Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
The Edmonton Oilers really hoped for more from Viktor Arvidsson.
When they signed him to his two-year, $4-million AAV contract in free agency a year ago, they hoped to be getting the Viktor Arvidssson who was putting up 50-60 points as he had with the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators before. Instead, they got 27 points and a lot of disappointment.
Arvidsson struggled to find his game for much of the season, and while he was still able to chip in some offence, largely playing on the second line with Leon Draisaitl, there could’ve been so much more. And while he played in all of the Oilers’ first-round series against the Kings, as the playoffs wore on, he began to find himself either as a healthy scratch or playing on the fourth line.
The biggest issue for Arvidsson all year long was his lack of consistency. The flashes were there of the productive player he had been before, but the frequent lows were outweighed by the highs.
He found his way to contribute, driving offence at a seven percent rate above league average, but his defensive game struggled to the tune of contributing at a five percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz. Ultimately, his efforts were those of a low-end second-line player.
He worked with the Oilers on finding a trade partner to get around his no-trade clause, ultimately getting sent to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2027.
VIKTOR ARIVDSSON’S CAREER SO FAR
2014-2015
6 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 9 0.0 10:15 2015-2016
56 8 8 16 -8 35 0.29 1 0 3 139 5.8 12:24 2016-2017
80 31 30 61 16 28 0.76 4 5 6 246 12.6 17:09 2017-2018
78 29 32 61 20 36 0.78 3 3 6 247 11.7 17:45 2018-2019
58 34 14 48 12 26 0.83 3 2 7 195 17.4 19:09 2019-2020
57 15 13 28 -4 26 0.49 4 0 1 127 11.8 16:12 2020-2021
50 10 15 25 9 21 0.50 2 0 2 151 6.6 16:36 2021-2022
66 20 29 49 1 22 0.74 4 0 3 227 8.8 16:59 2022-2023
77 26 33 59 -4 24 0.77 10 1 2 228 11.4 17:06 2023-2024
18 6 9 15 4 14 0.83 1 0 1 59 10.2 16:42 2024-2025
67 15 12 27 -3 24 0.40 1 0 2 158 9.5 15:00 OTHER PLAYER REVIEWS
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].
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It’s amazing what a difference a year makes. When Jeff Skinner signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers on July 1, 2024, hopes were high for the veteran forward, who had scored 30 or more goals six times in his career. I remember seeing point projections all over — some had him hitting 70 points with the Oilers, others had him returning to the 35-goal mark. And honestly, those predictions didn’t seem far-fetched. After all, he was set to play alongside one of the league’s elite centers in Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Even my low-end point prediction had him at 55 points, because with his skill and the chance to play alongside superstar talent, how could he not reach at least that mark?
Yet, Skinner finished just one point shy of the 30-point plateau last season, was in and out of the lineup, and rather than skating regularly with the dynamic duo, his most frequent linemate in 2024–25 was Adam Henrique. If there were a soundtrack to his stay in Edmonton, it’d likely be Trooper’s “We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time),” because after just one season in Oil Country, we say so long to the small forward with the big smile, who recently signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the San Jose Sharks. And as we bid adieu to him, let’s look back at his time with the Oilers.
The former 40-goal scorer began the 2024-25 season playing on Draisaitl’s line, but the chemistry wasn’t there, leading to him getting a look with McDavid by the third game, in which he scored his first goal as an Oiler against the Calgary Flames.
However, with Edmonton losing their first three games, it felt like the coaching staff had already made up their minds about Skinner. That perspective — likely rooted in concerns about his defensive game — seemed to follow him throughout the season, as Skinner was never really given an extended opportunity in a top-six role and was bumped down to the bottom six after just the third game.
The 5-foot-11 forward played between the third and fourth lines until December, with only brief stints in the top six. Things worsened after Christmas, when he was a healthy scratch for the first time on Dec. 29 against the Anaheim Ducks — the first of six healthy scratches over the next month.
While Skinner’s time in Edmonton didn’t pan out as hoped, two things stand out about him — his infectious smile and his willingness to do whatever was asked of him. He never complained about being benched or demoted, nor did he speak poorly about the situation in the media. Rather, he focused on improving his all-around game, especially on the defensive side of things. Following a series of scratches in late January, his 200-foot game took a clear step forward.
An example of this came when he was inserted back into the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 30. Not only did he score in the game, but he also made one of the best backchecks by any Oiler in the 2024–25 season — hustling to break up a 2-on-1 during a Red Wings attack and followed it up with a series of excellent plays in the games that followed.
Overall, it seemed like Skinner had turned the page from late January onward, adding a more defensive mindset to his game. Additionally, with injuries piling up down the playoff stretch, he played some of his best hockey of the season, tallying eight points in the final 14 games and finished the regular season with 16 goals and 13 assists.
Skinner’s Playoff Debut Finally Arrives
One of his biggest highlights during his time with the Oilers was when he made his long-awaited playoff debut. After playing 1,078 regular-season games, the 15-year NHL vet finally played in the postseason when he suited up against the Los Angeles Kings on April 21.
In just over 11 minutes played in Game 1 against L.A., he registered an assist and tied for second on the team in hits with five. However, the Oilers lost the game 6-5, and he was on the ice for three goals against at 5-on-5. Just like that, he was scratched for the rest of the series and more.
The veteran forward sat out the next 14 playoff games, and it looked like he wouldn’t see the ice again for the rest of the postseason — until Zach Hyman suffered a season-ending injury in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars. This created an opportunity for Skinner to get back into the lineup, and he was given the nod for Game 5, where he made an impact almost immediately playing on the third line against the Stars.
