For the last several seasons, the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs have been the best Canadian teams in the NHL. The Oilers have had more playoff success out of the two, but have failed to reach their ultimate goal, falling just one game shy of doing so last season, where they fell to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have had some great regular seasons, but have also had well-documented struggles in the playoffs. They were finally able to snap their first-round exit streak in 2022-23 but wound up falling to the Panthers in the second round.
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Despite being in separate conferences, the Oilers and Maple Leafs have become major rivals. The two franchises feature two of the biggest faces in the game. Connor McDavid is widely renowned as the best player in the NHL, with several accolades, including three Hart Trophies, to back that claim up. Auston Matthews, meanwhile, is considered the league’s best goal scorer and has already racked up three Rocket Richard Trophies in his career.
So far this season, both players have been solid, but not at the best we’ve seen them. McDavid is fifth in NHL scoring with 65 points through 43 games, while Matthews sits with 20 goals and 38 points through 34 outings. While most would agree they are capable of more, their teams are both putting together strong seasons, and looks like they could wind up both advancing all the way to a Stanley Cup Final in which many Canadian fans have been hoping to see for quite some time.
Oilers Have the Track Record
As mentioned, the Oilers have had plenty of playoff success in recent years. They were able to advance to the Western Conference Final in 2022-23, where they were then eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche who went on to win the Cup. The next season saw them knocked out in the second round by the Vegas Golden Knights, who too went on to hoist the Cup.
Last season was their best chance yet, as they erased a 3-0 series deficit to force a Game 7 versus the Panthers in the Cup Final, where they fell in a very tightly-contested game by a 2-1 final. Though it was a devastating blow, they proved they have what it takes to get to the dance, and are hungrier than ever to get back.
The Oilers currently sit one point shy of first place in the Pacific Division with a 30-15-3 record. The biggest part of their success this season has been the brilliance of Leon Draisaitl, who leads the NHL with 35 goals and is just one point shy of Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead with 74. He’s a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate and has really stepped up in the games McDavid has missed both due to injury and suspension.
Meanwhile, other Oilers such as Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who both got off to slow starts, have started to find their groove as of late. The Oilers were also able to land some big pieces in free agency like Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, who added even more offence to a team that already had a surplus of weapons.
The Oilers have been able to have their success this season without Evander Kane, who has been on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) and has yet to play a single game. There is a chance he remains out until the playoffs, which gives the Oilers some much-needed cap space to add another piece ahead of the trade deadline.
The belief is that they will target a defenceman to help bolster their back end which already features prominent talents such as Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm. Darnell Nurse is playing his best hockey to date, Brett Kulak is playing steady hockey, and Ty Emberson has proven to be a valuable asset. Adding more would give them a very solid back end heading into the playoffs. Not to mention, they were also able to sign John Klingberg to a one-year deal recently.
Though goaltending continues to be a bit of a question mark, Stuart Skinner – with some help from Calvin Pickard – proved a season ago that he is capable of giving this team the stops they need to go the distance. Last year’s run gave him the confidence to prove that he can step up in games that matter the most and should help him heading into the postseason this time around.
Leafs Have Found a New Identity
Though they’ve been a great regular-season team for many years, nobody seems to take the Maple Leafs seriously when it comes to being a Cup contender. Their star players have faltered when the lights shine brightest, and until that changes, the narrative of being a pretender will stick.
That said, there is one major reason in particular to believe we will see different results from them in the upcoming playoffs. The Maple Leafs finally made what many thought was a long overdue change, firing Sheldon Keefe and replacing him with the hard-nosed Craig Berube. Berube has winning experience, as he helped lead the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup championship in 2019.
Some questioned how a player like Mitch Marner would fare under Berube, but it hasn’t been an issue. He sits fourth in NHL scoring with 67 points and is on pace to surpass the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. William Nylander has excelled as well, as he’s tied with Sam Reinhart for second amongst all NHLers in goals with 28.
Meanwhile, Matthews is heating up as of late, and the currently injured John Tavares has proven he still has plenty left in the tank with 20 goals and 42 points through 44 games. Matthew Knies is flirting with a 30-goal pace, and Bobby McMann has found the back of the net 13 times through 41 games. Suffice it to say, this team, much like the Oilers, has a ton of offensive weapons.
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The main concern for the Maple Leafs is the back end. They were able to bolster it in the offseason with the signings of Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but don’t have the true one-two punch like the Oilers do with Bouchard and Ekholm. Still, this is one of the better blue lines we have seen from the Maple Leafs in some time, and with the offence rolling the way it is, it may prove not to be a major issue.
The Maple Leafs also have their best goaltending duo in years with Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz. The latter is currently out with a knee injury but has looked like a great signing thus far. Prior to sustaining his injury, he had an incredible 2.17 goals against average (GAA) paired with a .927 save percentage (SV%). Woll’s numbers aren’t as strong, but he’s been steady in Stolarz’s absence with a 2.69 GAA and a .907 SV%.
McDavid vs. Matthews Would Be Must-Watch TV
Though the Oilers and Maple Leafs are quite hated by the vast majority of other markets throughout the NHL, getting the chance to see two of the faces of the game in McDavid and Matthews go head-to-head would be fantastic to watch. It would also guarantee that the Stanley Cup would be headed north of the border for the first time since 1993. Anything can happen in the playoffs, but with the way these two teams are playing, there is a strong chance they meet up in what would be a Cup Final for the ages.
