News Oilers Team Notes

The Oilers have one advantage in their first-round series against the Kings

They say only the greatest movies get a fourth installment.

Or something like that.

For the fourth straight year, the Edmonton Oilers are heading to Hollywood for a playoff showdown against the Los Angeles Kings.

Sound familiar? Yeah, fans on both sides might agree it’s getting a little repetitive. Kings fans are probably tired of coming up short. And honestly, who could blame them?

League commissioner Gary Bettman might love this familiar matchup, but no matter how you feel about the playoff format, one thing’s clear: This year’s Kings team is looking better than ever.

In fact, for the first time in recent memory, LA finished ahead of Edmonton in the Pacific Division standings. They’ve had a strong regular season, and lots of folks think these Kings have a real shot at finally beating the Oilers.

Over the next few days, I’ll dive into every aspect of this exciting series to see who holds the advantage in key areas. Today, let’s kick things off by looking at offence, which is the one area where the Oilers should clearly have the edge.

In the last three regular seasons, the Kings haven’t once outscored the Oilers. This year is no different. Heading into Wednesday night, Edmonton had scored 13 more goals than LA. That’s not a huge margin, but still significant.

Here’s the thing: Star power has always been the big separator between these two teams.

Sure, the Kings have some amazing talent, including future Hall of Famers Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. But when it comes to game-breaking superstars who can dominate on a nightly basis? There are two in this series—and they both wear orange and blue.

Come playoff time, the Oilers usually tighten things up and play a more structured game. They don’t rely on trading high-risk chances. Instead, they grind opponents down with sustained pressure. Yet even with that disciplined style, offensive explosions have been common against LA.

In their last 18 playoff meetings, the Oilers scored five or more goals seven times. That’s a huge number. And here’s what’s interesting: In four of those seven games, they didn’t even need all five goals. There were some blowouts, and mostly, the Oilers were on the winning end.

But let’s focus on right now.

This year’s Oilers group may have had its ups and downs (largely due to injuries), but when they’re healthy, their forward depth is unmatched. Imagine a lineup featuring McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, and Henrique down the middle. Kris Knoblauch has that luxury.

The Kings, meanwhile, have solid depth too. Seven of their forwards scored at least 15 goals this season. But the Oilers? They had nine forwards reach double-digit goals, with seven scoring more than 15. Simply put, Edmonton has a deeper, more balanced offensive attack.

Looking beyond pure goals, the Oilers also generate more quality scoring chances. At 5v5, Edmonton’s 2.87 expected goals per 60 minutes ranks second in the NHL. LA is good too (ranked ninth) but they’ve cooled off recently. Over the last 25 games, the Oilers stayed strong (sixth-best in the league), while the Kings slipped down to 17th.

And remember, Edmonton achieved that without a fully healthy lineup. This tells me their supporting cast is gaining momentum and confidence at just the right time. That could be huge.

Overall, the Kings have definitely improved their offence compared to past seasons. They’re no longer just a defensive-minded team hoping for low-scoring, tight-checking victories.

But when it comes to pure offensive firepower, the Oilers still have the clear advantage. Their stars can take over at any moment, and their depth scoring is catching fire at the perfect time.

Expect Edmonton’s offence to give them the edge once again as this playoff rivalry heats up.

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/the-o...in-their-first-round-series-against-the-kings
 
Oilers’ Connor McDavid becomes fourth player in NHL history to record eight 100-point seasons joining Dionne, Lemieux, Gretzky

It’s milestone night for the Oilers in their final regular season game of the season, as Connor McDavid hit the 100-point mark for the fifth-straight season, and eighth in his 10 year career.

McDavid hit 100 early into the Oilers’ Wednesday night game against the San Jose Sharks on the Oilers’ first shot of the night. Out on a line with Jeff Skinner and Connor Brown, the trio cycled the puck in the offensive zone, before the Oilers captain sent it to the point to Ty Emberson, whose long shot found the back of the net 8:20 into the game.

Ty Emberson is heating up at the right time!

Oh, and Connor McDavid recorded his 100th point of the season.

📹: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/5z0QA4wM1L

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) April 17, 2025
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With the milestone, McDavid becomes just the fourth player in NHL history to score over 100 points in a season, joining the likes of Marcel Dionne (eight times), Mario Lemieux (10) and Wayne Gretzky (15).

He also became the 13th player in NHL history with at least five consecutive 100-point seasons, and the first since Steve Yzerman hit six in 1992-93.

What makes hitting 100 even moreso impressive for McDavid is that he missed 15 games this year due to injury and suspension. Eight of those came between March 22nd and April 7th, with the Oilers captain returning for three games against the St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets, where he racked up a staggering nine points — all assists — to thrust him closer to 100.

He sat out of Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, but drew in for Wednesday nights against the Sharks.

The only two seasons in which McDavid didn’t hit the century mark was his rookie campaign, shortened to just 45 games due to a broken collarbone, still scoring 48 points, and the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season which ended with him scoring 97 points in 64 games played.