JEFF SKINNER FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF GOAL#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/LTFE6vGI5N
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 30, 2025
In the first period, after a tough battle in front of the net, he kicked the puck to his stick and slid it between the pads of Casey DeSmith, who had replaced Jake Oettinger, scoring his first-ever playoff goal and helping the Oilers secure a 6-3 win to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
With Skinner scoring his first-ever playoff goal and having a great Game 5 against Dallas, naturally, you’d expect him to be in the lineup for Game 1 of the Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, right? Nope. As we saw all last season, big games from Skinner didn’t guarantee anything. With Connor Brown returning from injury, Skinner was the odd man out once again and was scratched for the first three games against Florida. That said, when the Oilers dropped Game 3 against the Panthers 6-1, a shake-up was needed, and the 15-year NHL vet was inserted into the lineup for the final three games of the series.
Jeff Skinner giving Dmitry Kulikov a pat on the back after the Oilers second of the nightpic.twitter.com/soAIYvJ7FZ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 13, 2025
The Toronto, ON native averaged 12:15 minutes of ice time in the Stanley Cup Final but went pointless in three games, yet one of his most memorable moments came in Game 4, when he gave D-man Dmitry Kulikov a light, pest-like pat on the back and flashed his big wide grin after an Edmonton goal. But like many Oilers, his impact fell short when it mattered most in the Finals, and after being eliminated, the team chose not to re-sign him.
Did the Oilers Give Skinner a Fair Shot?
At 33 years old, he’s still got the hands — evident in the 16 goals he scored during the regular season, some of which were highlight-reel finishes. However, being undersized in today’s NHL is manageable if paired with speed, and that’s where the concern lies with Skinner. NHL Edge data showed his top speed last season was 21.96 MPH, ranking below the 50th percentile league-wide. In the playoffs, it dipped further to just 19.77 MPH, suggesting he never really quite hit his stride when it mattered most.
Still, despite the lack of footspeed the skill was clearly still there, and years from now, when we look back on Jeff Skinner’s time in Edmonton, we’ll likely remain puzzled as to why it seemed the coaching staff didn’t give him a fair shake. Moreover, the lingering question will be whether he deserved a longer look in the top six. I think of the example from Feb. 5 against the Chicago Blackhawks, when, after several games of playing well, he was finally rewarded with an opportunity to play alongside Draisaitl again — his first chance in a few months.
Skinner scores after some pristine passing#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/6FimGvo9K3
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 6, 2025
They connected for a beautiful goal, and Skinner picked up two points in the game, yet just two games later, he was back on the fourth line with Mattias Janmark. Or consider the stretches where he’d have a strong game, even score, only to be healthy scratched the very next night.
Overall, Skinner had some bright spots in Edmonton with nice finishes, and he seemed like a heck of a human being during his time with the Oilers, always smiling and laughing with his teammates. That said, I feel Zach Laing summed up the veteran forward’s stint in Oil Country perfectly in his recent article, pointing out that Jeffery Scott Skinner got the short end of the stick last season.
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Kris Knoblauch has been interviewing coaches for the past two weeks to fill four vacancies on his staff.
Glen Gulutzan and Paul Coffey won’t be on the bench next year, while goalie coach Dustin Schwartz and skating and skills coach David Pelletier were not re-signed. I expect the Oilers to announce their new staff this week.
What will Knoblauch be looking for? I asked Craig MacTavish, who was an NHL assistant coach in St. Louis and New York and the head coach in Edmonton, his thoughts on the topic.
Do you think it’s a must to have one assistant coach who used to be an NHL head coach?
What will be Knoblauch’s biggest challenge in the hiring process?
What would you look for in a goalie coach?
Jun 4, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) reacts with goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) after defeating the Florida Panthers in overtime for game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
MacT’s last response about how coaches are often defined solely by their shortcomings and problems, while overlooking what they do well, and their success, is very true. I’d add that it’s often the same with players. Mistakes are magnified tenfold compared to good plays.
My understanding is that Mark Stuart will oversee the defence, replacing Coffey. With that in mind, Knoblauch won’t be hiring a defence coach. The coaches all work together and share their input on the forwards, defence, penalty kill and powerplay, but he still likes to have one person directly responsible for the power play and the penalty kill.
They need a new PP coach, and I’m not sure if the other assistant coach will oversee the PK or work in tandem with Stuart. The PK struggled last year, but it was historically good in 2024. As MacTavish mentioned, you can’t just look at last year’s PK to evaluate Stuart. It would be foolish to overlook the success he had in 2024. I think the Oilers losing Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais and being without Mattias Ekholm for multiple months played a huge role in the PK struggling as much as it did in the 2025 playoffs.
The new coaches have lots of talent to work with. Edmonton is a very good team, and new ideas and new voices could help. Of course, there will be high expectations, but every coach would rather have high expectations and a winning roster than the alternative.
Look for the coaching staff to be announced this week.
For the second consecutive off-season, the Edmonton Oilers saw a considerable amount of turnover.
Following last year’s loss in the Stanley Cup Final, Warren Fogele, Sam Carrick, and Vincent Deshanrias left the team as free agents, Philip Borberg and Dylan Holloway signed offer sheets, and Ryan McLeod and Cody Ceci were traded in deals to make the roster younger.
Some of the holes left by those departures were filled in the summer, others during the regular season.
