In previous seasons, the Edmonton Oilers getting off to a slow start would worry fans, but coming into the 2025-26 campaign, fans expected a slower start and were willing to be patient as the team looked to make another deep playoff run. As November moves along, the Oilers are very average, and fans have recently started to worry because of some underlying issues that don’t seem to be getting solved anytime soon.
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Depending on who you ask, the biggest issue is either goaltending, coaching, or a lack of offensive depth. One thing all fans have agreed on is that all three of those things have seemingly become issues early on this season. Fans have questioned Kris Knoblauch’s usage of Isaac Howard and Matthew Savoie; some have wondered why the team refuses to bring in a new goaltender, and some fans are asking themselves why there is a sudden lack of offensive production from the depth forwards.
In this article, we are going to take a look at what’s been going well, what hasn’t, and what could change in the next little while for the team to get back on track.
Power Play Has Been Bright Spot
Let’s start with something positive: the Oilers’ power play has been solid to start the season. At the time of this article, they sit in second in the entire league, behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins, and have seemingly established themselves as one of the most elite special teams units in the league early on.
After bringing in a new power play coach in the offseason, fans were worried the team would struggle out of the gates, but it has been quite the opposite, and their power play has been quite the bright spot.
Coaching Decisions With Youngsters Have Been Questionable
Onto the first negative issue, Knoblauch’s decision-making with both Howard and Savoie has been brought into question. Savoie was expected to be given an elevated role at even strength with some special teams ice time, while Howard was expected to be given every opportunity to move up the lineup early in his career once he got used to the speed of the professional level.
Unfortunately, neither of them plays much at all. They are consistently among the forwards who are given the least amount of ice time, alongside newcomer David Tomasek, and their development seems to be hindered by their lack of playing time.
Howard still has some defensive issues to clean up, as all rookies do, but his offensive game is incredible. Savoie has been a phenomenal player when he is given the opportunity. He hasn’t stepped up offensively, but his defensive play and willingness to try and drive the play make him one of the most consistent forwards the Oilers have right now. Unfortunately, they aren’t getting rewarded.
With Zach Hyman returning to the lineup, it’s worth considering sending both of them to the American Hockey League (AHL) so they can play more, rather than having them sit on the sidelines and watch. Either way, they haven’t been handled correctly to open the campaign.
Calvin Pickard & Stuart Skinner’s Consistency
This is the section many fans will want to read, and let me be very clear about something. I don’t believe the Oilers’ goaltending is the biggest issue right now. Instead, I think the way they are being handled is a key issue.
Calvin Pickard is no longer an NHL-caliber goaltender, and he needs to be sent to the AHL as soon as possible. Connor Ingram is in the AHL right now, attempting to make a return to the NHL at some point, but he isn’t close to ready.
Stuart Skinner, on the other hand, lacks consistency. His highs are very high, and he can keep the Oilers in a game, but then he will have a game where he won’t be able to stop a beach ball. The unfortunate reality for him is that he is a backup goaltender, so being chucked into a starting role has exposed his lack of consistency.
Here is the key issue that many fans have realized: acquiring a starting goaltender isn’t cheap, and the Oilers won’t be done any favours from other teams. Juuse Saros and Ilya Sorokin would be ideal additions, but they aren’t realistic. Whereas someone like Sam Montembault or Cam Talbot could be realistic options considering their situation.
Either way, this tandem is not going to get it done for the Oilers. Knoblauch stated that he believes there are bigger issues than their goaltending, even after a 9-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, and that’s true. However, getting a new goaltender between the pipes could help boost morale and give the team some more confidence. It may take some time, but time is running out; the team has to do something soon.
There could be an issue in that the Oilers lack future trade assets that could interest teams in making a deal with them, but if the 2027 first-round pick, a depth forward, and a prospect are in play, there has to be someone available who can handle playing at least 50 games a season.
Darnell Nurse Has Been Atrocious
The player who deserves to be called out the most is Darnell Nurse. Fans and pundits have been quick to go at Evan Bouchard for his slow start, but seem to ignore the much bigger issue on the Oilers’ blue line right now. The reality is, the entire defensive lineup isn’t playing its best hockey right now, but that has nothing to do with one turnover Bouchard makes at the ringette line or a pinch that fails in the neutral zone. The big issue is that Nurse has cost the Oilers time and time again.
His analytics don’t look good, his offensive numbers aren’t solid, he can’t be trusted to shut games down in the clutch, he doesn’t win battles, he doesn’t hit, and yet his issues seem to get ignored while Bouchard’s issues get brought to light.
