The year 2024 was a special one for the Edmonton Oilers and the NHL as a whole. The league shared a press release reviewing a year which was one for the record books, highlighted by a 72.3 percentage rate of close games, which is the highest in NHL history. (A close game was determined as one decided by one goal, or two+ following empty-net goals.)
Part of the reason for so many close goals, was due to 42 percent of wins being comeback victories, which is tied for the second-highest rate in NHL history with a minimum of 600 games played. Of these comeback wins, 149 games were multi-goal comebacks, which was similarly tied for second-most ever in league history behind a record 178 just two years ago.
On the business side of things, 2024 was the NHL's strongest ever in league history and with the promise of more to come. Total attendance for the 2023-24 season was the highest ever at nearly $22.9 million USD, while revenues for 2024-25 are projected to surpass $6.6 billion.
McDavid among the main headline makers
Of course anyone reading this will likely be more interested about how the Oilers specifically fit into the narrative for 2024, and we can confirm the NHL gives them plenty of attention. Unsurprisingly, superstar Connor McDavid leads the way for the team.
Chief among McDavid's achievements is the 180 points he accrued during 2024 (regular season and playoffs combined), as he led all NHL players for the fourth consecutive calendar year. He also became just the third player in league history to reach 180 points in a calendar year, joining Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
McDavid also hit the 900 and 1,000 point barriers during 2024, representing the third time he had hit multiple points barriers in a calendar year. He is now in the top 85 for all-time points in league history, and just in case anyone doubts his work-ethic, he skated an NHL-leading 390 miles during 2024.
Finally in respect of the seven-time NHL All-Star, he made his first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. He nearly led a historic comeback from three games down before ultimately losing in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers, won the Conn Smythe Trophy and produced an NHL playoff record 34 assists as part of 42 total points.
Other Oilers get in on the act in 2024
The NHL press release did reference several other Oilers players, albeit they all fell short of leading the league in certain categories. For example, Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl finished the calendar year with 62 and 61 goals respectively (again regular season and playoffs combined), but trailed behind Sam Reinhart and his NHL-leading 66.
Similarly, Stuart Skinner can be proud of the 50 wins he totalled in 2024, but finished third among all goalies behind Sergei Bobrovsky with 52 and Jake Oettinger with 51. It must be painful on some level for Skinner and his teammates to consider that if he had won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, he would have finished tied-first with Bobrovsky and Oettinger on 51 wins.
Still on the individual front for the Oilers, Evan Bouchard was second among all defencemen as he totalled 109 points, one agonising point behind Cale Makar on 110. The calendar year was also the first time in NHL history there were three blue liners with 99 or more points, when you add in 2023-24 Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes.
As for the Oilers team as a collective, the year saw them complete a 16-game winning streak, which was one off the all-time record held by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their 67 points from Jan. 1 until the end of the 2023-24- regular season were tied for the most in the league, to help justify the decision to fire Jay Woodcroft and replace him with Kris Knoblauch, who was a rousing success in his first job as an NHL head coach.
As a final point on the Oilers, they came back from a 10-point deficit in the Western Conference playoff bracket, and became the third ever team in league history to play in the Stanley Cup Final after being so far out of the postseason race. Edmonton fans will understandably be hoping that 2025 is the year their beloved Oilers become the first Canadian NHL team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993.