Considering they were picked by a substantial amount of media members to win the Stanley Cup, the Edmonton Oilers’ slow start to the 2024-25 season has caught many by surprise. Their record sits at 6-7-1 through 14 games following a 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday evening.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Oilers’ 4-2 Loss to Golden Knights
While many are confident they will turn things around, whispers are starting to arise that perhaps they aren’t as good as everyone thought. Those questioning them seem to forget how much worse they started last season, and are disregarding the fact that if anything, getting these hiccups out of the way early is generally a good thing for a team.
Better Now Than Later
Very rarely, if ever, will you find a Stanley Cup-winning team who didn’t go through adversity at some point throughout the season. For example, the Oilers last season. They started out the year 2-9-1 and looked like they were going to miss the playoffs entirely. Instead, they rallied, played some incredible hockey, and advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
On the other side of the chain is the 2022-23 Boston Bruins. They had absolutely zero adversity all season long, and their record wound up being the best in NHL history at 65-12-5. That record suggested that they were heavy Stanley Cup favourites, which they were. Instead of going the distance, however, they were eliminated in the first round by the Florida Panthers.
So many players are on record stating just how important adversity is. It isn’t fun to go through, but winds up making a team that much tighter of a group. Essentially, even though it is difficult, you want your team to go through some adversity throughout the course of a season. That said, there are times that are way preferred over others to go through it.
The best time to go through adversity is in the early going of the season, which the Oilers are doing for a second straight year. Early in the regular season provides time to work out kinks, and allows for a team to get back on track and gain confidence well ahead of the playoffs.
The worst time to go through adversity during a season is right before the playoffs. You never want to go into the postseason on a cold stretch, as it is tough to regain confidence at that time, especially when other teams are giving you their absolute best. Many times in the past, we have seen great teams slump right before the playoffs only to then be eliminated in the first round.
Worth it in the End
Many Oilers fans are beginning to grow frustrated with how their team has played so far this season, and that’s completely reasonable. The way they have started these past two seasons isn’t acceptable, and seeing the top stars struggle the way they have is perhaps even more disappointing. With that said, there’s plenty to look forward to.
Related: 4 Options Oilers Could Consider to Improve Goaltending Woes
This team has proven over the past three seasons that they are one of the league’s best, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. As long as they have prime Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on their roster, the wins will pile up. It isn’t happening as quickly as fans had wanted, but as mentioned, you’d much rather have some struggles now than late in the season, or even worse in the playoffs.
While expecting another 16-game winning streak like we saw in 2023-24 may be wishful thinking, it shouldn’t be long before we start seeing them win games in bunches. They’ll look to start doing just that on Saturday night in a road game versus the Vancouver Canucks, a team who they eliminated in the second round of the playoffs last season.
