The Edmonton Oilers once again took fans for a wild playoff ride in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. We started the playoffs with at least six players injured, many part of the Oilers core group. This predicated an uncertainty in how they would perform in the playoffs with unfavourable odds.
The injuries casted doubt in many fans and sports writers on the chances of Oilers defeating the LA Kings let alone making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Rightly so, as the Oilers limped to the end of the season and they were certainly not playing to their potential with a subpar penalty kill and power play. The Panthers were even worse towards the end of the season with a 3-6-1 record losing the last two games of the regular season.
Focus at the start of the playoffs were on teams like the Winnipeg Jets (fresh off winning the Presidents' Trophy), Washington Capitals (with Ovechkin playing like he was in his mid-20s), Carolina Hurricanes (the No. 2 team in the Metropolitan division in the regular season) and the Vegas Golden Knights (the No. 1 team in the Pacific Division). Very few statistics would have supported Edmonton’s chances of playoff success.
But, once the playoffs started, both the Panthers and Oilers started to show signs of two teams that made it to the Stanley Cup Finals a year prior. The Oilers core was well rested in the last few weeks of the regular season due to injuries and came ready to play once the LA Kings series started.
Evander Kane was resting a whole year and was ready to play, new acquisitions in Trent Frederic and John Klingberg were coming off injuries since being acquired in March and were ready to play. We all had to carefully look to see if we could name the forward lines as they were all new to fans due to six-plus players being inserted into the line up for Round 1.
Slowly, the lines and the defense pairings came together and Edmonton started to play a defensive game like they have never played before and made us believe in the ability of our team to defeat any offensive strategy by other teams.
Both the power play and penalty kill was slowly getting better during the LA series. They played this defensive game to defeat the LA Kings in six, to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in five in Round 2 and the Dallas Stars in five in Round 3. We all now believed that Stan Bowman has assembled the perfect team to win the Stanley Cup.
Round 4: Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers: The rematch
In June, like last year, we were now watching hockey in Rogers Place. The Oilers had now made it back to the Stanley Cup finals in a rematch with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers looked impressive finishing Tampa Bay in five, Toronto in seven, and Carolina in five. Both teams had elevated their play to a new level when compared to the 2024 playoffs.
Entering into Game 1, I think the Oilers, the media and the hockey fans of Edmonton had underestimated how good a team the Florida Panthers, 2025 edition, was. The Oilers were healthier than last year at this time and demonstrated the ability to adjust their game to play with anyone. Many were predicting the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup in six or seven games.
However, it was not meant to be as the Panthers would lead about 80% of the time in this series and Edmonton could not figure out how to penetrate the wall that the Panthers offensive and defensive players put up. It was a series that was over in Game 5 by a Panthers win and they never looked back and went on to win the second Stanley Cup.
It was heartbreaking to watch, heartbreaking to see the dejected Oilers group looking at the celebrations of the Panthers players and hard to comprehend in that moment why the Oilers could not win Game 6. The better team did win again and Oilers were once again the No. 2 team at the end of the 2024-2025 hockey season.
Can the Oilers find the missing pieces to take the again to the Stanley Cup Finals?
A lot has already been written about why the Oilers could not get it done in Round 4 and win the Stanley Cup. It was very clear that the Panthers had the depth not only in scoring (with eight players with 18-plus points compared to the Oilers four), but in goaltending, in rolling four impactful lines and a superior defensive and forechecking strategy than the Oilers did.
If we did not meet the Panthers, I strongly believe that the Oilers could have defeated any other team in Round 4. Moving forward, in the off-season, there are several key things that the Oilers need to improve upon to have a chance at getting to Round 4 in 2026 and to win the Stanley Cup:
- Create 4 impactful lines by finding forwards that can score not only in the regular season but in the playoffs. More players are needed like Corey Perry and Connor Brown as they were impactful in Rounds 1-3 but lacking in Round 4. Stan Bowman has to determine why did this happen and how to fix it.
2. Connor and Leon have to drive their own lines This has to happen ALL year so the members of each line known each other, anticipate each other and can finish plays ending up with puck in the net. Connor has great linemates in Nuge and Hyman and they are always dangerous. Leon needs to have good scoring wingers with speed and size to open the ice up to allow him to feather passes or shoot on net.
The Panthers were extremely effective in stopping Connor and Leon from entering their blueline area and thus they never were able to set up plays. Maybe those lines need a big offensive forward that can push the other teams D away from Connor or Leon to allow Connor and Leon to find their primary winger.
Semenko worked so well on the Gretzky/Kurri line for that very reason. Stan Bowman has clearly indicated that he needs to focus on the forwards this off-season and towards the trade deadline in March 2026. The hope is that he can find some wingers to play with Connor or Leon or slot in players like Trent Frederic or Kapanen.
3. Improved offensive strategy to break the “defensive Panthers strategy“. Many think we will not see that level of forechecking and defensive play displayed by the Panthers in 2025 but the Oilers need to figure out how to punch holes in that kind of play just in case they meet the Panthers again in 2026. If they can do that, they can be ready for any team once the post-season starts.
4. Improvement of the penalty kill and power play. We know the Oilers have had the best power play in NHL history. Their penalty kill was greater than 90% for most of the 2024 playoffs and their power play was the best one in the 2024 playoffs also.
How did it falter during the regular season and the playoffs in 2025? Who should they put on special teams in 2025-2026? Do they need to recruit to make both better or promote from within? Stan Bowman has his work cut out for him but both PK and PP need to get better.
5. Goaltending improvements: This I think will be the hardest decision in the off-season. I see a lot of potential in Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard. But, it is not consistent, mental breaks occur often and both have poor positional play. Both in the 2025 playoffs and the last one we did not have the better goalie and lost the chance to win the Stanley Cup.
I really think a new goaltending coach is needed and possibly a new goaltender that can split the season with Stuart Skinner to allow him to work on his game. Pickard can improve his game in Bakersfield so we could potentially have three excellent goalies ready to play at anytime.
We do not need a Sergei Bobrovsky quality goalie (although that would be nice) but if we improve our defensive game in front of our goalie and improve the way our goalies play the position, we have a good chance of winning games. Something has to change this year for the goaltending position.
Oilers are still open as favourites to win the cup in 2026
Despite several uncertainties in the make up on the Oilers in the off-season including the re-signing of McDavid, BetMGM has Oilers at +650 odds to win the cup (saying a “third time’s the charm” storyline unfolding for Edmonton), the Florida Panthers at +750, Colorado at +800, Dallas at+850, Carolina at +900 and the Leafs are favoured at +2000 (that is bit much I think).
Thus, BetMGM and others still see the talent that Edmonton has and how it can get them back into the Finals in 2026. As the summer unfolds we will continue to watch how these odds change and hope that the Oilers can bring a better game to the 2025-2026 regular season and begin their playoff ride towards winning the 2026 Stanley Cup.
Disclaimer: Betting odds update regularly and are subject to change
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