The Edmonton Oilers appear to be the defacto favourites to win the Stanely Cup in 2024-25, specifically when it comes to the majority of the media. Yes, you can point out that this has been the case for a few years now, but the reality now seems closer than ever after taking the Florida Panthers all the way to game seven in the Stanley Cup Final last season and barely losing 2-1.
This all said, it doesn't mean the Oilers are without any doubts or concerns, as they prepare for one of their most important seasons in franchise history. For a start, as talented as goalie Stuart Skinner undoubtedly is, he still needs to prove he can play well on a more consistent basis.
However, even more questions surround the blue line. This is despite Kris Knoblauch undoubtedly improving the unit, after he took over from Jay Woodcroft as Oilers head coach.
Minus some excellent D-men
A big part of the reason for this, is because of the losses of Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais and Philip Brogerg. Ceci's leadership and likeability in the locker room will be missed, Desharnais was a physical presence, while Broberg finally started to scratch the surface of his high ceiling during the Stanley Cup Final.
At the same time, don't interpret this to mean all hope is lost with the blue line. Darnell Nurse and Ty Emberson could prove to be an extremely effective second pairing, if Nurse returns to his previous form and plays closer to his contract level, and Emberson can tap more into his abilities.
However, the main reason for hope with the Oilers' defence, is their first pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. This is an extremely talented top tier duo, capable of causing problems at both ends of the ice.
Best pairing in the NHL
Look no further than the Score's ranking of the top six defence pairings in the NHL for the 2024-25 season. As per Kayla Douglas, they have actually ranked Ekholm and Bouchard as the league's number one pairing.
We of course won't delve into everything the Score wrote about Ekholm and Bouchard, otherwise there would be no need for you to go and read their article! However, here's just a little snippet which we found particularly interesting:
"We can't talk about Ekholm and Bouchard without mentioning what they did during the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton dictated 57.8 percent of the shot attempts, 61.3 percent of the expected goals, and 59.2 percent of the scoring chances while outscoring opponents 22-12 with Ekholm-Bouchard on the ice. In comparison, Edmonton as a team owned a goal share of 53-52, meaning it was outscored 40-31 when its top pair was on the bench. The duo did all that while being the most utilised pairing of the spring, compiling just over 400 minutes of ice time together."
A breath of fresh air in Edmonton
Ekholm has been phenomenal for the Oilers, ever since he arrived in a trade from the Nashville Predators at the end of February last year. The Oilers went 18-2-1 during the remainder of the 2022-23 regular season and saw their average goals against go down from 3.34 to 2.67.
Ekholm's excellent defensive form with the Oilers continued during this past season, with the added bonus that he took his offensive game to another level. Of note, he had single-season career bests of 11 goals, 45 total points and a +44 rating.
The other main benefit of acquiring Ekholm, was that he helped Bouchard tap into his ridiculous potential. The veteran helped his younger teammate's confidence improve, which in turn led to some spectacular results on the ice.
Oilers finally see the best of Bouchard
Last season proved to be a career year for Bouchard, as he finally, truly fulfilled the talent which persuaded the Oilers to select him 10th overall in the 2018 draft. He had single-season highs of 18 goals, 64 assists, 82 total points, a +34 rating and 23:00 of average ice time.
However, even this didn't prepare anyone for how much Bouchard's game stepped up again during the playoffs. He finished second among all NHL playoffs -- behind just Connor McDavid -- with 32 points, which doubled as the third-most ever by a defenceman in a single playoff run.
On the subject of playoff runs, it really is no surprise the Oilers finally made it to their first Stanley Cup Final of the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era. When you have a pairing such as Ekholm and Bouchard playing better than ever, good things are bound to come to you as a franchise.
What should really scare the rest of the NHL, is that Ekholm and (particularly) Bouchard are both capable of playing even better still. If they can do, combined with Skinner becoming more consistent, then any other concerns about the Oilers' defensive game should diminish, at least to some extent.