The Edmonton Oilers had to make some changes with the return of Zach Hyman from injury, and one of those moves involved sending rookie Isaac Howard to the American Hockey League (AHL), as well as placing Troy Stecher on waivers after he was outplayed by both Ty Emberson and Alec Regula. There was some speculation that several teams had interest in bringing Stecher in, and the Toronto Maple Leafs claimed him off waivers.
Related: Maple Leafs Injury Report: Can Toronto Survive Without 7 Regulars?
Both the Oilers and Maple Leafs have struggled out of the gate this season, and with some high expectations for both teams coming into the 2025-26 campaign, the early issues are becoming concerning for their respective fan bases. Stecher, who has now found a new home, seemingly took a shot at his former team, stating he “just left the fire” when talking about the Oilers.
"Troy Stecher told me 'he just left the fire.'"@mike_p_johnson and the guys discuss the Oilers' recent average performances.#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/xFPeF0ImaR
— OverDrive (@OverDrive1050) November 18, 2025
In previous seasons, when the Oilers started slow, fans didn’t panic because the underlying analytics looked okay, and it always seemed to be a matter of bad luck that would turn around at some point, which it always did. This time around, there seems to be a genuine feeling of panic. Their even strength production has not been strong, they have some anchors on the blue line in Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak, and they are lacking some depth production.
Stecher coming out and calling the Oilers a “fire” should draw some concern about what is going on off the ice. Are there some genuine issues in the dressing room? Are the players turning on their coach? Is there a leadership issue? All of these questions have come up after these comments that have sparked speculation.
Oilers Have Several Different Issues
Every fan has their opinion on what has been going wrong with the Oilers and who is to blame. There have been some questions surrounding their goaltending tandem, there have been some calls for head coach Kris Knoblauch to stop shaking up the lines as much as he does, there has been some concern about the defensive depth, but one thing is for certain: the Oilers have multiple issues they need to figure out.
Aside from having a strong showing against the Washington Capitals last night, Nurse has had an atrocious start to the season. He has single-handedly dragged down the entire defensive lineup, and whoever he plays with gets dragged down as well. His usual partner, Jake Walman, has seen his underlying numbers tank alongside Nurse.
The goaltending has not been good. Skinner has strong games, but his inconsistency is concerning. Calvin Pickard is nowhere near NHL-caliber anymore, and it’s a matter of time before he gets sent down to the AHL. It’s not their biggest issue, but it is one they need to acknowledge.
Knobauch constantly shaking things up has worked in the past, but it seems as though it has stopped working this time around. It also doesn’t help that the team has seemingly shifted to a different system that focuses on shooting from the point, and it isn’t working.
At the end of the day, the Oilers need to figure out how to fix these problems if they want to make the playoffs. It is still early, but the reality is, they will continue to slip down the standings if they don’t clean up their defensive game and can’t find a way to score more goals at even strength.
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