I was listening to the always informative podcast Lowdown with Lowetide, and in the Sept. 13 interview with former Hockey Night in Canada Producer, Steve Lansky, they both spoke at length about how the start of the 2024-25 NHL season is going to be so intriguing to watch. Try as you might to forget the start to the previous season, including the 8-1 opening night beatdown at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, but you have to know the Edmonton Oilers can ill afford to come out of the gate like that again if they want to have any chance of making noise in 2024-25.
Out With the Old, In With the New
Two key members of the Oilers that contributed to the slow start in 2023-24 are gone – goaltender Jack Campbell and Head Coach Jay Woodcroft. Campbell was bought out in the offseason and found a new home with the Detroit Red Wings. Woodcroft, who I think is still a good coach, was given his walking papers on Nov. 9, 2023, after he couldn’t turn the losing ship around. The Oilers record at the time of Woodcroft’s firing was 3-9-1 and Woodcroft was replaced by Kris Knoblauch. I felt bad for both Campbell and Woodcroft because it wasn’t entirely their fault. There were injuries to Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm that also contributed to the Oilers slow start but unfortunately, someone had to be the scapegoat.
After Knoblauch helped turn the tide for the Oilers in 2023-24 and guided them to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, belief is running high in Oil Country that the Oilers can return to the Stanley Cup Final again in the Spring of 2025. But there’s some work to do—especially for General Manager Stan Bowman and CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson.
The Oilers are looking strong in their top-six forward group with McDavid and newly signed Leon Draisaitl leading the charge. They’ll be joined by 50-goal man Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and offseason additions Viktor Arvidson and Jeff Skinner. The Oilers also kept their third line together in the offseason by re-signing Adam Henrique, Connor Brown, and Mattias Janmark.
The battles up front will be intense for the fourth line in training camp and will be interesting to watch. The biggest mystery on the Oilers in 2024-25 will be on defence. As great as Evan Bouchard and Ekholm are, Darnell Nurse needs to have a big comeback year. If Nurse can show glimpses of maturity and strong play, the Oilers will be in better shape on the back end. Nurse, who is recovering from injuries sustained last season, is key to how the Oilers will do.
These Are Not the 2006 Edmonton Oilers
For those who remember the high of the Oilers 2006 run to the Stanley Cup, then the lows in the offseason when Chris Pronger left town, I think you can be assured this time will be different. Sure, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway signed offer sheets with the St. Louis Blues, but the Oilers’ best player didn’t leave the team this time around. Rather than focus on jumping ship, the Oilers’ two best players are telling people how much they love it in Edmonton.
The Oilers are just too deep and too talented to fall apart like the team did after their last Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2006. Players like Brett Kulak, Derek Ryan, Corey Perry, and even goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard will have the maturity and experience to keep the ship steady.
Related: McDavid Changes Offseason Strategy After Oilers’ Terrible Start to 2023-24
In the podcast interview with Lowetide, Lansky mentioned something important that former Oilers General Manager and Head Coach Glen Sather mentioned to him. Sather said, “(Getting to the Stanley Cup Final) changes you. It changes the way you think. It changes the way you, keyword, understand what you have to do to get back there.”
The experience the Oilers got in getting to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 will do a lot for the mental side of the game. They should be ready and focused to get back there in 2024-25. But, they can ill afford to have a slow start to the new season. Playing catch-up all year is tough on the mind, and body. I think they’ve learned their lesson and will come out of the gate with a much different focus this season. And that could be bad news for other teams in the NHL’s Pacific Division and Western Conference.