The Oilers inked Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, and Josh Brown in free agency and then traded for Vasily Podkolzin and Ty Emberson in August following the offer sheets. The team grabbed Kasperi Kapanen off waivers in November and signed John Klingberg in January. Before the trade deadline in March, they added Jake Walman, Trent Frederic, and Max Jones.
Following this year’s loss in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers again saw several roster changes. Connor Brown, Corey Perry, Skinner, and Klingberg departed in free agency, while Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson were traded as salary cap casualties.
The freed-up cap space was primarily used to re-sign Evan Bouchard and Trent Frederic. Bouchard signed a four-year contract with an average annual value of $10.5 million, which kicks in alongside Leon Draisaitl’s record-setting $14 million extension from last summer. Edmonton also made a couple of additions in free agency, bringing in Andrew Mangiapane and Curtis Lazar.
Without much cap room available, the Oilers will be looking for young forwards to contribute in 2025-26. More reinforcements will come ahead of the trade deadline later in the season, but the first few months will be about having the likes of Matthew Savoie and Isaac Howard get reps in key situations.
The Oilers acquired Savoie, who was the ninth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, from the Buffalo Sabres in the Ryan McLeod trade. They acquired Howard, the 31st pick from that same draft, from the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this month in exchange for prospect Sam O’Reilly.
Savoie scored 19 goals and 54 points over 66 games in the American Hockey League last season and picked up one point in a four-game stint with the Oilers in February. Howard was named the Hobey Baker Award winner as the top player in men’s NCAA hockey after leading Michigan State University to their second consecutive Big Ten title.
Having even one of these 21-year-olds hit the ground running as a productive NHL winger would be a huge win for Edmonton’s front office because they would be able to focus their in-season trade efforts on adding to the blueline or finding a goalie rather than the never-ending search for skill in the top-nine.
The Oilers are hoping that Trent Frederic can be a younger, cheaper Evander Kane and that Andrew Mangiapane can do a better job than Viktor Arvidsson as a pesky, skilled winger. Beyond those two, the team also needs to find forwards to replace Corey Perry, Jeff Skinner, and Connor Brown, who combined for nearly 50 goals during the regular season and were often used on special teams.
Nobody can expect rookies like Savoie and Howard to step into the shoes of grizzled, two-way veterans immediately, but the Oilers are going to give them both a shot to show what they can do. It’s a necessary play for a team dealing with the challenges of a tight salary cap situation while trying to maintain a lengthy Stanley Cup window.
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Litco Law has been serving Edmontonians and all of Alberta for over 50 years. A family-owned and operated company, their purpose is to balance the power for people who find themselves having to navigate the complex legal system. They can help with personal injury claims (like car accidents), employment matters (such as wrongful dismissal or severance package reviews), or if you’ve been denied long-term disability benefits. Litco Law is known for being experienced, responsive, and genuinely caring. You might not believe Lawyers You’ll Love™ exist—but they do. To learn more or book a free consultation, visit LitcoLaw.com.
Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
From waiver claim to playoff hero, the 2024-25 season was quite a campaign for Kasperi Kapanen.
He joined the Edmonton Oilers in November after the St. Louis Blues waived the winger, and while it took a little while for him to get situated, he had some solid moments for the Oilers. He scored five goals and 13 points at five-on-five in the regular season, bringing a physical element while on the strong side of the penalty ledger.
His individual impacts were particularly strong, driving offence at a 10 percent rate below league average and defence at a one percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz, who pegged his overall contributions at that of a high-end fourth-liner.
That’s about exactly what he was for the Oilers, but he showed an ability to jump up the lineup with some solid contributions and in the playoffs, his most common linemate at five-on-five was Leon Draisaitl. Two of Kapanen’s three playoff goals were assisted by Draisaitl, while Kapanen assisted on one of his in the Final.
His biggest moment undoubtedly came in Game 5 of the Oilers’ second-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring the lone goal in overtime to clinch the series.
Kapanen’s underlying numbers in the playoffs were highlighted by some of the same things as they were in the regular season, with an excellent hits per hour rate and an ability to generate some high-quality looks. His goals against per hour rate were much stronger than his other defensive metrics in the playoffs.
He re-signed with the Oilers ahead of free agency, inking a one-year, $1.3-million extension that some overreacted to at the time. But after looking back at some of the other contracts handed out for bottom-six players, it looked like a steal.
With Edmonton’s additions of Andrew Mangiapane, Ike Howard and with Matthew Savoie expected to take the jump this season into the Oilers’ top-six, Kapanen will head into next season competing for a spot in the bottom-six — right where he belongs.
KASPERI KAPANEN’S CAREER SO FAR
Season Team GP G A PTS +/- PIM PTS/G PPG SHG GWG SOG S% ATOI 2015-2016
9 0 0 0 -3 2 0.00 0 0 0 14 0.0 14:47 2016-2017
8 1 0 1 -2 0 0.13 0 0 0 11 9.1 10:42 2017-2018
38 7 2 9 -1 4 0.24 0 1 1 55 12.7 11:15 2018-2019
78 20 24 44 12 27 0.56 1 2 3 174 11.5 16:37 2019-2020
69 13 23 36 0 22 0.52 0 2 2 121 10.7 15:47 2020-2021
40 11 19 30 15 7 0.75 1 0 3 68 16.2 15:32 2021-2022
79 11 21 32 2 16 0.41 0 0 2 129 8.5 14:32 2022-2023
23 8 6 14 0 10 0.61 0 1 3 47 17.0 16:45 2022-2023
43 7 13 20 -8 8 0.47 3 0 2 69 10.1 12:02 2023-2024
73 6 16 22 -5 14 0.30 0 1 1 99 6.1 14:23 2024-2025
57 5 8 13 -16 14 0.23 0 0 1 55 9.1 12:01 2024-2025
10 1 0 1 -6 2 0.10 0 0 1 11 9.1 11:19 Totals: 527 90 132 222 -12 126 0.42 5 7 19 853 10.6 165:42 OTHER PLAYER REVIEWS
- Evander Kane
- Connor Brown
- Corey Perry
- Jeff Skinner
- Viktor Arvidsson
- Derek Ryan
- John Klingberg
- Trent Frederic
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].
