Oilers fans: how are you feeling about your team after a lukewarm performance in the 2024-25 NHL pre-season? If you’re a pessimist, you’re probably thinking the sky is falling in because the defense has holes, Jeff Skinner hasn’t found chemistry with Leon Draisaitl, and they could be headed for a similar start in the upcoming NHL season than they had last season.
However, if you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, there are some solid reasons why you should be excited heading into the 2024-25 NHL campaign. Here are five reasons why Oilers fans should be optimistic about the season.
1. The Oilers Have the Experience to Win it All
Like so many great NHL teams, the fear of losing is almost as powerful as the will to win. The Oilers’ current core group understands that. The 2024-25 Oilers remind me a lot of the 1982-83 Oilers who were swept in four games by the New York Islanders in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final. As former Oilers head coach and general manager (GM) Glen Sather put it, “The Islanders showed us what it took to win, because they were a difficult team to beat.”
The 2024-25 Oilers are now one of the NHL’s elite teams, and you can’t underestimate all that the team gained on their way to losing the 2024 Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers by one goal in Game 7. On a recent Lowedown with Lowetide podcast, two of my favourite hockey commentators, Alan Mitchell and Steve Lansky had a very intelligent and insightful discussion about the Oilers heading into the 2024-25 season. Lanksy summed up the Oilers current state of mind the best: “When you reach the Stanley Cup final, you become a different player. You understand what it took to get there. You understand what it took to lose and you don’t want to do that again.” Oilers fans, despite a mediocre preseason, you should be excited about your team’s chances of competing for the Stanley Cup in 2024-25.
2. Salary Cap Management
The current Oilers management group, led by CEO & President of Hockey Operations, Jeff Jackson, and new GM Stan Bowman, may have some cash to play with by the time the 2025 Trade Deadline approaches, especially if Oilers forward Evander Kane is placed on long term injured reserve (LTIR) after offseason surgery. Having Kane fully rested and recovered from two seasons of serious injuries will be a bonus for the Oilers should they make the postseason. Having Kane’s LTIR salary available (like Mark Stone’s Vegas Golden Knights annual LTIR move) could give the Oilers some significant money to play with to pick up a solid defenceman or two for the NHL’s stretch drive in March and April. Much depends on Kane’s recovery, but if I were him, and the Oilers, I’d take as long as needed to get 100% healthy, so he can return to be a physical offensive force like he’s been for most of his career.
3. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard & Zach Hyman
Having four of the NHL’s Top 50 players (according to TSN’s Top 50 Players List) on your team is a feather in the Oilers’ caps. This core group is battle tested, focused, and ready to make another run for the Stanley Cup. Managing ice time, and making the most of opportunities to rest and refuel during the grind of an 82 game regular season will also be key for this core group which also features Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse.
4. Oilers Goaltending
The tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard look poised and ready to help the Oilers make some noise in 2024-25. Skinner especially looks and talks like he’s learned some valuable lessons again from the previous season, and could be even better in the new season. Pickard is also making the most of his opportunity, and despite a small injury in the preseason, is definitely more than ready to provide solid backup services.
5. New Additions
The additions of Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and Ty Emberson could prove to be shrewd moves by Oilers management this offseason. Arvidsson had a good preseason, and while the book is still out on Jeff Skinner and Emberson, the NHL season isn’t a sprint, but a marathon. You can expect the new additions to contribute. You might have some questions about Emberson heading into the new season but I think the Oilers have found an adequate replacement for the departed Philip Broberg.
Related: Oilers Have a Target On Their Back
Broberg was signed to an offer sheet by the St. Louis Blues this past August along with promising forward Dylan Holloway. It’ll be compelling to see how these two first-round draft picks perform in St. Louis this season. Maybe they’ll deliver a Stanley Cup for Blues GM Doug Armstrong and make him look like the second coming of former Montreal Canadiens GM Sam Pollock.
It’s a Great Time to Be an Oilers Fan
With the “Decade of Darkness” clearly in the rearview mirror, Oilers fans have every right to feel optimistic about their team this season. They have what it takes to make it to the Promised Land, and it’s going to be interesting (not to mention entertaining) to watch the Oilers get closer to the ultimate goal of winning Lord Stanley’s Mug. Put on your seatbelt, Oilers fans, it’s going to be an exciting rollercoaster ride in 2024-25.
