The Oilers' long road to Stanley Cup glory in 2024-25
If the Oilers are going to return to the Stanley Cup Final, it will include having the fourth-heaviest travel schedule in the NHL during the regular season.
Despite the heartbreak of coming up cruelly short of winning the Stanley Cup this past season, there's plenty of optimism surrounding the Edmonton Oilers moving forward. They've improved their roster through free agency and various media outlets including The Athletic, have them as favourites to take that final step and win it all in 2024-25.
However, if the Oilers are to finally claim the Holy Grail of hockey for the first time since 1990, it's going to be a long and winding road to success - in a manner of speaking. That's because they rank among the NHL leaders, when it comes to the distance they will have to travel next season.
As per TJ Stats, via Bleacher Report, the Oilers will be travelling exactly 50,000 miles during the 2024-25 campaign, or 80,467.2 kilometres. This works out to be the fourth-most among all 32 teams in the NHL.
Oilers used to the travel
In fairness this is nothing new for the Oilers, who usually find themselves among the league leaders in most travelled miles every season. This includes the 2022-23 campaign, when they were first in the entire NHL.
At least there won't be much of a potential competitive advantage as such for the rest of the Pacific Division. Five of the division's teams are in the top 10 next season for most miles, while the Los Angeles Kings are at 11 and the San Jose Sharks are at 12.
Interestingly, the Vancouver Canucks are 'only' at 14th, despite being nestled up in the far corner of the Pacific Northwest. For many years, they would often be among the most travelled teams in the NHL.
In truth the mileage should present little issue for the Oilers, particularly given their away record in recent seasons. Also of note, their longest road trip in 2024-25 will be five games, with them also having to face four four-game road trips during the regular season campaign.
The Oilers' Western Conference Final opponents the Dallas Stars will have it worst, topping the NHL with 56,700 miles. They are followed by the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in second place, with 51,100 miles, just ahead of the San Jose Sharks on 51,000 miles.
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On the flip side the Pittsburgh Penguins are last -- or first depending on your perspective -- with 31,700 miles, followed by the Ottawa Senators with 32,800 miles. From the NHL as a whole, 12 of the top 16 teams in most mileage come from the Western Conference.
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