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The Edmonton Oilers head into the 2025-26 season with one important goal and one trophy in mind to win: the Stanley Cup. But to make the playoffs, it starts with delivering through the grind of the regular season, and big performances over those 82 games set the stage for most individual awards.
Last season, Leon Draisaitl was the only Oiler to win individual hardware, taking home the Rocket Richard Trophy after leading the league with 52 goals. With the new season on the horizon, we break down which Oilers have a shot at winning some individual awards in 2025-26.
What Does Connor McDavid Have to Do to Reclaim the Hart Trophy in 2025-26?
At this stage of Connor McDavid’s career, with season 11 for him on its way, nothing matters more than winning the Stanley Cup.
Just recently, though, Oilersnation’s Aaron Bordato raised the question of whether the captain can take back the Hart Trophy and reclaim his M.V.P. status in the league, saying:
Quite simply, my answer is yes. Like Bordato mentioned, I would never count McDavid out of an M.V.P. trophy. When it comes to individual awards, he has that rare ability to almost flip a switch and say, ‘I want to win that,’ and then go out and do it — just like he did in 2022-23 when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy with 63 goals. That season, it almost felt like he wanted to show everyone that he could lead the NHL in goals and simply turned on the scoring switch.
That said, to take back the M.V.P. crown, he’ll need to continue his playmaking wizardry, but I also feel he needs to get back into his shooter’s mentality.
Over the last three seasons, his shots on goal per game have dropped. In 2022-23, when he scored 64 goals, his average shots on goal per game was 4.29, then it slipped to 3.46 the following season, and last year it dipped to 2.92. Yet, if he just flicks on his ‘scoring cheat code mode,’ which he certainly can, that should boost his chances of winning another Hart Trophy and hopefully carry that scoring confidence into the playoffs. Also, if he’s back in the Hart Trophy conversation next season, chances are he’s taking home the Art Ross too, a trophy he hasn’t won since 2022-23.
Can Draisaitl Make It Back-to-Back Rocket Richard Trophies?
Leon Draisaitl is that rare breed where he might be one of, if not the best, passers in the league, but he’s also one of the NHL’s best goal scorers. Over the last 10 seasons, he ranks third in regular-season goals with 397.
Last season, despite missing 11 games, he won his first Rocket Richard Trophy with 52 goals in 71 games, finishing seven ahead of Toronto’s William Nylander, who played all 82, and just missed out on winning his second Hart Trophy, finishing second in votes.
Leon Draisaitl secures his first Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's goal-scoring leader this season!#NHLAwards
He ends 2024-25 with 52 goals. pic.twitter.com/p3hzXU2c8W
— NHL (@NHL) April 18, 2025
Draisaitl has reached the 50-goal mark in a season four times, last season tying Jari Kurri for the second-most in Oilers franchise history, behind Wayne Gretzky’s eight seasons. Moreover, he is also just the fourth player born outside North America to record four 50-goal campaigns. That said, year in and year out, the Oilers’ centerman could contend for several individual awards — the Art Ross, Hart, and perhaps even one day a Selke, but next season, his strongest case at winning an award, and the best chance among all the players mentioned in this piece to win individual hardware, is capturing his second straight Rocket Richard Trophy, which is very realistic for one of the best goal scorers of this generation.
Is a Norris Trophy Within Evan Bouchard’s Reach?
Oilers’ blueliner Evan Bouchard has played in 347 regular-season games and an additional 75 playoff games, and what we know about him is that he’s a playoff monster, but in the regular season, the defensive gremlins creep into his game more often than in the postseason.
Still, Bouchard, who signed a four-year deal last month with an annual average value of $10.5 million, could be in the mix for the Norris Trophy next season if his offence stays hot and he cleans up his Grade-A defensive lapses during the regular season, which is what most individual awards are based on.
He and his usual defence partner, Mattias Ekholm, have statistically been one of the best pairings in the NHL since the Swedish D-man arrived in Oil Country in 2023. Since then, according to Natural Stat Trick, among D-pairings that have played a minimum of 500 minutes together at 5v5, they rank:
– 1st in the NHL in High Danger Chances For percentage (61.16 HDCF%)
– 4th in the NHL in Scoring Chances For percentage (60.21 SCF%)
– 5th in the NHL in Shots For percentage (59.02 SF%)
– 7th in the NHL in Corsi (59.83 CF%)
Yet, when Ekholm missed the last three rounds of last playoffs, one might have assumed Bouchard’s play would dip as a result. In fact, he stepped up his game and maintained that elite playoff form, proving that, in a small sample size, he’s not just a byproduct of a veteran D-man carrying him.
Additionally, Bouchard finished 5th in Norris Trophy voting in 2023-24, and he finished 11th last season, which shows he’s been in the mix, even if only slightly.
On that note, the 2025-26 season will be a big one for the Oilers’ blueliner. With a brand new contract, he will make the fourth-most money among NHL blueliners. That kind of pressure could work against him, but for someone who usually plays with ice in his veins (sometimes too much), the hope is that he can carry over the confidence he showed playing like a #1 D-man last playoffs and maybe, just maybe, even win the Norris Trophy next season.
