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Evander Kane, Edmonton Oilers (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Oilers vs. Stars: 3 Crucial Differences from Their 2024 Series

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Jim Parsons | Last updated May 21, 2025 1:25 PM ET

The Edmonton Oilers are facing the Dallas Stars again in the Western Conference Final. It’s the second straight season these two teams have faced each other, the Oilers getting the win in 2024 and hoping to do so again. Dallas is a much better team this year with the addition of Mikko Rantanen, but the Oilers are different, too.

What are three key differences? Let’s take a look.

A Revamped Blue Line

The Oilers’ blue line looks a lot different this season than last. Jake Walman, John Klingberg, and Ty Emberson have been added to the group. Vincent Desharnais, Philip Broberg, and Cody Ceci have gone. It’s hard to argue that this isn’t a vast improvement, especially considering how Walman and Klingberg have contributed.

The biggest worry last season was the wild swings in effectiveness among the pairings. For example, the Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci pairing was effective at times, but horrific at others. That led to line juggling, and continuity and familiarity were huge problems. This season, the pairings have clicked. The only potential hurdle is where to put Mattias Ekholm if and when he returns to the lineup.

Broberg had yet to establish himself as a legitimate NHL defenseman, while both Klingberg and Walman are the real deal.

Where the Oilers are infinitely better is in their zone breakouts. Each pair as a defender who is not just capable, but almost elite at getting the puck out of the zone. Whether it’s skating or passing the puck up to the forwards, the Oilers have blueliners who can break down another team’s defensive coverage with a single strike.

Oilers Have a Healthy Evander Kane

As Bob Stauffer noted on Wednesday, “The Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane clearly was injured in last year’s Conference Final vs Dallas. He is healthy now!” That’s a big deal that might be getting overlooked by analysts who are talking about several other factors heading into the series.

It was about this time last season that it became evident that Kane wasn’t his normal self. The reality that his injury was impacting his play had become obvious, and while the Oilers went through the Stars, Kane had no goals and one assist in six games.

In these playoffs, Kane has picked up like he hasn’t missed any time at all. He has four goals and three assists, for seven points. He’s added 43 hits and his time on ice is already two minutes higher per game than it was in the series against the Stars last season, at 16:40 per game in 2025.

Oilers Special Teams Haven’t Exploded Yet

What might be the most amazing stat about the Oilers’ 2025 playoff run is that they’re doing it without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl having exploded offensively or gone off on a team on the power play. Everyone seems to be waiting for that to happen, and if it does, this will be the first series where a team has to worry about more than the Oilers’ depth and five-on-five play.

Edmonton has added Corey Perry to its top unit, making its second unit something the Stars should have to worry about. Its ability to deploy a combination of Klingberg, Walman, Zach Hyman, Kane, Adam Henrique, Trent Frederic, Connor Brown, and Darnell Nurse makes it formidable. The Oilers didn’t have that kind of special-teams depth last season.

The Oilers should be concerned about their penalty kill and how dangerous the Stars’ top power play unit will be with Rantanen on it. Edmonton showed they don’t mind running Rantanen, and there’s another gear this team’s PK unit can find. The Stars are clicking at over 30% in the postseason. Edmonton has to dig in and find a way to lower those numbers. At the same time, the Oilers have to improve their 66% effective penalty kill.