When we last checked in on the NHL power rankings, the Edmonton Oilers were mostly holding steady among major sports media outlets, around the 10-11 mark. The one exception was CBS Sports, who were almost too optimistic in their ranking of coach Kris Knoblauch and his players, slotting them in as the fifth-best team in the league.
Well, it seems that others are now taking a similarly positive outlook of this Oilers team, if the latest NHL power rankings are any indication. However, we are obliged to point out that this turn of events comes with two significant caveats.
The first, is that these latest rankings do not take into account the Oilers' just completed nightmare weekend in California, with them only picking up one out of a possible four points. This includes somehow managing to lose to a lowly Anaheim Ducks team with one of the very worst home records in the NHL in 2024-25.
The second caveat is that we are only relying on two major sports media outlets this time around, as opposed to the usual four. This is because the likes of Sportsnet, The Athletic and ESPN have not produced any updated rankings yet, due to the NHL's much-welcomed Christmas break, which gives players the chance to spend some invaluable time with their families.
The one constant
With these two caveats in mind, we start with the one regular power ranking which we're used to, in NHL.com. They do things a little differently with a Super 16 as opposed to a traditional 32-team ranking, but regardless, they have moved the Oilers up from 11th place last week, to seventh.
On an individual level among the 14 NHL.com voters this week, David Satriano and Paul Strizhevsky both have the Oilers ranked highest at number five. On the other hand, Mike G. Morreale puts them in 11th place, which seems more realistic regardless of taking into account this weekend's results or not.
As for the week's theme, NHL.com focused on reasons for each of the 16 teams in the rankings to feel festive, which again came prior to the weekend nightmare in California. Derek Van Diest referenced how the Oilers are one of the best teams in the league through December, which is hard to disagree with given that they won eight of nine games prior to their five-day Christmas break.
An even bigger jump up the rankings
The other sports media outlet we looked at this time around was Bleacher Report, who took the CBS Sports approach. In other words, they moved the Oilers up from 12th place last time around, all the way up to fifth on this occasion.
Bleacher Report essentially admonished those who doubted the Oilers when they were going through their tough start to the season. They called the doubters' lack of faith foolish, probably alluding to how the team similarly started last season poorly, before recovering in stunning fashion.
Of course with that wonderful benefit of hindsight this makes sense, combined with having a roster which does contain the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. However, we would offer a defence in that it's in the very nature of sports fans -- particularly those based in Edmonton -- to worry about the fortunes of their team.
It's what happens when you have a passionate fan base which not that long ago endured the decade from hell, with the Oilers going 10 consecutive seasons with playoff hockey between 2006-07 and 2015-16. In any event,as per the aforementioned reference to benefiting from hindsight, we didn't see Bleacher Report calling anyone foolish for worrying, while this season's poor start was actually taking place.