Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2024-25 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers.
2024-25 Edmonton Oilers
2023-24 Season
Not many people thought that the Oilers would be capable of making the Stanley Cup finals after their horrid start to the season, but they did. Edmonton went 2-9-1 in an awful start to the regular season, resulting in coach Jay Woodcroft losing his job. His successor, Kris Knoblauch, did a phenomenal job in bringing Edmonton back to life and normality. Since his appointment, the Oilers went on two huge winning streaks. The first one went on to last eight games, but the second one was an incredible 16 games long to start 2024. That streak was good enough to become the second-longest winning streak in NHL history, tied with the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets.
There were some great individual campaigns. Captain Connor McDavid provided 100 assists this season, only four other players reached that feat. Also, McDavid’s linemate, Zach Hyman, reached the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career last season. However, it was the playoffs that brought the best out of the Oilers and the players. They dominated the leaderboard for points scored in the playoffs, with five players appearing in the top seven. McDavid unsurprisingly led the way with 42 points in the playoffs, fourth most in league history.
Although, it was a heartbreaking ending for the Oilers last season. Despite going down 3-0 in the first three games of the series, they miraculously came back to force a Game 7. The Florida Panthers were able to hold them off and took Game 7 in a 2-1 victory. Another incredible feat by McDavid as he won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, despite being on the losing team.
2022-23 Offseason
There have been a number of changes this offseason for the Edmonton Oilers, subtractions and additions. In terms of subtractions, the Oilers lost Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues to offer sheets. New general manager Stan Bowman decided not to match the offers. In a trade, they shipped off Ryan McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for exciting prospect Matthew Savoie.
They’ve also traded away defenceman Cody Ceci to the San Jose Sharks in return for defenceman Ty Emberson. The Oilers will also have to prepare to be without Evander Kane for a chunk of the season, as he’ll be going through a procedure to help him recover from a sports hernia injury that he sustained during the finals. Third pairing defenceman Vincent Desharnais was lost in free agency to the Vancouver Canucks. And the biggest loss of the season for the Oilers, in terms of point production and quality, is Warren Foegele. He scored 20 goals and 41 points last season, but left the Oilers in free agency to the Los Angeles Kings.
However, Edmonton acquired a few wingers this season to make up for the damage. They pounced on Jeff Skinner, who was bought out by the Buffalo Sabres, and signed the forward to a one-year deal at $3M AAV. Potentially joining him in the top six is Swedish winger Viktor Arvidsson, who was signed to a two-year deal. Finally, they signed a depth winger, formally of the Canucks, Vasily Podkolzin. His new contract is a two-year deal at $1M AAV.
Bowman’s biggest piece of business over the summer was re-signing Leon Draisaitl to a new contract. After next season, Draisaitl will be the highest-paid hockey player in the NHL on an annual basis. He was signed to an eight-year deal at $14M AAV.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Nugent-Hopkins/Draisaitl – McDavid – Hyman
Skinner – Draisaitl/Nugent-Hopkins – Arvidsson
Janmark – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Ryan – Perry
Top Six
Edmonton‘s top-six forward group is full of elite talent. Even outside of McDavid and Draisaitl, there’s still Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored 104 points two seasons ago. Also, Hyman graces McDavid’s right wing, being one of the best complimentary forwards in the league. There will be no surprise if we see the iconic duo both reach well over 100 points. However, their could be a chance that all of those aforementioned players reach the century mark if they are all on their game. In addition to those players who will be returning with the Oilers, there are a couple of new faces looking to join them in the top six. Skinner and Arvidsson both joined the Oilers in free agency this offseason, bolstering Edmonton’s secondary scoring.
Skinner has played 1,006 games over 14 seasons in his career and is yet to feature in a playoff game. Given the performance of the Oilers last season and even seasons before that, it seems that Skinner will finally get a taste of what it’s like. Maybe this opportunity will provide an extra step in his game, knowing he has a chance at the cup this season. Arvidsson knows a thing or two about the Edmonton Oilers. In the last two seasons as a member of the Kings, he faced off against Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs and was defeated both times. It’s the old “if you can’t beat them, join them” trick, and Arvidsson will get to see what it’s like being a member of the “enemy.”
Bottom Six
In the past, Edmonton has struggled with getting help from their bottom six and depth. In many previous playoff eliminations, one of the x-factors to defeat was their lack of depth, scoring and quality. However, after these past playoffs, especially in the finals, that narrative has changed. This bottom-six forward group is much more reliable as they can score, kill penalties and much more. In the back half of the Stanley Cup finals series, the Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, and Connor Brown line was putting on a show. Beginning in Game 4, Janmark scored a short-handed goal to open the scoring, assisted by Brown. Around four minutes later, Henrique doubled their lead, on a Janmark assist. It was clear that this third line shifted into another gear when they were facing elimination.
The fourth line followed the mojo that the third line had. While they don’t contribute as the other lines given the ice time, but they were still involved, specifically Corey Perry. The 39-year-old is one of the most experienced players who are active in the NHL. Now that Eric Staal and Joe Pavelski announced their retirements, Perry moved up to the fifth most games played among active players, with 1,311. However, he leads all active players for playoff games played with 215. Perry has played in four finals in the last five seasons, all with different teams, but has come out on the losing side each time. He’ll be looking to end this streak next season with the Oilers.