It’s been a decade of dominance for McDavid. He’s already won five Art Ross trophies, four Ted Lindsay Awards, three Hart Trophies, while winning the Rocket Richard Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy once each.

None of those, nor does another 100-point season mean as much as a Stanley Cup win would for the Oilers captain.

The team will begin their hunt for Lord Stanley’s mug within the next number of days opening the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings.


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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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-connor-mcdavid-fourth-player-100-point-seasons
 
What would the Oilers’ path to the Stanley Cup Finals look like?

The schedule is set and the matchups are in place for the first round of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and for the first time, we get an official glimpse at what the Edmonton Oilers are up against if they hope to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight season.

We all know the Oilers’ path last year, beating the Los Angeles Kings in five games in the first round, the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the second round, the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference finals before losing in 7 to the Florida Panthers in the finals.

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In the Western Conference, the first team the Oilers would need to be concerned with are the Kings, whom they meet in the first round for the fourth consecutive season. Then, it’s the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild. Vegas earned top spot in the Pacific Division, while the Wild slid into the first Wild Card spot.

The other side of the bracket in the West will see the Winnipeg Jets face host the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars host the Colorado Avalanche. The winner of those series will meet in Round 2, while the winner there would — if the Oilers can down the Kings and one of the Golden Knights or Wild — in the Western Conference finals.

It’s certainly not an easy path forward for the Oilers.

Edmonton and Vegas have met seven times in the last two regular seasons with the Oilers going 4-3, outscoring the Golden Knights 21-18 in what have been some tight games. The Oilers have snagged 5-1, 6-3, 3-2 and 5-4 (SO) wins, while Vegas won their three 1-0, 4-2 and 3-1. Only three of these seven games have been one-goal games and this season, Edmonton went 2-1.

When it comes to the Wild, things have been even tighter in the six games they’ve played over the last two years, with the teams splitting the series 3-3 and Edmonton outscoring Minnesota 25-23. The Oilers, however, have had some big wins with 7-1, 5-3 and 4-3 wins, while Minnesota feels similar, with 5-3, 4-2 and 7-4 wins. Talk about some high scoring games. This season, Edmonton went 2-1 against Minnesota.

Briefly looking at the other teams in the West, here’s how the Oilers fared against them over the last two regular seasons, and this season:

  • Winnipeg: 6GP: 3-1-2, 16 GF – 18 GA || 3 GP: 1-1-1, 7 GF, 11 GA.
  • St. Louis: 6 GP: 4-1-1, 19 GF, 18 GA || 3 GP, 3-0, 11 GF, 7 GA.
  • Dallas: 6 GP: 2-4, 16 GF, 24 GA || 3 GP, 1-2, 9 GF, 12 GA.
  • Colorado: 6 GP, 3-2-1, 21 GF, 19 GA || 3 GP, 2-1, 12 GF, 9 GA.

It’s a mixed bag in here to say the least against these teams, to say the least. There’s a reason they’re all playoff teams, and I can’t say I’m overly optimistic about any of these potential matchups.

At the very least, I think it’s safe to say that this year offers the Oilers one of their bigger challenges they’ve faced in terms of making a deep playoff run. The Wild and Stars enter the first round with the worst recent stretch of the Western Conference teams, with .525 and .550 point percentages over their last 20 regular season games, while the Kings, Blues, Avalanche, Golden Knights and Jets have all posted a .700 points percentage or better, while the Oilers enter with a .625.

Nonetheless, this first round in the West — and East, for that matter — might be one of the best opening rounds in quite a while.


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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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-path-to-the-stanley-cup-finals
 
Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl laps the field to capture first career Rocket Richard Trophy

It was only a matter of time before one of the league’s best goal scorers secured his first Rocket Richard Trophy and on Thursday night it became official: Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl will take home the award after scoring 52 goals this season.

Draisaitl did it impressively this year, as the only player to hit the 50-goal mark — a season after four players did so, including teammate Zach Hyman — while not leading in either even-strength goals, or power play goals.

Leon Draisaitl led the League with 52 goals (52-54—106 in 71 GP) in 2024-25 to earn his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.#NHLStats: https://t.co/uMrfDGaSyY pic.twitter.com/ECiXiSgsrn

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) April 18, 2025
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He, however, found just the right blend, as his 36 even-strength goals and 16 power-play markers combined for the most in the league. He fell one even-strength goal behind Tage Thompson and one power play goal behind Jake Guentzel.

Draisaitl truly ran away with the award this season, sitting seven goals up on the second-placed William Nylander, and leading the league in goals every day since Dec. 5th, sitting outright in first place since Dec. 16th. He put up 23 goals in 31 games over that stretch, before scoring 29 goals in his final 39 games of the season, averaging 0.74 goals per game over each stretch.

This season marks the first in which Draisaitl took home the hardware in his fourth 50-goal campaign. The first year he hit 50, 2018-19, he was one goal away from the league-leading Alex Ovechkin, while his 55 in 2021-22 were five behind the league-leading Auston Matthews, finishing runner up both year. In 2022-23, meanwhile, his 52 goals were fourth in the league behind Mikko Rantanen (55), David Pastrnak (61) and Connor McDavid (64).

