What does a successful 2025-26 season look like for Oilers’ Andrew Mangiapane?

While preseason production should always be taken with a grain of salt, Mangiapane getting on the score sheet early is a positive sign. As he mentioned, confidence is key for the nine-year NHL veteran, and now, after years of battling the Oilers as a Calgary Flame, finding chemistry with new teammates and putting the puck in the net helps set the tone for the regular season.

Before the exhibition games started, he was taking line rushes with Connor McDavid, but has since been shuffled around at 5-on-5 in the preseason — mostly skating with David Tomasek and Roby Järventie in his first game, Adam Henrique and Matt Savoie against the Winnipeg Jets, and Isaac Howard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins versus the Vancouver Canucks. For the most part, he’s meshed well with his mish-mash of linemates, and the preseason shuffling signals he’s flexible enough to be plugged in anywhere in the lineup moving forward.

That said, defining what a successful season points-wise looks like for the Toronto native somewhat depends on who he ends up skating with this year, and at this point, it’s anyone’s guess. What we do know is he’ll play in the top nine and skating alongside a quality centerman, whether it’s Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Even lining up with Henrique could be huge if the pair find the chemistry they had playing on the top line at the 2021 World Championships, where Mangiapane earned tournament MVP honours and both players finished with 11 points apiece.

On that note, last season with the Washington Capitals, Mangiapane tallied 28 points (14G, 14A), which is decent production considering the centerman he played the most 5-on-5 minutes with, Lars Eller, isn’t exactly a scoring machine himself, putting up just 15 points.

Of his 28 points last season, only four came on the power play. That said, he’s likely to still play on the man advantage this season on the Oilers’ second PP unit. Jason Gregor noted earlier this month that the unit could see more minutes, saying, “I have heard Knoblauch would like to get the second power-play unit a bit more ice time.”

Moreover, a review of all 15 of Mangiapane’s goals last season (14 in the regular season and one playoff game-winner) shows he prefers a quick snapshot over a full wind-up slap shot — scoring four goals off snapshots and two off wristers from distance. That means that Mangiapane doesn’t need much time to get the puck off his stick; he can release it quickly, which makes him a natural fit with any of the Oilers’ three-headed monster down the middle — McDavid, Draisaitl, or Nugent-Hopkins — all of whom can thread passes elegantly.

Having said all this, considering he should be feeling pretty confident about his game, the opportunities he’ll get, and the quality of players he might play with, I’d feel comfortable predicting Mangiapane could hit the 20-goal mark this season — just six more than last year. For the first-year Oiler, I’d call a successful campaign one in which he puts up at least 42 points (20G, 22A).

Play His Tenacious Style, Add a Touch of Pest

At 5-foot-10 and 183 pounds, Mangiapane may be undersized by NHL standards, but he plays larger than his frame suggests and brings some feistiness to his game, an element he says he enjoys. Earlier this month when talking to the media, he said:

“I think that’s what gets my game kind of going, being in the other team’s face, and that kind of goes to my tenaciousness. Not even scrumming it up or doing anything like that. Sometimes that comes along with it, but it’s really getting in there on the forecheck, causing turnovers and just causing havoc.” He added, “That’s when I’m kind of at my best.”

Now, I feel he downplayed it by saying, “not even scrumming it up or doing anything like that,” because I found a clip from last season where his Capitals’ linemates got into a scrum in front of the net and the 5-foot-10 Mangiapane went right after the 6-foot-5 Brandon Carlo, took him down, and then started feeding punches to his face. Check it out below:

Or how about this one, where he stood up for himself after taking a questionable hit from the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Colin Miller, didn’t like the hit, gave him a good cross-check, and still had the hunger to deliver more punishment while Miller lay on the ice:

On top of that, according to Natural Stat Trick, Mangiapane threw 4.21 hits per 60 minutes during last regular season, and that number nearly doubled in the playoffs to 8.03 per 60, showing that the 29-year-old elevates his intensity in the postseason.

At 5-foot-10, Mangiapane plays a fiery game, and the Oilers will be counting on him to bring that intensity, as it drags his team into the fight and bonus points if he turns it up a notch against his former Flames in the Battle of Alberta. With the Oilers losing scrappy players like Evander Kane and Corey Perry, they need players who can raise their battle level. If Mangiapane pairs his pest-like ways with at least 40 points in the regular season while turning up the intensity in the playoffs, that would check all the boxes for a successful 2025-26 campaign.