Could One of Isaac Howard or Matt Savoie Have an Outside Shot at the Calder Trophy?
When it comes to young Oilers rookies, expectations can sometimes run too high as they enter the NHL, and I usually like to temper them. I’ll take the same approach with the next two youngsters — Isaac Howard (59th) and Matt Savoie (58th), both ranked within Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis’ top 75 prospects, but for the sake of this piece, let’s explore how and why one of them could win the Calder Trophy.
The Oilers, with all the great players they’ve had in their history, have never had a Calder Trophy winner, and sometimes it feels like the rookie award just isn’t meant to be won in Edmonton. For example, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid were both trending to win in their rookie seasons but were denied by injuries, making it increasingly hard to believe that an Oiler is destined to claim the trophy.
Yet, Howard leaves the NCAA as one of college hockey’s best, and with Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch hinting he could play in the top six alongside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, you can’t help but think of Jim Carrey’s line in Dumb and Dumber — ‘So you’re telling me there’s a chance?’ — when it comes to winning the Calder Trophy, even if the odds are stacked against him.
As per Jason Gregor, Knoblauch alluded last month that he’s going to give the 21-year-old every chance to succeed in an offensive role, mentioning he’ll receive time on the PP, saying, “Howard is a very offensive player and we’d like to find him a role on the power play, probably on the second unit.”
Although the Oilers’ second unit isn’t leaned on heavily, the head coach also added that both Howard and Savoie will also be given chances to play in the top six:
That said, the 2025 Hobey Baker Award winner, Howard, scored 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games last season. He’s offensively gifted with a very quick release, and if, and it’s a big IF, he finds chemistry with McDavid, there’s certainly the possibility of him piling up a bunch of points and winning a Calder Trophy.
Alternatively, if Howard falls short of the rookie trophy — or of being an impactful player next season, for that matter — the Oilers have Savoie, who could also be in the Calder mix if everything clicks.
Savoie was recalled last season for a four-game stint in February, during the Oilers’ worst stretch of the campaign, right after the Four Nations faceoff, losing all four games he appeared in. However, there were some positives in Savoie’s short call-up — his wheels, skill, and hustle were all evident. In his first game with the club against the Philadelphia Flyers last February, he got hard on the forecheck, beat a Flyers D-man to the puck, and made a nifty backhand pass to his centerman, Leon Draisaitl, who used his backhand to score as well.
WHAT A PASS
Matt Savoie collects his first career NHL point with a beautiful pass to Leon Draisaitl who buries his League-leading 41st of the season!
: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+
https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/ZFNSmBDpsN
— NHL (@NHL) February 22, 2025
Based on that small sample of potential chemistry, and with Knoblauch hinting that he’ll also get a chance to play in the top six, I think it’s a very real possibility that Savoie will hold onto a spot on the second line next to Draisaitl next season. Stylistically, the two should complement each other well.
Savoie’s potential pairing with Draisaitl brings to mind the way former Oiler Kailer Yamamoto clicked with his centerman at their peak. I mention this because Savoie and Yamamoto share similarities — both are 5-foot-9 and tenacious forwards, though Savoie might even be more skilled and a stronger skater.
When Yamamoto was recalled from the AHL during the 2019-2020 season, he went on a tear, producing 26 points in 27 games, playing like a dog on a bone and consistently retrieving pucks for his centerman, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played on the left wing, and they formed one of the league’s best lines during that stretch.
If that stylistic fit clicks and lightning strikes again for Draisaitl playing with a smaller, speedy and tenacious forward, Savoie could put up big numbers, and the Calder Trophy could be within reach.
With that in mind, which Oilers do you think are most likely to win individual awards next season?
It seems like the National Hockey League will add new teams sooner rather than later.
Toward the end of June, there was plenty of talk about where the NHL would expand next. While a 32-team league works nicely with four divisions of eight, the price tag for a new expansion team could be around $2 billion.
Another league, Major League Baseball, is expected to expand in the near future, with cities like Portland, Nashville, Montréal, Charlotte, Vancouver, and Orlando being named as potential candidate cities.
That got me thinking: If the NHL were to expand to 34 teams and then eventually 36 teams to keep the divisions even, what cities could be in the mix? Here are some places we might hear about when it comes to NHL expansion over the next decade.
Québec City
It seems like Québec City is a city often brought up in expansion rumours, and for good reason. The city housed the Québec Nordiques from the World Hockey Association merger until their departure in 1995. While the Nordiques never won a Stanley Cup, the season after moving to Denver, the Colorado Avalanche won the Cup, made up of players who played for the Nordiques just a season before.
One hurdle for new expansion teams is building an NHL arena, and Québec City already has that covered. Centre Vidéotron was completed in 2015 and hosts the Québec Ramparts with a hockey capacity of up to 18,259.
Adding an NHL team in Québec City has another benefit as well, as the city isn’t too far from Montréal, creating a natural geographical rival. A return to Québec City would also give the NHL four Western Canadian teams and four Eastern Canadian teams.
One thing holding a team returning to Québec City back is that the Canadian Dollar continues to remain weak against the American Dollar. Another potential hurdle is the population of Québec City, as it has a population below 600,000 and a metropolitan population of about 840,000. That may sound like a lot, but it’s just a slightly larger metro population than Winnipeg, the smallest metro population of any city in the league.
Fans of the Atlanta Thrashers protest the team’s move to Winnipeg.
