Edmonton Oilers face hard questions on defence, depth and goaltending

EDMONTON — As Connor McDavid begins his 12th NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers are once again confronting the same central issue: what, exactly, has to change for this group to finally win a Stanley Cup? After a 2025-26 season that fell short of expectations and a playoff run derailed when their top four centres were injured against Anaheim, the organization is trying to adjust without tearing down what has made it successful.

Elsewhere, a team like the Florida Panthers, who finished 25th last season, is widely assumed to be a quick rebound candidate. For Edmonton, the narrative is harsher. The Oilers have played more playoff games than any other club over the last five springs and reached two Cup Finals, yet remain tagged as the team that has not finished the job.

Defensive identity under scrutiny

For roughly a decade, Edmonton has embraced a high-octane style built on trading chances. That approach has helped them beat strong Western Conference opponents, but it has also exposed a recurring flaw: too many risky plays at the offensive blue line, too many pucks turned over along the wall and too many odd-man rushes against, including those that start on Evan Bouchard miscues.

Those weaknesses were particularly costly against Florida, whose aggressive pinching and pressure game eventually wore the Oilers down in two separate series. When Edmonton needed timely production late in those matchups, it simply did not arrive often enough. The priority now is to make opponents work much harder for every goal.

New head coach Mike Babcock has been tasked with reshaping that mindset without stifling the offence. He has stressed that the players will ultimately drive any change and that his role is to support them, not control every detail. Winger Zach Hyman has echoed the need to narrow the focus to daily work, emphasizing that Edmonton must first re-establish itself as a dominant regular-season team and finally capture a division title for the first time since the late 1980s.

Depth usage and a familiar question in net

Depth has been a long-running concern in Edmonton, going back to the Matt Hendricks era. It has not always been about talent, but about usage. Top forwards have shouldered heavy minutes at even strength and on the penalty kill, while players on the third and fourth lines have too often been left with limited, narrowly defined roles that make it hard to feel truly involved in winning.

Babcock has underlined the need to grow contributors from within the organization and give them meaningful ice time, instead of defaulting to the same stars in every key situation. He also acknowledges that there is a delicate balance between spreading responsibility and meeting the expectation to win virtually every night in a demanding market.

In goal, uncertainty persists. Frederik Andersen opens the season on injured reserve. Tristan Jarry has shown he can string together wins over the course of a season, but questions remain about how high his peak is and whether he reaches it when games matter most. Devon Levi has impressed in limited action, yet, with fewer than 40 NHL appearances, he is still more projection than proof.

Even with a tighter defensive structure and smarter puck management, quality chances against are inevitable. In those moments, the Oilers will need their goaltenders to erase mistakes and steal goals, especially in the biggest games. If the environment in front of them does not improve, though, the goaltending will be exposed in familiar fashion, and Edmonton risks reliving a story its fan base knows too well.