Oilers’ Depth Is Stronger to Start This Season Versus Last

It’s still early, but it’s also fun to look at the teams on paper and make predictions and get excited. The Edmonton Oilers are a team that came out hot in the first preseason game, albeit against a Winnipeg Jets team with far less stars playing, but it’s still an exciting sight to see. It presented fans the opportunity to see some starters play and after seeing it and believing what the team has with my own eyes. I think it’s safe to say this is a deeper team than Edmonton began the 2025-26 season with.

The team said goodbye to pieces in each position group, both a tough thing to do and also a necessary move for the future. While it’s hard to truly know how deep a team is and how far it can go until a season gets moving, this Oilers team at face value has options down the list at each position as long as they can stay healthy. Let’s look at the positions groups and dive into what (and who) exactly I’m talking about in terms of depth.

Forwards: More Veterans, More Speed, More Toughness

There was hype around the Oilers’ forward group heading into last season, especially with the unknowns of guys like Matt Savoie, Isaac Howard, David Tomasek, and Andrew Mangiapane. It felt like there was a lot of speed and skill being added to a lineup already loaded with superstar prowess. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out like as were supposed to as Savoie was the only one to survive long-term from that group. Savoie is looking to build on a solid 2025-26, while Howard looks to take a big step alongside some additions.

The Oilers added forwards Mathieu Joseph, Alex Formenton, and Aku Raty, as well as other re-signings and minor league moves. While playing time isn’t guaranteed for all three of these players, it sends a message the team is looking for more physical and fast play (aka, what a team needs in the playoffs). All three of these players are relatively young and what we’ve seen so far in preseason play has looked solid, particularly Formation who utilized his speed playing alongside Joseph to make an impact in several areas.

Alex extends the #Oilers lead #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/OK3KtNUJ2R

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 20, 2026

The new additions are all low-risk, high-reward type players that add to a good core in the bottom-six. Veterans like Jason Dickinson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Trent Frederic, and others help round out the lineup well and also will make the new guys’ integration that much easier. The forwards should be a fast and furious from the first to the fourth line.

Defence: Reinforcements Have Arrived

Despite any struggles the defence had last season, the group was always fairly deep. It could also be argued the group is thinner with the subtraction of long-time blue liner and alternate captain Darnell Nurse given his presence among the group and his ability to eat a significant amount of minutes; however, I think general manager Stan Bowman did a fantastic job of stabilizing the group and putting a big focus on defence-first.

The centrepiece of the return for Nurse was 24-year old defender Shakir Mukhamadullin. He has played promising hockey in his young career thus far, posting 12 points in 50 appearances last season. If he can clean up the turnovers that rose last season and continue to develop, he’ll be a major piece. There’s also the free agency signing of Ryan Shea and the re-signings of Connor Murphy and Spencer Stastney. The more the merrier for the backend that has dealt with its fair share of injuries in recent times.

There are eight defenders on the training camp roster who appeared for the Oilers last season, plus two more who played in the NHL for other teams; that’s 10 players who are capable of playing at the highest level and will be considered in camp to make the top six or seven on opening night, not to mention any other guys who could surprise and earn a spot sometime along the way. Edmonton should feel good about this position on paper.

Goaltenders: Added a Little Bit of Everything

The goaltending group has been turned completely on its head compared to opening night last season. Edmonton started 2025-26 with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard as the duo, with those two now residing with the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild respectively. Obviously that pairing took the Oilers to back-to-back Cup Final appearances, so no disrespect to them; however, this season on paper shows the team may have more depth and stability and years past.

Then again, Pickard and Skinner proved everyone wrong on many occasions, so on-paper goaltending might not mean as much in Edmonton.

Nevertheless looking at the goalie room right now there’s some very positive signs. Tristan Jarry may be coming off a bad season, but we’ve seen flashes of the goalie he can be with the Pittsburgh Penguins and even last season. He knows he’s due for a bounce back. Beyond him there’s the new additions in Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi. Andersen will miss training camp and some portion of the regular season due to injury, so the other two will be relied upon to provide winning hockey for the time being.

That is the beauty of a deep goalie room. If Jarry and Levi can step up when they have both struggled in the past at times, it’ll be all that much harder for head coach Mike Babcock to decide who gets to play when Andersen returns. The Oilers should finally feel some confidence heading into the season with their system of goalies as well as the other positions groups and their depth.