Atlanta
Third time is a charm, right? There have been two NHL teams based in Atlanta – the Atlanta Flames and the Atlanta Thrashers. Both teams eventually moved to a Canadian market, the Flames to Calgary and the Thrashers to Winnipeg to become the Winnipeg Jets 2.0.
In June, a Sportsnet article reported that a potential return to Atlanta has overcome one obstacle: getting funding for an arena. Forsyth County, a suburb of Atlanta, would host the stadium, which is expected to cost over $3 billion.
With committed owners, hockey in Atlanta could probably work, especially if they ice a competitive team from the get-go (think the Vegas Golden Knights). Atlanta also has the eighth-best metropolitan population in the United States, with only one city with a larger metropolitan population not icing an NHL team.
That said, is the city of Atlanta going to have a third attempt at hosting an NHL team? It doesn’t seem fair.
Houston
The only metropolitan area with more residents than Atlanta without an NHL team is the Houston area.
Unlike Québec City or Atlanta, the Texas city has never iced an NHL team, but the city hosted a WHA team and a minor league team. Starting with the minor league team, the Houston Aeros (and their beautiful logo) played in the city from 1994 until 2013, in both the International Hockey League and American Hockey League.
Over the course of the Aeros’ history in the AHL, they never averaged less than 5,000 fans a season. Their final two seasons, 2011-12 and 2012-13, saw them average 7,324 and 6,793 fans, respectively.
The city’s WHA team, also named the Aeros (with a far less cool logo), folded a season before the WHA-NHL merger of 1979, partially because they weren’t going to be integrated into the NHL.
In an ESPN article in March, Emily Kaplan reported that Dan Friedkin, an American billionaire, was pushing hard for an expansion team in Houston and even had talks with the league. And you can see why, because on top of a large metropolitan population, Houston forms a natural rivalry with the Dallas Stars.
Phoenix
Don’t be shocked if the National Hockey League returns to Phoenix, Arizona, at some point in the future. Just look at Atlanta, well on its way to a third NHL franchise after two failures.
When Alex Meruelo, the former owner of the Arizona Coyotes, sold the team to Ryan Smith (owner of the Utah Mammoth, not to be confused with former Oiler Ryan Smyth), there was a clause that would allow him to reactivate the Coyotes if an arena was built in five years.
That hasn’t happened, and Meruelo stepped down, but interest in bringing hockey back to the desert remains. In January, The Sedona Conference’s Craig Morgan reported that a newly elected politician had created a committee to bring the sport back, and even had a meeting with Gary Bettman.
All but three cities in the top 10 metropolitan populations of the United States have a team. Houston and Atlanta were already covered, but the Phoenix metropolitan area is the 10th largest in the country. It’s all about finding an arena.
Banner raising ceremony for the OHL Hamilton Bulldogs.
The Greater Toronto Area
The first four cities seem like the next logical expansions, but there are several other candidates. Another city that could host a team is the Golden Horseshoe, an area around Toronto.
It’s not unfathomable that the Toronto area could get another team, as it’s one of the most populous cities in North America. Markham, Ontario, seemed like a possible location, and there were even talks of an NHL arena around the start of the 2010s, but that fell through.
Hamilton is another city in the Golden Horseshoe that has been linked to an NHL team. Firstly, it has housed an NHL team before (Hamilton Tigers) in the 1920s. Former Blackberry CEO Jim Balsillie was even in talks with relocating a handful of struggling NHL teams to Hamilton, but that fell through.
Of course, Hamilton lies between Toronto and Buffalo, which would cause some territorial disputes that make expansion (or relocation) a little more complicated. The city has a 19,000-seat arena set to reopen in November of this year.
Kitchener-Waterloo is another city that has come up as a city that could potentially host a new expansion team. There are a bunch of cities within a 100-kilometre cluster, including Cambridge, Guelph, London, Brantford, Hamilton, Mississauga, and Brampton. The key here is that Kitchener-Waterloo is far enough away from Toronto and Buffalo that it won’t cause issues.
Cincinnati
Around the 2024 All-Star break, league commissioner Gary Bettman noted that a handful of cities wanted an expansion team. Houston and Phoenix are the most notable ones, but he also named Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Omaha.
Starting with Cincinnati, they’ve had a few professional teams before: the WHA’s Cincinnati Stingers, the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, and the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, the current professional hockey team of the city.
As for population, Cincinnati has a metro population of just over 2.25 million, a sizable population. That said, a potential team would need a new arena, and the city is relatively close to the already existing Columbus Blue Jackets.
Kansas City
Kansas City has already had an NHL team, with the Kansas City Scouts representing the city from 1974 until 1976. Eventually, they moved to Colorado for six seasons before relocating to Newark as the New Jersey Devils, where they remain to this day.
They have an arena capable of hosting NHL games, and even have an ECHL team (Kansas City Mavericks), but the interest in bringing a team to the city is essentially nonexistent. The reason the team left in the first place was due to poor attendance.
Like Cincinnati, the Kansas City metropolitan area has a respectable population of nearly 2.2 million people, but the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals dominate the region.
Omaha
For some reason, Omaha is a city that has come up in expansion talks. There’s no NHL arena, but a local developer wants to build one in the suburb of Gretna. That local developer, Rod Yates, has met with the league about an expansion team, although it doesn’t seem likely.
If the city were to somehow get an NHL team, it’d be the first Big Four American sports league to reach that market, a market with a metropolitan population of a little over a million. It’d instantly become one of the smallest markets in the league, without the backing of loyal Canadian fans like Québec City would have.
