The roster is now set for the rest of the season and playoff run. The trade deadline has come and passed and the Edmonton Oilers made two moves that they are hoping will give them the edge on the competition. And early on, the two that have played have certainly come in with an edge. Max Jones and Trent Frederic were acquired from the Boston Bruins while Jake Walman was acquired from the San Jose Sharks.
With Frederic currently injured, Jones and Walman have both made their debuts. And both of them have brought in some physicality to help address one particular area that was lacking in the Oilers’ game. Notably, both focused on laying a big hit on Mikko Rantanen, who was a major target for Edmonton at the deadline.
Last week started out on a more than concerning note as the Anaheim Ducks rolled into town and laid a beatdown on the Oilers. The Ducks used to be a team the Oilers would beat handily every game, but whatever is ailing the team has taken that away from them. Luckily, the rest of the week mostly went better and Edmonton closed things off with two wins, one of which was much closer than it should have been against the Dallas Stars.
It was a big week for the big guns on the Oilers. Connor McDavid (hopefully) began his bounceback with six points in three games, followed closely by Leon Draisaitl with five points and Evan Bouchard with four.
Will that continue into the coming week? Let’s take a look at the week ahead for the Edmonton Oilers!
Edmonton Oilers games from March 10 to March 16
Last week was a much-needed homestand for the Oilers while this week sends them right back out on the road through the New York area. Luckily this trip has less travel than some other road tips they’ve taken recently.
| Opponent | Date | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres | Monday, March 10 | 22–32–6 |
| New Jersey Devils | Thursday, March 13 | 34–25–6 |
| New York Islanders | Friday, March 14 | 29–27–7 |
| New York Rangers | Sunday, March 16 | 31–27–6 |
Bring on Buffalo
The first stop on this week’s road trip is against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Ever floundering and ever unable to progress in their rebuild, the Sabres sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference right now and have shown very little to the hockey world suggesting anything will change. Nevertheless, this is an important game for the Oilers, who will be looking for their first three-game win streak since the end of January, a stretch that, coincidentally, also included the Sabres.
What will be the most difficult part of this matchup? Probably the Oilers getting in their own way. Despite the standings position, Buffalo is still a speedy team that does possess some firepower that decides to go off at random times. It is not a game to take lightly.
They may not have the elite starpower scoring talent this season, but they still have top end scoring depth. They have the same amount of 50-point scorers and more 40-point scorers than the Oilers do. Led by Tage Thompson with 54, Rasmus Dahlin and JJ Peterka both have 51 points on the season.
Peterka is a player to watch. He has now set a career high in points and was a player that many Oilers fans were hopeful that Buffalo could be convinced to part with at the trade deadline as he would fit splendidly on Draisaitl’s wing. Keep an eye on him, there’s always the offseason.
The injury depleted New Jersey Devils
The Devils are building a powerhouse team, piece by piece, season by season. Problem is, it’s hard to keep the lineup together. It seems they’re missing a major piece due to injury at all times, and right now that includes Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. Despite these struggles, the Devils maintain a comfortable spot at third in the Atlantic Division and this will be a difficult game for the Oilers.
The Devils are struggling to score, however. Without Hughes or Nico Hischier on the ice, New Jersey is vastly outscored and offensively anemic.
Led in scoring by Jesper Bratt and Hughes, both currently tied with 70 points, the Devils are short one of their leading scorers for this game. But they have plenty of others stepping up in Hughes’ absence. One notable player to keep an eye on is Stefan Noesen. He is taking on the biggest role of his career this season, averaging a career high in ice time with nearly 16 minutes per game. He already has a career high in goals and is well on his way to a career high in points, as well.
An evening on Long Island
The second half of the back-to-back pits the Oilers against the New York Islanders. The Islanders bring up the tail end of the Eastern Conference playoff race, and fresh off of trading one of the most iconic members of their franchise in this era in Brock Nelson, it appears they are not looking to compete. Despite them being only three points out of a wild card playoff spot and having games in hand over the other teams currently on the outside looking in.
Nevertheless, the Islanders are playing stereotypical Islanders hockey. Low event, near the bottom of the league in goals for. And not giving up a lot defensively either, though they are probably closer to the middle of the league in goals against than the bottom.
There is not much to speak of on New York’s scoring leader list. Anders Lee leads the team with 44 points. They do not have many threats to speak of offensively, especially with some important players like Noah Dobson having down years.
Simon Holmstrom is one player who is thriving this season. One goal shy of his career high but already smashed his career highs in assists and points. He is quietly becoming a bigger and bigger part of this team each season.
Ending the trip at Madison Square Garden
The final stop of this road trip next Sunday takes place at MSG to face the New York Rangers. This has been a tumultuous season for the Rangers, and despite all of that, they are still firmly in the playoff race. They have been extremely active on the trade market, with the biggest move made being the one to acquire JT Miller. And they have made many smaller tweaks to try and find the right mix.
Once a dynamic offensive team, the Rangers have had trouble scoring this season. For them, anyways. Artemi Panarin leads the team with 66 points in 61 games, but there is a drop-off afterwards as Adam Fox, Vincent Trocheck, and Mika Zibanejad are all on down years.
The Rangers have always been a difficult opponent for the Oilers. And these games are almost a rivalry matchup given the lengthy history between these two teams. However, the Oilers decisively took the first game of this season’s series 6–2 back in November.
A relatively unknown player that has been making a huge impact for the Rangers to keep an eye on is Will Cuylle. He was a second-round pick back in 2020, and now in his second full NHL season, has already set career highs in every offensive category. Nearly in the top five in team scoring with 34 points, he just falls short of Alexis Lafreniere.
Keys to the week for the Edmonton Oilers
A four-game week and four-game road trip. This is a big test for the team. They may have looked as good as they have in a month for 40 minutes of Saturday’s game against Dallas, but that needs to be sustained if this team has any hope of survival into the late spring. Here’s some keys to the week that will help them maintain that.
Let’s get physical
One notable change in Edmonton’s game on Saturday was a new level of physicality brought by Jones and Walman. Both were not afraid to engage physically. That is something the Oilers have desperately lacked all season long, as they are the lowest hitting team in the league. What evidence is there that this works for them? Back at the beginning of the season, there was a stretch where the only time the Oilers won was when they fought.
On the road in competitive games, the Oilers need to set the tone physically in these games to get everyone involved and get the energy flowing.
This is the time to experiment
Any time there are changes to the roster, there comes a time to experiment with new line combinations. To start, Jones has been on the fourth line while Walman played mostly with Darnell Nurse. That seemed to work quite well, which is nice for a first lineup fit. But there comes the opportunity to try out different combinations. In these first games, it would be wise to start seeing who fits best with who to find some lines that work moving forward. Frederic is not expected back until the end of the month, but it will help the process to know where the new players fit.
Get McDavid going again
The 2025 calendar year has not been great for McDavid. He had been scoring at barely over a point per game pace until this past week. Luckily, Draisaitl has been picking up the slack. But we need McDavid to be doing McDavid things for this team to truly succeed. The game against the Stars was the best he had looked in months, including a couple of standard McDavid plays with an assist on an early goal and his highlight reel goal later in the game.
A focus of this week should be getting McDavid back to the scoring pace and in-game impact that we have grown accustomed to seeing over the past decade.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
