Well Oilers fans, it wasn't a great season. Not a bad one either, but in the words of Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, the results were decidedly "average." But as lockers are cleaned out and fans of non-playoff teams look forward to the National Hockey League Draft Lottery this evening, here in Edmonton, we'll have to look elsewhere for things that are looking up. But I promise you, they are there.
Evan Bouchard
We'll have to wait a little longer yet (May 7th) to see if Evan Bouchard is even a finalist for the Norris Trophy, but that's a foregone conclusion. As to whether he'll win or not, that announcement will come in June, either between games in the Stanley Cup Final, or shortly after it ends. But he should win.
Bouchard got a great big pay raise this season, and is now making $10.5 million a season. It's a big number, and with Darnell Nurse at $9.25 and Jake Walman set to make $7 million, the Oilers have a pretty expensive back end. But Bouchard played up to his new value in 2025/26. He managed 95 points, terrified defenders and goalies alike with his booming slapshot, and played in all situations. Oilers management should be under a microscope for certain recent decisions, but it's hard to argue that Bouchard is overpaid.
Vasily Podkolzin
Vasily Podkolzin has been consistently praised by the Oilers captain and alternates as a player who "does the right thing away from the puck." While his on-ice presence didn't always translate into offense, he enabled his linemates and was rarely caught out on a bad decision that led to a chance or a goal in the other direction. He's also capable and more than willing to defend his teammates when needed, dropping the gloves at a moment's notice if the other team takes liberties.
That was all true last season, during Podkolzin's 8 goal campaign. And it remained true in 2025/26, but Podkolzin also found the offense he flashed in his rookie campaign with the Vancouver Canucks. He scored 19 times, a career high, and good for seventh best on the team. And while Jack Roslovic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had higher goal totals, both were minus players, while Podkolzin finished his year at +16.
Matthew Savoie
Matthew Savoie stepped up and into a bigger role when Leon Draisaitl's lower body injury held him out for the last month of the regular season. Savoie got an opportunity for prime minutes alongside McDavid and he produced. After March 11th, Savoie managed a point or more in nine of sixteen games, and when he didn't score a point, the Oilers lost all but one of those matchups.
Savoie's emergence as a secondary scorer over the course of the season did more than simply take some pressure off the Oilers' big guns. If Edmonton hadn't managed that late season surge, which included their longest winning streak of the year, they legitimately might have missed the playoffs. If anyone watched the post-series interviews and felt a sour taste, just imagine what it would have looked like if Edmonton had been left out of the postseason entirely.
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