The Edmonton Oilers path to success in the 2025–26 season

The Oilers enter the season off of back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final. Captain Connor McDavid is in the last year of his deal, a bristling breeze of uncertainty. A sobering reminder that few teams can achieve this level of consistent success. Though without the eternal glory of a Stanley Cup, the McDavid led Oilers have been a fearsome opponent.

While whether or not this is the last ride remains to be seen, the Oilers are primed to be among the best teams in the league this season. Each game must yet be earned, and the Oilers have had their share of early season disasters.

Let’s take a closer look at what this roster looks like, and how the Oilers might be equipped to handle the attritions of the season ahead.

Forwards

Drasaitl–McDavid–Frederic
Howard–Nugent-Hopkins–Tomasek
Mangiapane–Henrique–Savoie
Podkolzin–Philp–Kapanen

Of course everything begins with McDavid and fellow all-time great Leon Draisaitl. Not enough can be said of how they have performed in their careers so far. Together or separate they are a force that can only be mitigated.

There is some support with genuine top-six forwards Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Both are getting older, and Hyman will continue to miss time with injury heading into the season. While their 2024–25 seasons were not great, both set career highs in 2023–24. Perhaps things will settle somewhere in the middle this season, but they are key factors in this forward group.

Andrew Mangiapane is an interesting gamble, but should not be expected to be on the same level. Trent Frederic will have a huge opportunity to step up and set career highs of Hyman remains out. Currently Frederic has been on the top line with McDavid and Draisaitl, which would certainly enable that. Both should be thought of more as middle-six forwards, bringing some dimension between them.

Elsewhere, there are some stalwarts of the bottom-six worth accounting for. Adam Henrique brings some two way play, Mattias Janmark some reliable penalty killing, Kasperi Kapanen some speed. Noah Philp is an older rookie, but has the size, skating, right shot, and is a centre. Philp could easily become a staple of this lineup, and even push up the lineup in the seasons ahead.

The real question comes from the youth, as the Oilers have a surprising amount of young players trying to take hold of a roster spot given their recent success. Matthew Savoie and Isaac Howard have a lot of potential as scoring forwards. Savoie might be more polished at this point, but both should see some games this season.

Vasily Podkolzin also fits into this category. He has shown fantastic chemistry with Draisaitl, but has proven himself elsewhere as well. He plays a direct game and gets to hard areas, and has a great chance to put up career highs this season.

While a bit older, David Tomasek might fit into this category as well. The reigning SHL MVP will have a chance to make an impact. It was not a huge risk for the Oilers to take this gamble, but Tomasek might be able to carve out a spot for himself.

Regardless of how the lines are listed, Coach Kris Knoblauch is famous for his near constant line blending. Hopefully he is able to replicate his results with this method once more, as he is often able to put his players in advantageous situations throughout a game.

Defence

Ekholm–Bouchard
Nurse–Walman
Kulak–Emberson

Not long ago the blueline was a huge issue for the Oilers, now becoming a major strength. Evan Bouchard leads the way at this point. Though there will be arguments over whether or not he should be on Canada’s Olympic team is one thing, he is among the most prolific offensive defencemen in the league right now. Though McDavid and Draisaitl certainly help, Bouchard has put together a staggering playoff history as well.

The Oilers have three legitimate top-four defenders alongside. Mattias Ekholm has been about as ideal a partner for Bouchard as imaginable. Darnell Nurse brings a lot of tools, and has consistently won his coach’s trust over his career. Jake Walman is in the best spot of his career as well, and might prove himself even more effective now fully integrated. Including Bouchard this is a group with a lot of size and a lot of skill.

Being an Oiler has brought out the best in Brett Kulak. He has the ability to play further up in the lineup, and seems to have the full trust of Knoblauch, as much as the top-four to some extent. He cements the third pairing as a stable option, and is well rounded enough to succeed with many different defence partners.

Ty Emberson might have more to give, and held up well alongside Kulak for much of last season. Troy Stecher is a solid depth option, but requires a certain blend of size and puck skills from a partner. Alec Regula might be an interesting option, a right shot with size and some contributions to team offence. As a left shot Atro Leppanen has the worst chance of this group, although he has turned some heads in the preseason.

Goalies

Skinner
Pickard

This remains the biggest area of concern for Oilers fans, and debatably it has gotten to negative space. Stuart Skinner has put together three straight 50-game regular seasons to start his career. He has been the Oilers unquestioned starter nearly that entire time. On the contract of a backup goalie, Skinner has been the team’s best option. Clearly he is worthy of a tandem role, though the Oilers have not given him much competition or support as far as creasemates go.

Calvin Pickard is similarly a goalie that has completely outperformed expectations, yet might be stretched as far as can be asked already. No doubt Pickard is a quality backup, but he might not be the true tandem mate it would take to get more or less out of Skinner.

Together they have had a lot of success behind a great team. They have not exactly held the team back, either. They are fantastic cap value, allowing the Oilers to load up elsewhere. At the same time many are skeptical it can be enough.

Even in the preseason a number of fans bemoan Skinner at every loss. While it may be true that the Oilers goaltending could be better, it is not really fair to put that on the goalies themselves at this point. In fairness to them, they have taken the Oilers to seven playoff series victories over the past three seasons. If they were truly not good the Oilers would have not been able to do so.

There is no obvious third option at this point. Matt Tomkins is the most experienced option, but hardly seems like an upgrade from former Oiler Olivier Rodrigue. Samuel Jonsson and Connor Ungar are hoping to succeed as AHL rookies. As the goalie market is slow, trading for a goalie at any level of the depth chart might be expensive. Add this to the fact that affording an upgrade against the cap is another question altogether.

Path to success

For most teams, an average season for this Oilers team would be a success. For the Oilers, the status quo of second place is not enough. With the potential of McDavid leaving, not to mention the ticking away of time for McDavid and Draisaitl, no opportunity can be taken lightly.

The goaltending is a huge inflection point, though there is no reason that Skinner and Pickard cannot replicate their efforts. The biggest wild card might be some of the new forwards. If two of Savoie, Howard, Podkolzin, or Tomasek can step into more prominent roles the Oilers will be all the more dangerous.

If the Oilers cannot get enough from that group they might look to add a forward. If Walman cannot hold up on the right side a defenceman might be more likely, though the Oilers might be content with their current group. Goaltending might finally be the in season upgrade the Oilers opt for.