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Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov tries to get to a loose puck behind Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)

Oilers’ Struggles Against Western Conference Contenders Are Very Concerning

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Rupert McDonald | Last updated Feb 6, 2026 8:55 AM ET

The Edmonton Oilers are a difficult team to get a read on. From a standings perspective, they’ve been as expected, as they are in a battle with the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division. Unfortunately, that isn’t as impressive as it sounds.

Through 58 games this season, the Oilers have a record of 28-22-8 for 64 points. That is 13 points shy of the Dallas Stars, who are third place in the Central Division. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, the Detroit Red Wings occupy third place with 72 points. The New York Islanders hold down third in the Metro with 67 points.

If the Oilers were in the Eastern Conference, they would be five points shy of the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card position. That goes to show that despite being in a good spot divisionally, the Oilers have been far from a perfect team this season.

While the Golden Knights have been every bit as inconsistent in the West, the same cannot be said for some of the other heavy hitters. Based on what the Oilers have shown this season, they may not have the ability to go toe-to-toe with some of their Western Conference foes in order to get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the third-straight year.

Oilers Not Competitive Against Western Conference’s Best

Heading into the season, most would have considered the true heavy hitters of the Western Conference to be the Oilers, Avalanche, Stars, Golden Knights. That remains the case, though a fifth team has been added to that category.

The Minnesota Wild, a mediocre-at-best club in past years, went out and made a major acquisition in December, acquiring defenceman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. That move was viewed as Wild general manager (GM) Bill Guerin going all in, and has resulted in the Wild being respected as one of the NHL’s best teams. They are also the latest of the Western Conference’s heavy hitters to cause the Oilers fits.

The Oilers have played a combined seven games against the Avalanche, Stars, Golden Knights, and Wild this season. They’ve picked up just one win and three points over that stretch. Perhaps even more concerning, they’ve been outscored in those seven games by a lopsided 37-16 margin.

To the Oilers credit, their one win against those four clubs came against the Golden Knights, a team they’ve only faced once this season. They’ve faced the Wild on three occasions, dropping all three games while being outscored 13-5. That included a 7-3 drubbing last Saturday.

The good news for the Oilers is that, barring an unlikely swing in the standings, they are going to finish the season in a top-three position in the Pacific. That gives them a great opportunity to play a weaker opponent in the first round.

If they are able to advance through the first round, however, there is a strong opportunity that they will meet at least one, if not two of the opponents discussed above. Perhaps the Golden Knights may not be as big of an issue, but it doesn’t feel at this time that this team has the jam needed to defeat the likes of the Avalanche, Stars, or Wild in a seven-game series.

Trade Deadline Will Be Determining Factor

The one potential saving grace for the Oilers is that they could wind up bringing in some help at the trade deadline. They have very limited cap space to do so right now, but are expected to trade Andrew Mangiapane in the near future, which will open up some opportunities. They won’t be adding a gamebreaker by any stretch, but a scoring winger or a dependable third-line centre could pay huge dividends, and perhaps be enough for them to take down an elite team they are certain to face in the postseason.