Fans watching an ECHL Indy Fuel game in Fishers, Indiana.
Indianapolis
Three markets popped up when the Collective Bargaining Agreement was being negotiated earlier this year: Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Austin. Read about that here.
Starting with Indianapolis, Indiana, they’ve never had an NHL team, but they had a WHA team named the Indianapolis Racers. If that team sounds familiar, it was Wayne Gretzky’s first professional hockey team.
The city has also housed three International Hockey League teams, as well as one American Hockey League team. Moreover, the ECHL’s Indy Fuel plays in the suburb of Indianapolis.
Although Indianapolis is in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest, it has a sizable metropolitan population of over 2 million residents. Moreover, the Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Colts have a loyal fanbase, so a hockey team may be able to survive.
New Orleans
It was reported in February of this year by Kevin Weeks that representatives from the city of New Orleans had a meeting with the NHL to bring an expansion team to the city. There’s an arena capable of hosting NHL games, the Smoothie King Center, which was opened nearly 30 years ago.
New Orleans already has two Big Four North American teams, the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans. Like Omaha, its metropolitan population barely reaches 1 million people. The city hasn’t fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.
As for their hockey history, they had an ECHL in the late 90s and early naughties named the New Orleans Brass, but they eventually folded. There hasn’t been a hockey team in the city since. The city would be a fun place for a Nation Vacation, though.
Austin
If Houston doesn’t work out as the new addition to the Battle of Texas, Austin could. It’s a rapidly growing metropolitan area and an untapped market among the other Big Four North American sports leagues. The city itself has nearly 1 million people, with a metropolitan population of over 2.5 million people.
It’s growing fast, too. In 1940, the city itself (not the metropolitan population) had just 87,930 people in it. It’s boomed significantly since then, going from just under 800,000 people in the 2010 census to nearly a million in the 2024 census.
What’s more is that a suburb of Austin already hosts a team, the Texas Stars. The Stars are affiliated with, you guessed it, the Dallas Stars. Last season, the Baby Stars averaged over 6,000 people at home games in an arena that has a capacity of just under 6,800.
The NHL was first to Vegas, and that’s worked out well for the league. Could they do the same with Austin? It also helps that a team in Austin would be a geographical rival for the Stars.
Portland
Portland isn’t a city typically linked to an NHL expansion team, but it’d be a fun geographical rival for the Seattle Kraken. They already have a National Basketball Association team, and there are talks of a Major League Baseball team, so why not add an NHL team?
The city has a 30-year-old arena named the Moda Center, which hosts the Portland Trail Blazers. It has a capacity of 18,280 for hockey, more than large enough to be considered an NHL arena.
Portland also has a sizable population, with about 650,000 people in the city proper and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The downside of a Portland NHL team is that it would essentially destroy the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks.
Milwaukee
Back in 1994, Jane and Lloyd Pettit attempted to bring a team to Milwaukee, but due to high entrance fees, they backed out, and there has been no such attempt since. Which is rather unfortunate, as they are incredibly close to Chicago, which would set up a nice rivalry between the Original Six team and the hypothetical Milwaukee team.
Like Austin, Milwaukee has an active AHL team, the Admirals. Last season, they had an average attendance of 6,182, the third-highest average attendance in franchise history (up from 6,139 in 2023-24).
As for population, the city has a population of just over 560,000 in the most recent census. The metropolitan population sits at about 1.5 million, which would be one of the lowest for an American NHL team.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
The Edmonton Oilers have some of the NHL’s biggest and brightest stars on their roster, and with that kind of skill comes big paychecks and big expectations. With that in mind, we’ll look at their five highest-paid players next season in terms of average annual value (AAV) and what should be expected of them this upcoming season.
Leon Draisaitl – $14 Million AAV for 8 More Seasons
Leon Draisaitl heads into the 2025-26 campaign as the highest-paid Oiler and the highest-paid player in the NHL, with his $14 million AAV kicking this upcoming season.
Leon Draisaitl is officially the highest paid player in the NHLpic.twitter.com/9z5g40FNmq
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 3, 2024
As the league’s highest-paid player, Draisaitl faces no shortage of expectations. After just missing out on his second Hart Trophy last season, the bar is set for him to put up big numbers again, similar to his 106 regular-season points, while continuing to dominate in the playoffs as he has in recent years.
Over the last few seasons, the 29-year-old centerman has improved his defensive game. With several veterans leaving the Oilers and youngsters like Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie looking to make an impact in 2025-26, rookie mistakes are bound to happen as they work out the kinks. Should Draisaitl play alongside the young Oilers, he will likely need to take on more of the defensive responsibility that a centerman carries than in previous seasons.
That said, the expectation for the league’s highest-paid player is to continue piling up points — somewhere in the ballpark of a 50-goal and 50 assist season — while contending for the Rocket Richard Trophy, remaining superb in the faceoff circle, and continuing to build on his strong defensive play. Ideally, I’d like to see him in the conversation as a Selke Trophy finalist, after finishing sixth in voting last season.
Connor McDavid – $12.5 Million AAV for 1 More Season
In a recent article I wrote about Oilers who could win individual hardware in 2025-26, we questioned whether Connor McDavid can regain his M.V.P. status in the league. Of course, I mentioned that he can, and one way to do it is by regaining the shooter’s mentality we saw from him during the 2022-23 season, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy with 64 goals.
