For the past decade, goaltending has been the scapegoat for why the Edmonton Oilers haven’t won a Stanley Cup, even though it felt like it was only a matter of time. However, the real diagnosis was their defensive play. I’ve said it for years: I don’t care if prime Dominik Hasek is in net, with the way the Oilers play defensively, it won’t matter. This season, the Oilers have given up an average of 2.8 goals per game, according to Hockey Reference. This is the lowest it’s been in the first 20 games since 2016–17.
On October 28, the Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 4–0 to improve to 9–2–2 on the season. According to Bleed Oil Blue on X, the Oilers led the league in “Rush Chances Against” as of October 30. This was their downfall in past years. Last season, the Oilers were 30th in “Rush Chances Against”; however, at the start of the season, they seemed on a similar trajectory to years past.
A not-so-hot season opener
On opening night of the 2026–27 NHL season, the Oilers played against the Vancouver Canucks, who were expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. Evan Bouchard had a hat trick and finished with five points, but the Oilers lost 6–5 in overtime. Many people, myself included, said, “Here we go again.”
Tristan Jarry allowed six goals on 23 Canuck shots. Two nights later, the Oilers played the Canucks again, this time on the road. They built themselves an 8–2 lead and almost blew it. The final score was 9–7. After giving up 13 goals in the first two games and scoring 14, it looked like Mike Babcock had bought into the Oilers and not the other way around. After the loss to Vancouver on opening night, Mike Babcock said, “Tonight was an indication that we have a lot of work to do,” during his postgame press conference.
Over the next four games, the Oilers played much better defensively, giving up five goals total, winning all four, and going 8–1–1 through the first 10 games of the season. They were making me and many others eat our words, and it became clear this may not be the same Oilers we’ve grown accustomed to seeing throughout the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era.
How did the Oilers get to this point?
The Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Final back-to-back seasons in 2023–24 and 2024–25. Ultimately, they came up short and lost to the Florida Panthers both years. On top of that, they also lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion in the playoffs the prior two years—Colorado in 2022, and Vegas in 2023.
Goaltending has also been the scapegoat for the Oilers’ inability to finish a playoff run, and it has been for years. They’ve gone through Cam Talbot, Mike Smith, Mikko Koskinen, and Stuart Skinner. After Skinner put the Oilers within one win and two wins of a Cup, they traded him to Pittsburgh for Tristan Jarry midseason. However, last season the Oilers “took big steps backward,” as Draisaitl said.
The Oilers finished 41–30–11 with 93 points, which was good enough for second place in the Pacific Division. It was similar to what we’ve seen for almost a decade. Bad defensive play and below-average goaltending despite one of the best offences in the NHL. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Anaheim Ducks in six games. It likely would’ve gone differently had McDavid been healthy; he was playing through fractures in his foot and ankle.
Nonetheless, the team was disappointed with the result. McDavid called the Oilers “an average team with high expectations,” and Draisaitl doubled down, saying they’ve “taken big steps backward.”
Changes off and on the ice
In the offseason, it became clearer. The Oilers are running out of time. McDavid is set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent after the 2027–28 season. The Oilers began going all in when they fired Coach Kris Knoblauch on May 14. On June 23, the Oilers hired Mike Babcock. He brings a successful past, with a Stanley Cup, two Olympic gold medals, and 700 NHL wins behind the bench. However, he also brings some controversy. The NHL did its due diligence, and the Oilers and Babcock received the green light.
The Oilers also seemed to address the goalie situation as well. With the Oilers’ high-flying offence, they don’t need a Vezina Trophy-caliber goalie; they need a guy who’ll make a big save when it counts, so they signed Frederik Andersen to a one-year contract. Andersen was fresh off a Cup run of his own with the Carolina Hurricanes; Andersen went 13–2 in the playoffs.
Later that day, the Oilers got another goalie. They acquired Devon Levi and a seventh-round pick from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2028 draft. Levi was drafted by Florida but sent to Buffalo in 2020 as part of the Sam Reinhart trade. He won best goalie at the 2021 World Juniors while backstopping Canada to the Silver medal. Last season, Levi played 52 games for the Rochester Americans in the AHL, posting a .904 save percentage.
The changes weren’t immediate
Through the first two games, it was like Groundhog Day. Jarry gave up six goals on 23 shots and two nights later, Levi gave up seven on 22. On top of that, in typical Oilers fashion, the offence was out of this world. Evan Bouchard had eight points through two games, the most by a defenceman in NHL history.
Then, things began to click. They played the Seattle Kraken at home and allowed only one goal. Then they faced Anaheim for the first time since last season’s playoffs and allowed only two, with Levi stopping 29 Anaheim shots. Jarry got the net in San Jose the next game, and the Oilers won again, giving up only one. Then came L.A., who were still winless. However, they got 40 shots, and the Oilers gave up only one goal again.
Is this year actually different?
For years, the formula for winning in Edmonton was to try and outscore the opponent, with McDavid doing the majority of the heavy lifting. However, their poor play without the puck and in their own zone led to odd-man rushes the other way and a lot of 5–4 or 6–5 losses.
However, players have said this year is different from the start. Babcock ran training camp emphasizing “details” and their play when they don’t have possession of the puck. It seems to be working; the Oilers have allowed four or more goals in fewer than half their games so far. Also, the lack of goals against so far has put less stress on the three-headed monster of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard offensively.
The defence has drastically improved, but the offence picked up right where it left off. Over the first eight games, the Oilers went 6–1–1; McDavid had 17 assists and 23 points and is still on a superhuman pace. Through 19 games, McDavid has 48 points—only Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky have ever had more.
There’s also some reason not to buy this yet. It’s a long season, and during the Oilers’ fast start, they had a relatively weaker schedule. They played Vancouver twice, Utah twice, San Jose, L.A., Anaheim, and Seattle in their first eight games. Currently, only two of those teams are in a playoff spot. However, in the two games after that stretch, they faced Minnesota and Carolina and won both, starting the season 10–1–1.
The Oilers have cooled off since then and are now 13–3–3, still leading the Pacific. However, they’re playing well without their biggest offseason addition— Andersen hasn’t played a game yet. Yes, some would argue they’ve started off with a weaker schedule, but as the competition gets tougher and the Oilers make their way toward another deep run into the playoffs, if the goals-against total stays low, this may not be the same Edmonton Oilers.
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