Two things can be true at once: Bouchard can be struggling, and Nurse can be struggling as well. When those two guys are making almost $20 million combined annually, expectations are high. Bouchard has proven time and time again that he will elevate in the playoffs, so a few mistakes in October and November do not matter one bit. Nurse, on the other hand, has never elevated in the postseason and is continuously being handed big minutes when he doesn’t deserve them.
The big issue comes from the obvious fact that anyone who is paired with Nurse has their analytics tanked. His partner against the Dallas Stars in a recent game was Jake Walman, and take a look at their game scores from Hockey Stat Cards on X:
Take note of who is on top, as well.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for Edmonton Oilers on 2025-11-04: pic.twitter.com/dvOLc6cPUE
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) November 5, 2025
Nurse has been a problem. It’s not consistency; it’s not being in a role too large for him to handle. He is a genuine liability who consistently costs the Oilers games. He has had a handful of solid showings for the Oilers this season, which isn’t good enough. Everyone is bound for a bad game, even Connor McDavid, who is the greatest player in the NHL, but NHL defensemen who are getting paid over $9 million annually shouldn’t be one of the worst players on the ice almost every single game.
Forward Group: Average
This will be short and sweet, but I have had no issues with Leon Draisaitl, Andrew Mangiapane, Noah Philp, Vasily Podkolzin, Jack Roslovic, or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins this season. I would say McDavid should try and shoot the puck more, but other than that, he has been dominant.
Those guys play their role, don’t try and do too much, and are playing with confidence at both ends of the ice on a nightly basis. The rest of the forward group has been average, at best.
Defensive Depth: Awful
We already talked about Nurse and Bouchard, so I won’t mention them again here.
Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman, Alec Regula, Ty Emberson, and Brett Kulak have all had flashes of being really solid in their respective roles, but their lack of consistency makes them hard to trust right now. Troy Stecher has been brutal to start the campaign, but it seems as though he is on his way out as the team looks to clear up cap space.
At the end of the day, there are a lot of issues the Oilers need to figure out before they can even think about the playoffs. Knoblauch has proven that he knows what he is doing over the past couple of seasons, so I am willing to be patient with his process, but the other issues need to be ironed out.
The defensive issues are a problem. Bouchard is strong when he has confidence and can keep the puck in the offensive zone so that he doesn’t actually have to spend time in the defensive zone, but he seems to have lost some of that confidence. Walman, Ekholm, Emberson, and Kulak simply need to balance out their games and find their consistency. They are effective players, but they have struggled early on.
Goaltending issues are tough to solve, and while Skinner’s underlying analytics have definitely improved slightly, it isn’t enough to trust him to lead the Oilers to their first Stanley Cup since 1990.
Even Strength Issues
This could be one of the biggest issues with the Oilers right now, and it is their lack of production at even strength. They have failed to find the back of the net consistently unless they are on the power play, and their inability to create high-danger scoring chances is a terrifying sight.
When the Oilers are worse than the Flames in terms of creating high-danger chances at even strength, it’s time to hit the panic button.
Here is an unfathomable stat. 5v5 high-danger chances per 60 minutes this season:
— Mike Gould (@miketgould) November 9, 2025
Flames – 10.86 (19th overall)
Oilers – 8.82 (31st overall)
This could be the Oilers’ biggest issue right now. It is good that they can score on a man advantage, but if they aren’t creating opportunities at even strength, they don’t give themselves a very good chance of winning.
Now, let’s answer some questions I saw on X (formerly known as Twitter) last night.
Do the Oilers Miss Corey Perry or Evander Kane?
One thing that was brought up was that the Oilers would’ve benefited from keeping either Corey Perry or Evander Kane.
Perry has been an incredible addition for the Los Angeles Kings and looks solid, and he is a tough one to lose, but Evander Kane has been very average with the Vancouver Canucks, and it doesn’t seem like his defensive game has improved whatsoever, so losing him may have been an addition by subtraction considering his cap hit.
On top of that, I think Roslovic and Mangiapane were solid replacements for those two. No complaints from me.
Do the Oilers Miss Paul Coffey Behind the Bench?
The answer to this is most likely, yes. He turned the defensive core around and helped it so much that it became one of the most elite defensive lineups in the NHL.
However, his style didn’t help the Oilers win a Stanley Cup, so while he may have done well, a fresh voice was needed behind the bench.
If the team hasn’t figured it out defensively by December, maybe my answer changes, but I have a feeling the Oilers are bound to figure it out at some point, like they always do.
Time will tell if this team can turn it around, but there are some genuine concerns and reasons to panic in Oil Country.
