The 2026-27 NHL regular season is almost here. And with that comes 84 games (minimum) worth of Edmonton Oilers hockey.
Alongside my post-game takeaways, I'll be previewing the Oilers' in-season action on a weekly basis. Each preview will be published a day in advance of the following Sunday.
This week, I'll be focusing on the Oilers' first three games of the regular season and what fans should expect from those contests.
Who are the Oilers playing this week?
The Oilers' first week of the regular season will see them play three contests.
The first two will be against the Vancouver Canucks; that stretch will also take the form of a home-and-home series. The first game, scheduled for Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, will be played in Edmonton, while the second will be played in Vancouver on Thursday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Following that home-and-home series, the Oilers will return home for a contest against the Seattle Kraken.
The Oilers went 3-0-1 against the Canucks last season; the only blemish the Oilers sustained against that opponent took the form of a 4-3 overtime loss on October 26, 2025. They also went 3-1-0 against the Kraken last season, with the only loss taking the form of a 3-2 loss on October 25, 2025.
What should fans expect from this stretch?
The record of choice come Sunday: 3-0-0.
Each of the Oilers' first six games are against the Pacific Division. But while the second half of that stretch (more on that in my preview for next week's action) is going to be more important in terms of who could end up finishing where in the division, the first part of that run of Pacific Division games is also going to have some value.
There's a few reasons for this.
While Mike Babcock has been in the Oilers' organization for a few months, this will be the first regular-season instance of the ex-Detroit Red Wings bench boss leading the franchise. Not only that, but the Oilers' season-opener will actually be the first time in almost seven years that Babcock steps behind an NHL bench.
Babcock is surely well aware of how to manage an NHL lineup by now, and he's now had a preseason to re-acclimatize to NHL coaching and learn about the Oilers' roster. Even then, the team could still need to learn and readjust; these first few games could serve as the best and last opportunity for the Oilers to do so.
The second reason is that the games against the teams expected to finish in or towards the bottom-ten are the contests that contenders have to win. Last season, the bottom-ten teams in the league were the Canucks, the Kraken, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, and Nashville Predators. Against those teams, the Oilers posted a combined record of 20-5-4 (yes, I counted). That is a great record, but the Oilers did start that 29-game stretch with a 2-1-3 record, one that included an overtime loss to Vancouver and a 3-2 loss to Seattle.
With both points considered, fans shouldn't be surprised to see some bumps in the road as the season gets going. But considering that the Oilers finished two points off the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the Pacific Division (and a path back to the Stanley Cup Final), these kind of early-season games could very well be decisive as the season goes on.
Add us as a preferred source on Google