{"id":474073,"date":"2025-09-11T08:09:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T12:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=474073"},"modified":"2025-09-09T21:17:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T01:17:29","slug":"edmonton-oilers-puck-drop-season-preview-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/09\/11\/edmonton-oilers-puck-drop-season-preview-2025-26\/","title":{"rendered":"2025-26 Puck Drop Preview for the Back-to-Back Cup Finalist Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Word On Hockey\u2019s<\/em> Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2025-26 season! As the regular season approaches, us here at Last Word will preview each team\u2019s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We\u2019ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we\u2019re previewing the hungry, 2025-26 Edmonton Oilers<\/a>, led by number 97, captain Connor McDavid.<\/p>\n

2025-26 Edmonton Oilers Starting With <\/strong>2024-25 Season Recap<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers had a relatively successful season. The team put up a 48-29-5 record in the regular season, finishing third in the NHL’s Pacific Division with 101 points. The Oilers then made their way through springtime hockey, qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoff Final against the Florida Panthers for the second year in a row. Unfortunately for the Oilers, the Panthers only got better at essentially countering the Oilers in their rematch, beating Edmonton in six games to win their second-straight championship. Superstars Leon Draisaitl<\/a> and Connor McDavid<\/a> led the way in scoring. Draisaitl led the team with 52 goals and 106 points through 71 games. McDavid<\/a>, battling injuries, scored 100 points through 67 games, for really only the second time in career, not since his rookie season.<\/p>\n

2025 Offseason<\/h3>\n

Edmonton had a busy offseason, starting with the extension of star defenceman<\/a> Evan Bouchard<\/a>. The offensive defenceman scored 14 goals and 67 points in 82 games last season. He extended for four years at an average annual value of $10.5 million. In an attempt to get younger and free up cap space, the Oilers moved out veteran wingers<\/a> Evander Kane<\/a> and Viktor Arvidsson<\/a> in separate trades, freeing up nearly $10 million in cap space. The team would use some of this space to extend Trent Frederic<\/a> for five years at an AAV of $3.85 million, as well as signing forward Andrew Mangiapane<\/a> for $3.6 million on a two-year contract. Finally, Edmonton moved out prospect Sam O\u2019Reilly to the Tampa Bay Lightning for prospect Isaac Howard<\/a>. While there was a lot of tinkering on the forwards group, defence and goaltending have remained unchanged. From a proportion of the population of Oiler fans, this decision to stay the course defensively, it was much to the dismay of fans of the team.<\/p>\n

Projected Lineup<\/h3>\n

Forwards<\/h4>\n

Mangiapane \u2013 McDavid – Hyman<\/p>\n

Podkolzin \u2013 Draisaitl \u2013 Savoie<\/p>\n

Howard \u2013 Nuge \u2013 Frederic<\/p>\n

Janmark \u2013 Henrique \u2013 Lazar<\/p>\n

Point Total Projection in 2025-26 for the Edmonton Oilers Centre, Leon Draisaitl<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n