Something happened late last week that hasn’t happened for nearly five years: the Edmonton Oilers are the Pacific Division leaders. They’ve come a long way from the incredibly slow start and have quietly had one of the hottest streaks in the league. A 21–6–1 record over the last two months has launched them all the way up the league standings, and the final push this past week even came without Connor McDavid in the lineup as he finished serving his suspension for cross-checking Conor Garland.
Last week, the Oilers performed quite well. Despite outshooting the Washington Capitals 32–14, Edmonton lost 3–2. They bounced back splendidly with a stomping of the Vancouver Canucks in a 6–2 victory on Thursday, while they just held on and fought off a late push by the Buffalo Sabres to win 3–2 in Saturday afternoon’s game.
As usual, Leon Draisaitl steps up his game when McDavid is out. He led the way last week with two goals and five points. This was followed closely behind by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who had four points. An important positive trend for him in a difficult season offensively.
Let’s take a look at the week ahead for the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton Oilers schedule: January 26 to February 1
The Oilers have a fun week of games ahead with a couple of Original Six opponents in the latter half of the week.
| Team | Day | Record |
| Seattle Kraken | Monday January 27 | 22–25–3 |
| Detroit Red Wings | Thursday January 30 | 23–21–5 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Saturday February 1 | 30–18–2 |
Good news for the Oilers is that McDavid will be back for the game against Seattle. They will need him when they hit the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and even the Detroit Red Wings have been improving lately.
Facing the Kraken
The Seattle Kraken may be struggling, but it will be important for the Oilers to not take them lightly. They need all the points they can get when facing opponents lower in the standings to maintain a place at the top of the division.
Seattle, as usual, is a team with plenty of depth. Although their leading scorer, Jared McCann, may have just 38 points in 50 games, their scoring depth rivals that of even the Oilers as they have 10 20-point scorers. This includes a trio of offensively minded defenders in Brandon Montour, Ryker Evans, and Vince Dunn.
The return of an old coach
Former Oilers Coach Todd McLellan took over the Detroit Red Wings earlier this season. Since that coaching change, the Red Wings have been one of the better teams in the league and much improved in nearly every facet of the game. In those 15 games, Detroit has gone 10–4–1 and have risen up the standings to be in the running for a wild card playoff spot.
It’s been a few years, and he has already made his return as coach of the Los Angeles Kings, but this will be the first time McLellan steps back into Rogers Place behind the bench of the Red Wings.
There are plenty of exciting players to watch out for on the Red Wings, led by some of the youth in Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, and Marco Kasper. Raymond leads the team with 52 points, while an interesting player to keep and eye on is Kasper. Despite a slow start, he has eight points in his last nine games heading into the week.
Maple Leafs fans invading Edmonton
Closing out the week is the Toronto Maple Leafs making their annual trip to Edmonton. These games are always some of the loudest in the crowd as fans of both teams compete for chanting dominance.
In their first season under new Head Coach Craig Berube, the Maple Leafs are in competition to win the Atlantic Division for the first time since the current alignment came into being. The last time they won the division was in 2020–21, the season with the North Division.
Toronto has been dealing with major injury issues throughout this season. Major contributors to their lineup are regularly missing time. Currently, former captain John Tavares is out with injury, as is Anthony Stolarz, Max Pacioretty, Matthew Knies, Calle Jarnkrok, and Connor Dewar.
That the team is still as competitive as they are is a testament to the strength of the roster depth and the systems put in place over the years, especially with Berube’s coaching.
Edmonton Oilers lines heading into the week
With no updates on Sunday with any line changes, the most recent lineup update the Oilers have is from Saturday’s game against the Sabres. The lines will be shortly out of date as they readjust back to regularly scheduled programming with McDavid’s return.
| Vasily Podkolzin | Leon Draisaitl | Viktor Arvidsson |
| Corey Perry | Adam Henrique | Zach Hyman |
| Mattias Janmark | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Connor Brown |
| Jeff Skinner | Noah Philp | Kasperi Kapanen |
| Mattias Ekholm | Evan Bouchard | |
| Darnell Nurse | Troy Stecher | |
| Brett Kulak | Ty Emberson |
Keys to the week for the Edmonton Oilers
With games against a deep team in the Kraken and a high-powered one in the Maple Leafs, a major key for them will be for the depth scorers to find ways to contribute. Corey Perry and Kasperi Kapanen each had two points last week, but most of the team’s offence went through Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins. A couple extra goals from the depth will go a long way in what are bound to be some close games.
The return of McDavid will help get the lineup back to normal and push depth players back into more appropriate roles, which will help.
We have seen it happen before, and even recently, where the team can play extremely well and limit the opponent’s chances, but they still find a way to lose. When going against offensive teams like the Maple Leafs, they will need to get the best version of Stuart Skinner to prevent losing a game in which the Oilers dominate.
How do you think the Oilers will fare this week? Drop a comment down below!
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
