The Edmonton Oilers' offseason has seen the team achieve mixed success. Though they did decent work in improving the roster, represented by the acquisition of Frederik Andersen and Ryan Shea among other moves, the Mike Babcock Saga handicapped much of the positive outlook around the team while alienating a significant portion of the fanbase.
But does the release of the team's 2026-27 schedule provide a momentary reprieve, or more of the same?
I'll break down the schedule itself in another piece, but one stretch that I think is going to be incredibly critical to their success is the road trip that will take place while Rogers Place co-hosts the 2027 edition of the World Juniors hockey tournament.
The stretch itself
The Oilers' last home game before the tournament kicks off will see the team host the Anaheim Ducks for the third time on December 20. Then, following the Christmas break, the Oilers will contest a six-game road trip that will take them one week into 2026, with their first post-World Juniors home game taking place on January 7 against the Florida Panthers.
The road trip itself will start in the Metropolitan Division. Such an opening stretch will consist of a back-to-back that sees the Oilers travel to Columbus and then Washington.
Two days later, the Oilers head east for a game against the Boston Bruins, which will serve as the team's final game in 2026. The Oilers will kick off 2027 with a weekend back-to-back series; their opponents will be the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Oilers will follow that back-to-back with a game against the Nashville Predators, which will be the finale for their World Juniors road trip.
While the stretch itself might lean tough, historical results do yield some optimism for the team
On paper, the Oilers' six-game World Juniors road trip does present a bit of a trap for the team.
The Predators still have stars like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault on their payroll, and they added Ross Colton in a move to bolster their depth and push for a playoff spot in Year 1 of the team's new era. The same goes for the Washington Capitals; with Alex Ovechkin set to remain in Washington for one more season, the team added star forwards Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou via trade as part of the construction of what could be one of the league's best forward groups.
Elsewhere, the Bruins and Penguins will present playoff-calibre tests for the Oilers, while the early-season Red Wings could take points from Edmonton. The Blue Jackets could also be a challenge, especially as they look to take the next step and get into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
But in terms of recent history, it is possible to suggest that hosting the World Juniors has a positive effect on the NHL teams impacted. Last season, it was Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the latter of which is home to the Minnesota Wild, that hosted the World Juniors. As a result, the Wild took their show on the road for seven games; the team went 4-1-2 over that stretch with their only regulation loss being a 4-2 decision against the Los Angeles Kings.
Ottawa hosted the previous edition of the World Juniors, though the Ottawa Senators could not make the most of their road trip and went 1-4-1 in games played during the tournament. That said, those six games actually represented the latter two-thirds of what was a nine-game road trip; the Senators won the first three games of that trip.
Beyond Ottawa, it is possible this trend back to the pre-pandemic years (Edmonton did host the tournament in 2021 and 2022, though the Oilers did not play games during those two editions). During the 2018-19 season, the Vancouver Canucks were forced on the road for six games as Rogers Arena and Victoria's Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre acted as hosts for the World Juniors. The Canucks went a respectable 3-3-0 during their World Juniors road trip, though all three losses were shutouts.
If one extends the trend all the way back to the 2016-17 campaign (the 2017 and 2018 editions of the World Juniors were held in NHL cities), they would find that four of the six teams impacted posted records of .500 or greater during their respective road trips. Besides the Senators, the Buffalo Sabres were the only other NHL team impacted by a North American World Juniors tournament to post a record of less than .500 during the duration of the corresponding edition, going 1-2-2 during the five games that took place during the tournament.
For an Oilers team looking for motivation on their 2026-27 schedule, that should represent some good news. Something else that should motivate them is that four of those six host cities saw their respective NHL teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the 2018-19 Canucks and the 2017-18 Sabres being the lone exceptions.
Let's see if they can convert those six road games before jumping to any postseason-related conclusions, but these numbers should be welcomed by Oilers fans.
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