McDavid’s shots-on-goal per game average has dropped over the last three seasons since his Rocket Richard Trophy win. I think the dip, especially the season right after, came from him thinking “pass” to get Zach Hyman into the 50-goal club, and perhaps he got stuck in that mindset. And while no one can really tell McDavid which areas he should improve on, I’ll throw one out anyway — my expectation for him in 2025-26 is to fire the puck more, which I feel could put him back in Hart Trophy contention, all while keeping the ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup in mind.
The Oilers captain is so good and elusive in his playmaking ability that it’s almost as if he forgets he’s also one of the best goal scorers of the last 10 years. His 361 goals rank fifth in the league over the past decade, and he’s one of the few Oilers who can consistently beat netminders clean from a distance.
Additionally, to address the elephant in the room, as you look at the headline above indicating McDavid’s $12.5 million for 1 more season, the big question this offseason is the captain’s contract situation. With his current eight-year deal entering its final year, questions remain — will he re-sign, and if so, for how long? An expectation I’d love to see is for him to sign a maximum seven-year extension, though we’ll have to wait and see how it unfolds.
Evan Bouchard – $10.5 Million AAV for 4 More Seasons
Oilers’ D-man Evan Bouchard heads into the 2025-26 season with a fresh four-year contract. Set to make $10.5 million annually, he enters the new campaign as the fourth-highest-paid blueliner in the NHL.
Evan Bouchard’s new contract that he signed today, put him as the fourth highest paid defenceman in the league by AAV.pic.twitter.com/w8AvmwGLP9
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 1, 2025
Over the last three regular seasons, Bouchard’s 189 points rank 8th among D-men in the NHL; however, his 72 points in the previous three playoffs place him first, edging out Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen, who is second (32 points) by 40 points. That said, the expectations for Bouchard in 2025-26 are clear: continue being the offensive juggernaut he’s been in both the regular season and playoffs, but cut down on the Grade-A defensive mistakes he makes in the regular season.
We saw that without his usual steady D-partner, Mattias Ekholm, for most of the first three rounds of the playoffs last season, Bouchard was able to elevate his game and play steady defence, showing he’s not just a byproduct of a veteran D-man playing beside him. As the fourth-highest-paid blueliner, I’d expect him to use the ‘Bouch Bomb’ more often, carry over his strong play into next season, and cut down on the grenades he tosses in his defensive zone. As I mentioned in a recent piece, don’t rule out Norris Trophy consideration if he can do those things.
Darnell Nurse – $9.25 Million AAV for 5 More Seasons
As Zach Laing summarized, Darnell Nurse had a “good, but not great” 2024-25 season. The blueliner delivered another steady season offensively, recording 33 points (5G, 28A) in the regular season, posting a 52.94% goal share at 5v5, and averaging over 22 minutes per night. He also brought his usual machismo on the back end, getting into four heavy tilts. However, Nurse’s play dipped in the playoffs, as Laing noted:
So, what can we expect from Nurse next season? Of course, many Oilers fans want to shout “be better!” just because of the money he makes, but improving substantially may not be realistic at this point in his career. At 30 years old and entering the fourth year of his eight-year contract with an AAV of $9.25 million, Nurse likely is what he is — a good second-pairing defender who skates well, chips in offensively, sometimes makes defensive gaffes, but will throw fisticuffs with anyone.
Having said that, the expectation for Nurse in 2025-26 is to deliver another 30+ point campaign, play a steady 20+ minutes a night, be a bully in front of the net, and, come playoff time, be a dependable player that coaches can count on night in and night out. To meet that expectation, I feel the approach with the coaching staff should be to find the right partner for him moving forward, because at this stage of his career, it’s clear he won’t be carrying a pairing on his own.
Nurse played the most minutes with Troy Stecher last season, and the smaller D-man seemed to bring out the best in him, producing a 54.29% goal share at 5v5 in the regular season, but their effectiveness as a pairing waned in the playoffs as the competition got stronger.
Recently, Oilersnation’s NHL_Sid pointed to Jake Walman as a strong fit to play with Nurse. In limited regular-season time together (105:51 minutes) last season, they held a 66-39 shot share and an 8-2 goal share. In the small playoff sample of 23 minutes, they posted a 12-10 shot share, a 2-1 goal share against tougher competition, and an expected goals rate of 58% xGF%.
With a potential Nurse-Walman pairing, they could develop chemistry in the regular season and become a trusted duo that coaches can lean on consistently in the postseason. Fingers crossed.
Mattias Ekholm – $6.25 Million AAV for 1 More Season
As Mattias Ekholm enters the 2025-26 season as a 35-year-old, he’s far from over the hill, but age is starting to catch up, as he dealt with injuries last season that caused him to miss 17 regular-season games and nearly all of the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Ekholm returned to the lineup in Game 5 of last season’s Western Conference Final after missing most of the postseason with a lower-body injury. Despite tallying six points in seven playoff games, he didn’t look like the usual ‘steady-Eky’ on the blue line that we’ve come to expect since he arrived in 2023.
However, given how impactful the Swede has been for the Oilers, an expectation for next season could be that he slots back in on the first pairing alongside Bouchard and remains part of the dominant duo that has been one of the NHL’s best statistically since being put together.
That said, I can’t help but err on the side of caution — he turns 36 next May and battled injuries last season, so some regression in his game is possible. There’s a chance he drops to the bottom two pairings at points next season, particularly down the stretch in a load-management scenario. Still, the Swedish D-man is an unrestricted free agent after next season, and with a contract year ahead, I can see Ekholm still putting up around 30 points, being a minute muncher on the PK, and putting in a solid 20+ minutes a night.
With that in mind, Nation Citizens, let’s hear your thoughts and expectations for these Oilers for the 2025-26 season.
