I have good news and bad news. The Bad News is that the baseball season is over, and the Toronto Blue Jays unfortunately missed the playoffs. The good news is that the NHL is back! The Edmonton Oilers opened their regular season on Tuesday night at home with a 6–5 loss in overtime, against the Vancouver Canucks.
Since the Oilers drafted Connor McDavid first overall in 2015, he’s become the best player in the NHL, and I’d argue one of the more dominant athletes in recent memory. Because of McDavid’s dominance, alongside a second superstar in Leon Draisaitl, it seemed like only a matter of time before the Oilers brought the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton.
However, after a series of playoff heartbreaks, including back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, the Oilers are entering year 11 of the McDavid and Draisaitl era. With Connor McDavid set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2027–28 season, the Oilers’ championship window seems to be closing quickly. Many fans believe that this is going to be the Oilers’ year.
The Oilers are trying to address the goaltending situation
This offseason, the Oilers made some new additions as if time were running out. They added Frederik Andersen in net; goaltending has been the Oilers’ most under-addressed issue, according to fans and media, for the past decade or so. I’ve said it before, the way the Oilers play defensively is the problem. They could have a Igor Shesterkin or a Connor Hellebuyck in the net and still might lose with how poorly they play defensively. Goaltending isn’t the problem. However, that’s a separate conversation.
Andersen is coming off a Stanley Cup championship last season with the Carolina Hurricanes. Although he’ll miss the first part of the season, and there is no timeline for a potential return right now, the thinking is that when Andersen does return, if he can stay healthy, he’ll be the most consistent goalie the Oilers have had in years.
Will a new bench boss help?
The other big addition isn’t even on the ice. The Oilers have a new coach in Mike Babcock. He brings some controversy, but I believe he’s the right man for the job. He’s a Stanley Cup champion; he won in 2008 with the Detroit Red Wings. Many people believe goaltending has been “the problem” for the Oilers recently, but I disagree. In my mind, it’s the way they play defensively. So it’ll be interesting to see the philosophy Babcock brings behind the bench.
Babcock’s coaching philosophy has historically favored a structure that promotes team balance; he may implement a strategy where McDavid and Draisaitl share the offensive burden while letting other depth forwards step up. It likely won’t be like when Jay Woodcroft seemed to run his stars into the ground and play them more than people thought he should.
Considering Babcock’s past success and his past systems and strategies, I think he’s the right man to have behind the bench for this team. Another problem in years past has been depth, and knowing Babcock’s coaching style, he may unlock something in a guy like Matt Savoie or Isaac Howard that they didn’t know they had.
Babcock has his teams play more balanced, and that could mean less ice time for McDavid and Draisaitl. That may not work out how the Oilers think it will, but entering this season, I do think it’ll help the Oilers in the long run as they pursue another deep playoff run. A lot of the media are saying expectations should be lower for this Oilers team than last season, when expectations were much too high. That said, I believe Babcock behind the bench could help this team surprise some people.
Hoping for a different ending
Flashback to the mid-2010s, when Mike Babcock was at the helm of a different Canadian team, brimming with young talent, a promising future, and expectations of becoming the NHL’s next great dynasty. Does that sound familiar? It’s the Toronto Maple Leafs: after getting William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews all in consecutive drafts, the Leafs seemed ready to roll. However, we all know how it turned out in Toronto.
This Oilers team is not the first time Babcock has dealt with superstars with high expectations attached. During Babcock’s tenure with the Leafs, Auston Matthews averaged 17:38 of ice time per game in 2016–17, 18:08 in 2017–18, and 18:33 in 2018–19, which are the only years throughout his career he’s averaged under 20 minutes of ice time per game, according to StatMuse.
As for Marner, he also averaged under 20 minutes of ice time per game in the only years he played for the Leafs under Babcock, according to StatMuse. Granted, Marner and Matthews were both very young and still trying to establish themselves in the NHL, but those numbers may signal what’s to come for McDavid and Draisaitl, as Babcock has historically relied heavily on depth to succeed.
The one key difference between the Oilers and the Leafs over the last decade is that the Oilers have gone deep in the playoffs multiple times during the McDavid and Draisaitl era. So when you look at Babcock’s past, it could be promising if McDavid and Draisaitl have less stress and pressure on the two of them specifically come playoffs.
Can the Oilers get it done?
Many fans believe 2026–27 is finally the year the Oilers will get over the hump and bring a Stanley Cup back to Edmonton for the first time since 1990, and back to Canada for the first time since 1993. I think it could be; I wouldn’t say they’re the favourite to win.
For example, among Canadian teams, I think Montreal has the best chance to win. However, if McDavid and Draisaitl stay healthy and the Oilers play a lot better defensively, who’s to say they can’t win the Cup this season? The unknown is obviously injuries. With the regular season being extended from 82 to 84 games for the first time since the 1993–94 season, we may see more injuries as the season goes on.
I think it’ll all depend on Mike Babcock. Is he the kind of coach that guys want to play for? Some past players say no, but it depends on the team and what type of coach the players like. If his systems and strategies work, and the players do buy into what Babcock says and change their defensive philosophy, I think this team may be able to get it done.
Nonetheless, it’ll be an exciting season in Edmonton, as McDavid’s contract expiry approaches and the Oilers go all in this year. I say this year because I believe if they don’t win this year, McDavid is gone. And if he tells them he’s going to leave before the end of next year, they’ll start pursuing trade options. If you’re an Oilers fan, you’re hoping they can get over the hump this season and do what people thought they would for the past 11 years.
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