After dropping their match against the Los Angeles Kings 1-0, in their final Saturday match of the 2025-26 regular season, the Edmonton Oilers clinched their seventh straight playoff berth.
This is one of the best and most consistent stretches of Oilers hockey since the 1980's dynasty dominated by Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, among other NHL and franchise legends. Now, the Oilers boast great names like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard.
The team has done well and although they do not have a Stanley Cup banner to hang, they have made back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, an impressive feat nonetheless.
But, even still, it is hard to feel overly optimistic about this iteration of the Oilers and overall they feel much more fragile than before.
Oilers stumbling into the playoffs
The Oilers have been at best a hot and cold team this year, reaching some good highs but have contrasted those with some low, lows. At points this year it seemed unlikely they would even make the playoffs.
This has caused the team to make some very strong pivots, completely swapping their goaltending tandem from Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard to Connor Ingram and Tristan Jarry. The team also made changes behind the bench, bringing back Paul Coffey behind the bench, a man they kicked upstairs this past summer.
In addition to these moves, the Oilers did make two solid trades leading up to the 2026 trade deadline, acquiring Connor Murphy, Jason Dickinson, and Colton Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks. These acquisitions cost Stan Bowman a 2027 first round pick, a 2028 second round pick, and struggling forward Andrew Mangiapane.
Despite the recent roasting that Oilers fans have done after the behind the scenes footage was released, these moves have been a positive overall. Dickinson has given the Oilers a proper shutdown line while Murphy has helped to provide defensive stability to their backend, helping them to balance their pairings better.
However, even with these moves, the Oilers have struggled as the playoffs approach. The team entered the month of April on a five game winning streak, the longest of their entire season. Since then, they have a 1-2-1 record with three of those four games coming against Pacific division rivals. All who could potentially be their opponent this playoff run.
If the Oilers hope to do damage this playoffs and live up tot he expectations they have set for themselves with previous Stanley Cup Finals appearances, they will need to stabilize their play.