This season for the Edmonton Oilers, like many before it, didn’t follow a straight line. It opened with inconsistency and injuries. At times it felt uncertain, but over the course of this season, Edmonton revealed something important about how they are as a team: resilient.
Not just in how they responded to losses, but in how they adapted, adjusted, and continued to find ways to win.
A younger roster, combined with injuries early in the season, forced the team to adapt quickly—and in many ways, made them faster and more dynamic.
Here are four positive takeaways that stood out in the 2025–26 Oilers’ regular season.
Defensive game has improved
To start this season, defensive structure was a clear concern. Pairings were constantly shifting, and injuries disrupted any sense of continuity. The result was a team that struggled to control play in its own zone and conceded many high-quality chances.
As the season progressed, it began to stabilize. The return of Paul Coffey during the Olympic break marked a noticeable shift in the identity of both the defence and the forward lines. There was more structure, better positioning, and a clearer understanding of roles across the blue line.
It wasn’t perfection right away, but it was progress—and more importantly, it looked sustainable. That shift translated directly into improved 5v5 play, with the Oilers becoming more reliable in their own end, supporting their goalie while still supporting their offensive strengths.
Bettering their 5v5 play
One of the most encouraging developments was the team’s ability to complete at even strength.
While the Oilers’ power play remained elite, as expected, they relied less on waiting for those opportunities to generate momentum. Instead, they showed they could create offence at 5v5 while holding their own defensively.
That balance matters.
For a team often defined by its special teams, proving they can drive play without them is a significant step forward. It reflects a more complete, playoff-ready style—one that doesn’t depend on whistles to take control of a game.
Injury management and depth
If there was a defining theme of this season, it would be adversity.
Key players missed time—sometimes multiple times throughout the year—forcing constant lineup changes, and making it difficult to build consistency. But instead of collapsing, the changing roster adapted. Only five players played all 82 games.
Young players and depth forwards were tapped for larger roles. The youth movement brought a noticeable injection of speed and energy into the lineup that added pace, not only helping compensate for missing players but in some cases making the team more difficult to defend against. Early in the season, several rookies were given opportunities to contribute, brining speed and energy that was seemily lacking last season.
Most notably, Matt Savoie (who scored his first career hat trick against Vancouver in game 82 on April 16), and Josh Samanaski stepped in and made an impact.
And they delivered.
Production didn’t disappear. The Oilers remained one of the league’s highest-scoring teams, showing that offensive momentum wasn’t limited to top players.
That kind of internal response—where depth doesn’t just fill gaps but actively contributes—is what separates a contender from a fragile rooster.
Finding confidence and identity
The Oilers were inconsistent, there’s no avoiding that.
But they never lost belief.
Even during stretches of losses and uneven play, the team maintained confidence in its core and in each other. That belief became more evident as the season went on, especially as systems were improved and players settled into their roles
During what is often referred to as the “Decade of Darkness,” the phrase coined by Oilersnation, “hope will never die,” became a rallying point for fans. This season, that idea felt less like a wish and more like a reflection of the team itself.
There is a growing sense of identity, not just built on skill, but on resilience, adaptability, and trust within the group.
This matters heading into the postseason.
Oilers showed growth where it mattered
The Oilers didn’t have a perfect regular season, but perfection wasn’t the takeaway.
Growth was.
From improved defensive structure to stronger 5v5 play, from depth contributions to a more resilient mindset, this season showed a team learning to win in different ways.
The most important part of its development.
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