Is this the Edmonton Oilers' year after all? It's starting to look like it might be

New York Times

09-05-2025

From the moment Connor McDavid's name was announced at the 2015 NHL Draft, Edmonton Oilers fans have believed a Stanley Cup victory was inevitable. It has fueled every waking moment, every online conversation, all of the bar talk and each coffee klatch.
As the years have rolled along, fear of not winning, or losing McDavid to free agency, ran parallel to the verbal surrounding the certainty of a visit from Stanley.
Advertisement
Last spring, the Oilers reached Game 7 of the final with anticipation so high that fans experienced sleepless nights and wildly unproductive workdays due to that lack of sleep. The crushing blow that came in the final game at the hands of the Florida Panthers is a pain still shared by every member of Oilers Nation.
So, with six wins in the team's back pocket and most fans believing 16 wins is possible, it's fair to ask the question: Is this the Oilers' year? The answer probably depends on who you ask.
I spend most of my day interacting with Oilers fans of all ages. There are many versions of Oilers Nation, and it breaks down like this:
• Born 1970 or before: Oilers fandom was rewarded with five Stanley Cups from the glory team of the 1980s. A person born in 1970 would have been 20 (or close) on the day Edmonton won its final championship to date. This group has been paid in full and is currently being spoiled by a second team featuring ridiculous talent.
• Born 1971 to 1978: Echo Stanley group. Solid memories of the final Stanley Cup win in 1990, without the complete experience of five victories in seven years.
• Born 1979 to 1990: This is the 'Marchant scores in overtime after Curtis Joseph makes the save of the century' and Stanley Cup Final 2006 group. In my experience, these are the most vocal and restless group, and are driven by analytics married to the eye test. If you are in a discussion of more than six months with a single individual about something related to the Oilers, chances are the individual is age 35-46.
• Born 1991 or later: This is the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl group. These fans suffered through the decade of darkness at a young age, were rewarded with the draft lottery in 2015 and are waiting patiently (well, more patiently than the previous group) for a championship.
Advertisement
If you ask each group if 2025 is the Oilers' year, the answer will range greatly.
The first group would express frustration with the last decade but feels blessed by the glorious past, hoping for one more victory. The second group is impatient, but more likely to express that through the lens of what's seen on the ice. The third group will hit you with precise verbal, heat maps, expected goals and historical comparables that can, at times, make you wonder if the individual is spending more time thinking about the Oilers than the actual Oilers. The final group just wants to have fun and win something while they're still young. They tend to be the most relaxed in the group.
Oilers fans of all ages have been impressed with the Kris Knoblauch coaching era for two reasons.
First, the coaching staff has a reputation for innovation and tweaks that work. Currently, the defence is playing at an exceptional level, with two established pairings and Brett Kulak sliding in and out of each of them during five-on-five play. It's a most unusual ploy, but it's working, and fans are happy with the results. The goaltending has also been solved, at least in the short term.
Those were big issues.
Second, Knoblauch's Oilers tend to go on long winning streaks once everything gets locked and loaded (as we are seeing now). His Oilers embarked on a 16-game winning streak in December 2023 that lasted until early February 2024.
Fans are looking at the current Oilers and wondering how far the current winning streak will take them this spring.
Oilers fans of all ages have been fretting about McDavid's upcoming contract (he can sign it July 1 this year), and winning the Stanley Cup before he's in his walk year next season. That worry has been years in the making and will reach its climax this summer.
Advertisement
The contract signed by Draisaitl last September eased the worry for most, but there are still outliers in the fan base who worry. If this is the Oilers' year, that issue can finally be put to bed.
Fans are watching as the tumblers click for the current roster and longtime worries fade away, while also realizing the journey is long and nothing is guaranteed.
Calvin Pickard has calmed the waters after being inserted as the starting goalie early in the series against the Los Angeles Kings. Defence has been much maligned this year, but the strong play in the postseason is serving notice that the six-man defensive group is ready for the long haul of a playoff run.
Together, the goaltending and defence have been outstanding five-on-five and received rave reviews.
Ironically, it's the offence at five-on-five that is spiking.
During the regular season, the team scored 2.48 GF-60 and allowed 2.52 GA-60 in the discipline.
Entering Game 2 versus the Golden Knights, the Oilers were scoring 3.15 GF-60 and allowing 2.49 GA-60 in the playoffs. In the second game versus Vegas, Edmonton outscored the opponent 4-2 at five-on-five. That's the kind of performance gap that should be expected for a team destined to win the Stanley Cup.
The Oilers won both games in Vegas and are now on a six-game winning streak. That's a specialty for Knoblauch teams. At their best, the Oilers play a sound, repeatable style of hockey that is freewheeling and exciting. There's just enough defence mixed in to bring it all home.
Is this the Oilers' year? Time will tell, and there are miles to go.
The penalty kill is currently its own brand of hell for Oilers fans, and that's the next challenge for Knoblauch and the coaching staff. A season that has delivered solutions at five-on-five, on defence and in goal is in need of some innovation when the team is down a man.
These Oilers look inevitable. That doesn't make it so, but the story is building.