As noted by Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis, this year marks the first time only one player scored 50 goals in a season since Alex Ovechkin did it in three straight between 2013-14 to 2015-16.

Draisaitl becomes the second player in Oilers history to win the Rocket Richard Trophy, following McDavid, since the award was introduced in 1998-99. Despite that, two Oilers had previously led the league in goals: Wayne Gretzky, who did it five times, his most recent in 1986-87, and Jari Kurri, who did so in 1985-86.

Prior to the Rocket Richard, Draisaitl has also won the Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay award, all of which were won in 2019-20.

There’s no denying how significant of a season this was for Draisaitl as McDavid wasn’t up to his usual otherwordly antics. Draisaitl was a model of consistency for the team, not just offensively, but defensively, too, where his game has continued to grow in recent years.


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].

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-leon-draisaitl-wins-first-career-rocket-richard-trophy
 
Oilersnation Radio: Looking back on our Oilers pre-season predictions and ahead at the LA Kings

There’s nothing quite like a fresh episode of Oilersnation Radio to wrap up your Friday, get you prepped for tonight’s game, and keep you updated on all things Edmonton Oilers. This week, the fellas recapped their pre-season predictions, looked ahead at the NHL playoffs, Oilers vs. Kings, and much more.

The guys kicked off the Friday episode of ONR by looking back at our preseason predictions and laughing about how wrong we were about almost everything. From goal predictions to point predictions to lineup decisions to everything in between, it was clear that the boys were feeling bullish on the team before the season started. As you’ll hear, no one was close on pretty much anything, which made for a hilarious review.

Getting away from our prediction reviews, we looked ahead at the schedule for the first four games of the first round series against the Los Angeles Kings. We also discussed how many pundits are picking the Kings to win this series, and whether or not having the lowered expectations will help them in this series. While there’s no doubt L.A. was fantastic on home ice, maybe having people look at the Oilers as underdogs might be beneficial.

Finally, the guys wrapped up the Friday episode of the podcast with another round of betting talk, Ask the Idiots, and Hot and Cold Performers to recap the last week of our lives. Whether it was talking about Tyler getting old, the PGA’s TV tactics, or Joey Moss’ legacy, there was plenty to discuss on the Friday episode of ONR.

Listen to the Friday episode of Oilersnation Radio below:

Subscribe to Oilersnation Radio for FREE on Soundcloud here, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts from!
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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/oiler...lers-pre-season-predictions-los-angeles-kings
 
Playoff Preview: Wild enter Pacific Division bracket with first-round series against Golden Knights

The winner between the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights could face the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs.

Minnesota started this season strong but struggled down the stretch due to key injuries. They barely clinched a playoff spot, thanks to a clutch Joel Eriksson Ek goal with just 21 seconds left last Tuesday. Without that, the Calgary Flames, who finished just one point behind, could have taken their spot.

Fortunately for the Wild, they enter the playoffs fully healthy. Star forward Kirill Kaprizov missed significant time from late December through April, aside from a brief return in January. Eriksson Ek also battled injuries but returned around the same period.

When healthy, Minnesota is dangerous. Before Kaprizov’s injury, the Wild held a strong 21-10-4 record, just five points behind Winnipeg with a game in hand, even after a rough 4-6-0 stretch.

Still feeling the salary cap pinch from the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, the Wild didn’t make major moves at the trade deadline. Their key acquisition was Gustav Nyquist, picked up for a 2026 second-round pick. They also added Justin Brazeau from Boston, sending Jakob Lauko, Marat Khusnutdinov, and a late-round draft choice in return.

Historically, playoff success has eluded Minnesota. Since joining the NHL in 2000-01, they’ve reached the second round only three times, last winning a second-round game in 2014. Although the Wild frequently qualify for the playoffs, missing just twice since 2012-13, they’ve consistently struggled to advance deeper.

Vegas, meanwhile, enjoyed another successful regular season, posting a 50-22-10 record and earning home-ice advantage for the first two playoff rounds. Surprisingly, they avoided using the LTIR loophole this year, and their only notable trade-deadline move was reacquiring original “misfit” Reilly Smith from Detroit for Brendan Brisson and a 2025 third-round pick.

This marks Vegas’ fourth Pacific Division title in eight seasons. Each time they’ve won the division, they’ve reached at least the Conference Finals, twice advancing to the Stanley Cup Final and winning their first championship in 2023.

Last season, Vegas entered as a wildcard team and lost in the first round to the Dallas Stars. After taking a 2-0 series lead, they fell in seven games, ending their bid for back-to-back Stanley Cup wins.

Interestingly, the Wild and Golden Knights have playoff history. Due to pandemic realignment, they faced off during the playoffs for the shortened 2021 season, with Vegas winning in seven games.

Will the Golden Knights embark on another deep playoff run? Or can the Wild break their decade-long drought and advance to round two? Tune in Sunday night to find out!

Other Playoff Previews…​


Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/playoff-preview-wild-golden-knights
 
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