Defence
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Emberson
Kulak – Stecher
Top Four
Edmonton’s defence was very sturdy last season, and they have the stats to prove it. In both the regular season and playoffs, they finished in the top 10 for the lowest goals-against average. Much of their top four defencemen haven’t changed, but for good reason. Specifically, the top pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard, have been getting it done on both sides of the rink. They complement each other very well, as Ekholm is more of a shut-down guy, and Bouchard has that heavy slapshot as well as high-flying offensive skill. According to MoneyPuck, they were the best D-pair in expected goals for, with 73.8. The next best was Carolina’s top pair of Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns with 59.2.
Darnell Nurse will be looking to bounce back from last season. He had a few tough breaks, leading to goals for the opposition and his mistakes were highlighted in the playoffs. However, he’ll have a different partner this season, as they traded away former Oilers defenceman Cody Ceci. In return from the San Jose Sharks, they received 24-year-old D-man Ty Emberson. The youngster is projected to be Nurse’s new partner next season for the Oilers. He spent most of his professional career in the AHL, including stints with the Tucson Roadrunners and the Hartford Wolf Pack. But now, after 30 games played with the Sharks, it looks like he’ll be getting a full-time role with the Oilers next season.
Bottom Pair
The Oilers bottom pair is different this season, but not quite. Brett Kulak has been an Oiler for the past three seasons and, with that has been a very reliable third-pairing defenceman for them. In fact, he has not missed a game for the Oilers in the last two seasons, including playoffs. Last season, he scored 16 points, earning his 100th career point in the process. In the playoffs, he kept a pretty good point pace, putting up eight points in 25 games. Kulak will be under contract for the next two seasons, and he’ll be hoping to spend them with his hometown team.
As for his partner, Troy Stecher, he is also an experienced, bottom-four defenceman. However, he hasn’t been able to settle into a team. In the last three seasons, he’s played for six different teams, including provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames. Like Kulak, Stecher has two years remaining on his current contract, maybe Edmonton will be his home for those years. Stecher was acquired at the trade deadline by former general manager Ken Holland.
However, after playing seven games to finish off the regular season for the Oilers, Stecher required ankle surgery, ruling him out for the playoffs. The 30-year-old has only featured in two playoffs. One was in 2020, where he played 17 games for the Canucks, and in 2022 where he only played four for the Kings. Stecher is a great playoff performer when called upon. In that series against the Oilers for the Kings, he scored two goals and four points in those four games. Also, in his playoff career, he is a plus-player at plus-13, which is a great quality to have as a defenceman.
Goalies
The Oilers’ goalie situation this season will begin as it ended last year. Skinner will have the net, and Pickard will back him up. Although, at the start of last year, that wasn’t the case. The Oilers tandem last season was Skinner and Jack Campbell. However, after a rocky start for Campbell, he was sent down to the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL, and he never came back. In the past, the Oilers had their struggles with goaltending, and they’ll be hoping that those days are behind them.
Players to Watch
Stuart Skinner
As mentioned, goaltending in the past has been a little shaky for the Edmonton Oilers. Skinner has led the way in that department for the last couple of seasons. Ever since the Oilers parted ways with Mikko Koskinen, Skinner has taken over the starter’s role. His save percentage took a bit of a hit this season in the regular season and the playoffs, dropping to just above .900%.
He is still young for a goaltender, as he is 25 years old. Now that he knows where he stands with the team, starting regularly, he can find that consistency and improve his numbers. Everyone knows how crucial it is to have great goaltending in the NHL. It’s time for Skinner to take that big step next season to become an elite goalie in this league. And what a perfect time to do that when you look at the NHL 4 Nations Face-off tournament coming up. There’s no doubt that Skinner will have a chance to be the number one goalie for Canada.
Jeff Skinner
The other Skinner on the Oilers, Jeff Skinner, is also a player to watch this upcoming season. Throughout his entire career, he’s been on losing teams and teams where he was relied on to be a consistent scorer. Now, he’s in a completely different situation. It’s more than likely that Edmonton will make the playoffs, something Skinner has never experienced. On top of that, there shouldn’t be too much pressure on him this season. This is because the Oilers have all that star power up front, meaning he won’t be heavily relied on. Also, he’s not making an amount of money that will keep him under a microscope. Many reasons for fans to to look out for him next season.
Prediction for the 2024-25 Oilers
This season, the Oilers will look to return to the Stanley Cup final again, except they’ll want a different outcome. Edmonton are a very good hockey team, and there’s a reason why they went as far as they did in 2023. While it’s extremely difficult to advance to the finals, given the number of teams competing, expect the Oilers to go deep again next season. Last season, they came out of the gates very slowly, but this year, that shouldn’t happen.
The Pacific Division is also one of the weaker divisions in the league, so they’ll be expected to do well. They’ll be challenging with the Canucks and the Vegas Golden Knights for the division title.
Prediction: 2nd in Pacific Division.
Main Photo: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
