Team

Betting

OilersNation has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, Oilers Entertainment Group, NHL, or NHLPA

Oilers front office ranked 6th worst in fan confidence poll

By Michael Menzies

Aug 20, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 20, 2026, 15:02 EDT

Comments

Confidence is low in the Edmonton Oilers front office, according to a public and fan-base-driven poll by The Athletic.

How low? The Oilers ranked 27th in the NHL, falling six spots from 2025. The only teams below them were the Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Seattle Kraken, and the New York Rangers, who finished dead last.

This is based on over 10,000 responses from fans grading their favourite teams, and approximately 500 responses grading every team. Respondents were asked about six different categories which would fuel the final grade: roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency, and vision.

That resulted in a 2.5 score and a D+ final grade.

This was writer Dom Luszczyszyn’s blurb about the Oilers, who has been running this poll for 11 years now:

“When a team starts with two of the best players in the world and still has no Stanley Cup to show for it a decade later, it’s hard to stay positive. With Connor McDavid signed for only two more years, there’s a real sense of urgency to finally go the distance in Edmonton. There’s just not a lot of faith in the current regime to get them there.
“While there are certainly good things happening in Edmonton — like trading Darnell Nurse without retaining salary and signing Ryan Shea at half the cost — there are still the occasional head-scratchers. The Tristan Jarry trade was a debacle and the Trent Frederic deal has already aged horribly. While Jason Dickinson is a nice player, the Oilers spent a lot to get him … and keep him. There’s also still the lingering wound from the dual offer sheets.
“The biggest test of faith will come in the bet Edmonton made behind the bench. Mike Babcock was a great coach once, but there’s a reason he was out of the league; bringing him back is a huge risk many aren’t on board with.”

Being a fan poll, there is general bias that bears out in these rankings. For example, the Calgary Flames are ranked 18th, and the Vancouver Canucks are 25th, but all six of their fan base grades were higher than the public’s.

Unsurprisingly, the Carolina Hurricanes ranked first with an A+ grade. They were followed by the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and the Utah Mammoth in the top five.

The Athletic’s analysis of the Oilers has not been kind in recent days. On Wednesday, Corey Pronman’s controversial list of the best 156 players aged 23-and-under came out, with some head-scratching picks, including no Oilers. The overall prospect pipeline ranked 31st in the league.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

The Future is Daily Faceoff Edmonton

The future of hockey coverage is bigger than one team, one market, or one platform. By bringing our local hockey brands together under Daily Faceoff, we’re creating a more complete hockey experience — one that gives fans the best of local passion and league-wide expertise, all in one place. The community remains at the centre. The experience is simply expanding as part of the next evolution of how we cover the game.

Welcome to Daily Faceoff Edmonton — Driven by hockey.