 over the last four weeks, the Oilers appear to be trending in the right direction following another slow start to their season. Here’s a look at Edmonton’s top players thus far in 2025-26:

Most Valuable Player: Connor McDavid

Considering he’s one of the favourites to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2025-26, it only makes sense that Connor McDavid gets the nod as midseason MVP.

Through Thursday (Jan. 1), McDavid is first in the NHL with 46 assists, while he and Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon share the league lead with 70 points apiece.

McDavid is on an absolute tear, with 13 goals and 21 assists over Edmonton’s last 14 games. His 34 points in December are the most by any NHL player in a single month since Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux also had 34 in December 1995.

It’s no coincidence that Edmonton’s recent winning ways have coincided with McDavid activating God Mode. The Oilers captain has put the team on his back and carried them up the standings, all while making one highlight reel play after another along the way.

On almost any other team, Edmonton centre Leon Draisiatl, who currently sits fourth in the Art Ross Trophy race with 57 points, would be the runaway winner for midseason MVP. But on the Oilers, Draisaitl doesn’t even warrant consideration. That’s how good McDavid has been.

Top Defenceman: Evan Bouchard

It may seem preposterous to give top defenceman honours to a player that is so frequently guilty of costly turnovers, ghastly errors, and lapses in awareness as Evan Bouchard. But Edmonton’s defence as a whole has been disastrous for much of this season, until only recently starting to shape up. Even veteran stalwart Mattias Ekholm is averaging more than four giveaways per 60 minutes, nearly double his career average.

But in the case of Bouchard, he at least continues to be one of the most prolific offensive defencemen in hockey today. Through games of Jan. 1, his NHL ranks among defencemen are third for assists (30), fourth for points (37), third for power-play goals (four), fifth for power-play points (14), and fifth for shots on goal (103). He leads Oilers blueliners in pretty much every offensive stats category.

Bouchard also logs a ton of minutes. He’s averaging 24:21 ice time, nearly one minute more than his prior NHL career high, and an average of 100 seconds more than any other Oiler this season. He also ranks first among Edmonton defencemen in power-play and short-handed ice time.

Through Edmonton’s first 16 games, Bouchard had a dreadful plus/minus rating of minus-11, but he’s since improved to an even rating.

Top Newcomer: Jack Roslovic

There have already been 11 players who have made their Oilers debut this season, from offseason free-agent signees Curtis Lazar and Andrew Mangiapane to in-season trade acquisitions Spencer Stastny and Tristan Jarry.

None of the other 10 newcomers, however, has had the impact of Jack Roslovic. In fact, few returning Oilers players have had the impact of the 28-year-old forward, who wasn’t even on Edmonton’s season-opening roster.

Edmonton Oilers center Jack Roslovic (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)

In only 28 games, Roslovic has scored 12 goals, tied for third on the Oilers, and chipped in eight assists. His three game-winning goals are second most on the team, and with 65 shots on goal, he trails only McDavid and Draisaitl for most among Edmonton forwards.

Roslovic, who was a free agent through the entire offseason, signed with the Oilers literally during their first game of 2025-26, on Oct. 8, and made his season debut six days later.

Having missed all of training camp and the preseason, it took the Columbus native a bit of time to find his stride, but after recording just one point in his first seven games, he’s since racked up 19 points in his last 21 games. After being sidelined for much of December with an injury, Roslovic returned just before Christmas and has scored in Edmonton’s last two contests.

Unsung Hero: Vasily Podkolzin

Forward Vasily Podkolzin is the prototypical player who does all the little things that don’t show up in the boxscore. He’s a relentless forechecker, never takes a shift off and rarely makes a wrong play with the puck.

The dynamic winger provides a much-needed element of physicality on a team that is notoriously short in that department. Through games of Jan. 1, Podkolzin leads the Oilers and ranks 10^th in the NHL with 126 hits.

This season has seen Podkolzin step up his offensive contributions: he’s already scored more times in 41 games this season (nine goals) than he did in 82 games last season (eight goals). The 24-year-old leads Edmonton with four game-winning goals, and the Oilers are 5-1-2 when he scores.

Podkolzin ranks first on the Oilers with a plus/minus rating of plus-8, a testament to his overall positive impact on the team. Edmonton opens the second half of its schedule with a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (Jan. 3) afternoon.