Oilers’ 2025-26 Milestone Watch

The Edmonton Oilers head into the 2025-26 season with one thing on their mind: winning the Stanley Cup. They came up just short, losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers in back-to-back seasons. While winning Lord Stanley remains the ultimate goal, it’s still important to celebrate individual milestones throughout the regular season, and there are big ones to look forward to in the coming months.

This article focuses on five players looking to attain individual accomplishments throughout the course of this season, with three of these players aiming to reach multiple milestones.

Draisaitl Chasing 400 Goals & 1,000 Points

Leon Draisaitl is chasing two milestones heading into this season. The superstar forward scored 52 goals last season, en route to winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goalscorer. He needs just one more goal to reach 400 in his career, so he enters this season at 399, looking to score his 400th goal on opening night when the Oilers battle the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place on Oct. 8. He currently ranks fourth on the Oilers’ all-time goals list, behind Glenn Anderson (417), Jari Kurri (474), and Wayne Gretzky (583).

The German phenom is also 44 points shy of 1,000 for his career, and barring unforeseen circumstances, he should blow past that milestone this season. His teammate and best friend, Connor McDavid, accomplished that feat last season against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 14, 2024, and Draisaitl is looking to join him in that elusive club.

He’s currently 114th on the all-time points list with 956 in just 790 games. Other players chasing 1,000 points this season include Nikita Kucherov (994), Brad Marchand (980), and Jamie Benn (956). If Kucherov and Marchand reach that feat first, Draisaitl will become the 103rd player to join the 1,000-point club. At only 29 years old, and entering the first year of his new eight-year contract extension, he will continue to climb the rankings. When it’s all said and done, Draisaitl should be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and he has the numbers to back up that claim.

McDavid Nearing 400 Goals

Like Draisaitl, McDavid is also chasing 400 career goals, but he’s a bit further away from his teammate. At 361 goals, he’s 39 goals away, but that milestone is within reach this season. He only scored 26 goals last season, his fewest since his rookie season. However, he has had four 40-plus goal campaigns in his career, and if he does that again, he will hit this milestone. While he’s a playmaker first and foremost, he has elite goal-scoring ability. When McDavid is scoring, the Oilers’ offence becomes even more dangerous. Will he reach 39 goals this season? We all know he has it in him.

Skinner Approaching 100 Wins & 200 Starts

At only 26 years old, Stuart Skinner is two wins shy of 100 in his young career as he’s entering his fourth full season as the number one netminder. He should’ve accomplished 100 wins last season, but his struggles prevented that and gave more starts to Calvin Pickard as a result. He holds a career 98-54-14 record with a 2.73 goals-against average (GAA), and a .906 save percentage (SV%), with seven shutouts in 168 starts. The Edmonton native is just 32 starts away from 200 in his career. He had 48 starts in 2022-23, 57 in 2023-24, and 50 in 2024-25, so he should easily blow past that milestone this season if all goes well.

Henrique Approaching 1,000 Games & 600 Points

Adam Henrique is quickly approaching 1,000 career games, as he currently sits at 993. If he plays every game to start the season, he will accomplish that incredible milestone on Oct. 21 on the road against the Ottawa Senators. He’s currently 414th on the all-time games played list, and will become the 409th player to play 1,000 NHL games.