The Edmonton Oilers have struggled this year around all aspects of their game. They have been blown out 9-1 and 8-3 by the two top teams, Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, respectively. They have also lost 1-0 games and everything in between.
The slow pace to their start was even observed in the play of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The team looked tired and possibly feeling the after effects of extended seasons of hockey by going to game 7 and game 6 of the 2024 and 2025 playoff seasons, respectively. In the first 20 games, they were also missing key players to injuries like Kasperi Kapenen, Jake Walman, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to mention a few. Even the newer players, like Jack Roslovic, played well for 23 games but became sidelined by injury. Thus, it was hard to develop a rhythm, established set lines and produce wins.
But, Hyman returned on November 15th and Nugent-Hopkins shortly after that to bring not only scoring power but defensive play important for both the penalty kill and powerplay. These two players, as predicted, have made a huge impact on the Oilers goal production, defensive play and has allowed Connor and Leon to run their own lines and propel the powerplay to 32.1 percent for No. 2 in the league and a penalty kill at a 80.2 percent. These are two much improved team statistics in 2025.
Hyman has not missed a beat and has net front presence again and shows no signs of a broken wrist. We all hope that his wrist holds up all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals if they make it that far. Nugent-Hopkins, with 24 points, could be on his way to a 90-plus point season, his best since 2022-2023 season. He is the longest current Oiler and their most consistent player into his 14th year on the Oilers and in the NHL. Any team would kill to have a two way player like him and we are thankful he plays for us.
Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins have inspired the team to play better in ways that include scoring and by their tenacity and hard play every shift.
The rise of Connor McDavid
It is very clear that the return of Hyman has given the captain a shooting target for his incredible passes. Hyman had a hat trick in the game against the Detriot Red Wings and McDavid had an assist in every goal. That was Hyman’s 6th hat trick since joining the Oilers.
During his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs he had no hat tricks. So, Connor makes Hyman better and Hyman makes Connor better. I think we all understand the chatter around sending Hyman to play for team Canada in the Olympics in Milan next year - Hyman and McDavid understand each other so well and aggressive net front presence is a skillset needed on any team to drive success.
McDavid has had a slow start to the season and about 10 points behind Nathan McKinnon in the scoring race for most of the first two months of the seasons. Since the presence of both Hyman and RNH in the lineup, Connor is now only 5 points behind the leader and will most likely close in on him very soon.
Connor’s play is now elevated, has Hyman or Nugent-Hopkins to pass the puck to and his is shooting more now than earlier in the season with more than 4 - 7 shots a game in the past five. We all know how his shooter mentality got him to 64 goals a few years ago. So the hope is that he continues to shoot the puck as much as he passes it.
McDavid has nothing to prove with winning another scoring title or MVP title, but he is competitive and peaking in December/January sounds good to me vs peaking in November. When Connor scores, the Oilers do well and most of the time they will win.
Can the Oilers get to second or third place in the Pacific by the Olympic break?
The Oilers have had a slow start to the 2025-2026 season but somehow have found themselves always close to a wild card spot. They currently sit at the top of the wild card spot in the West with 34 points and No. 4 in the Pacific division. Vegas, at 39 points, is in the No. 1 spot in the Pacific and well within reach of the Oilers by the Olympic break.
The return of Hyman, RNH and soon Roslovic and Walman will help in their pursuit of first place in the West and home ice advantage in the playoffs. The players are finally understanding what good defensive hockey is about and what it takes to be a playoff contender.
They have a lot of games at home in the month of December which will help in getting wins and points. They know they should always be in contention for a playoff spot and, come March, should accelerate their game as the playoffs approach. We have seen this two years in a row and this the hope is that this year is now different.
Familiar story lines in 2025-2026
The Oilers are a very dynamic team and never bet against Connor and Leon. They are an explosive team as they have the talent and skill level to beat anyone. They have outscored their opponents 22-11 in the past 5 games and have 6 powerplay goals on 14 attempts (a 43 percent powerplay!). They have a challenging road trip again but are off to a good start with a win over the Maple Leafs, possibly giving a glimpse of what's to come on the road trip.
The trade of the year happened yesterday that resulted in Skinner and Kulak going to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tristan Jarry and Sam Poulin coming to the Edmonton Oilers. In my opinion, Jarry is a more consistent goalie that was well liked in the Edmonton area when he was a member of the Oil Kings and part of their Memorial Cup winning team in 2014. Time will tell if this was a good move but the hope is that the team will have confidence in Jarry into 2026 and then hopefully into the playoffs.