Being an Edmonton Oilers fan is anything but dull. It’s full of ups and downs, wins and losses, and sprinkled with a sense of humour from the hockey gods, who seem to enjoy tossing in an Oilers autograph signing at West Edmonton Mall after a big loss, to make things more fun and interesting.

That 8-3 loss to the Dallas Stars was painful to watch, and one can only hope that maybe, just maybe, that game serves as the final straw to turn the page on the season. With that, let’s dive into this edition of Oilers Thoughts.

The next fan favourite in Edmonton might just be Connor Clattenburg.

In his two games with the Oilers, he’s given his all on every shift, thrown big hits, and stirred the pot, all while sporting a few whiskers short of a throwback 70s-style moustache — a nod to the hard-hitting hockey of that era.

And of course, he brought life into Rogers Place on Nov. 25, in a game that had seen little to cheer about against the Dallas Stars, getting hard on the forecheck, driving to the net, and popping home his first NHL goal in a sequence that reminded me of former Oiler Ryan Jones’ style: forecheck, crash the net, score, and follow it up with a big celly.

Additionally, Clattenburg’s minutes jumped from 5:47 in his NHL debut to 12:58 in his second game, and he was one of the few Oilers with a pulse, while also leading the team with seven hits. Moreover, to show how much he’s tilted the ice in the Oilers’ favour when on it, here are his advanced metrics and where he ranked on the team at 5v5 over the last couple of games, according to Natural Stat Trick:

Vs. Florida:
xGF%: 78.74% (1st)
SCF%: 85.71% (1st)
HDCF%: 100% (1st)
CF%: 61.11% (1st)

Vs. Dallas:
SCF%: 62.50%% (1st)
xGF%: 77.60% (1st)
HDCF%: 66.67% (tied 1st)
CF%: 60.00% (2nd)

It remains to be seen if he’ll stick with the big club long term. He needs more pro hockey seasoning, but you can’t deny that he’s been one of the team’s heartbeats in his first two games, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he turns out to be the feel-good story of the season and sticks around for an extended period. Nevertheless, in just two games, he’s already starting to win over the Oilers’ faithful with his rough-and-tumble style, if he hasn’t done so already.

The Oilers’ defensive issues haven’t been solely on Brett Kulak, yet his decline in play this season compared to previous years deserves a closer look.

On the recent seven-game road trip, he had a few unforced turnovers and moments where he lost battles or allowed the opposition an easy path to the front of the net, most notably in the 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 19, where his lost battles directly led to the first couple of goals against.

More recently, against the Stars, he went to pinch and lost the 50/50 puck battle, giving Nathan Bastian enough time to skate in on Stuart Skinner unchallenged and roof the puck over the Oilers’ netminder for the Stars’ third goal.

That’s just a snippet of the defensive woes he’s shown this season, which isn’t typical of the steady play we’ve mostly seen in the 364 straight games, including playoffs, that he’s played in since arriving in Oil Country.

Adding to that, at the same point in the season last year, Kulak had eight points (4G, 4A), but this season he’s only tallied two assists and has yet to find the back of the net. Taking a deeper dive into his advanced analytics at 5v5, comparing last season to this one, highlights more of his decline in play:

Last season:
CF%: 55.29%
xGF%: 56.50%
HDCF%: 56.80%

This season:
CF%: 49.29%
xGF%: 49.52%
HDCF%: 50.00%

Kulak’s unsteady season has been quite the surprise, especially in a contract year, and his -11 plus-minus is tied for second-worst on the team. On the other hand, if we’re looking for positives — which the Oilers could use — a small one is that, amidst an 8-3 loss last game, Kulak actually posted a +1 plus-minus. Fingers crossed the usually steady, smooth-skater from Stony Plain, AB, can get back on track.

We’ll get to the goaltending discussion shortly, but before diving into that topic, simply put, the Oilers need to play better in front of their netminder, whoever that may be.

The Oilers’ lack of attention to detail defensively has been so bad at times this season that even if they time-travelled a prime Dominik Hasek in net, dialled in after chugging two Red Bulls and taking a whiff of smelling salts, he’d still be fishing the puck out of the net on some of those plays.

On that note, inconsistency has also been a theme for the Oilers. I’m not pinning the loss last game to the Stars solely on these two, but the play of Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm fits that inconsistent bill. I’d previously written that they were turning the page on the season with their play from the road trip, emerging once again as the solid top pairing they’ve been since being put together in 2023 — only to lay an egg against Dallas. They were the culprits on a couple of goals against in the first period: Bouchard lost a battle behind the net on the first goal, and Ekholm turned the puck over before getting caught swimming while trying to recover.

That said, even the most casual hockey fans can see the Oilers’ defensive deficiencies through the eye test, but the advanced metrics back it up as well.

This time last season, their record was 11-9-2; however, they ranked among the leaders in many advanced 5v5 metrics:

• SCF%: 55.77% (2nd in the NHL)
• HDCF%: 56.36% (3rd in the NHL)
• xGF%: 83.85% (3rd in the NHL)

The Oilers currently sit with a 10-10-5 record at the same point in 2025-26; however, their advanced 5v5 metrics this season and where they rank in the categories are more concerning:

• SCF%: 46.16% (27th in the NHL)
• HDCF%: 45.37% (25th in the NHL)
• xGF%: 47.95% (23rd in the NHL)

On that note, the drop in their high-danger chances percentage at 5v5 suggests that the Oilers aren’t generating enough traffic in front of the opponent’s net, and defensively, they’re not playing tough enough around their own crease.

Yet, on the plus side, most of their defensive lapses are small details that can be corrected. The Oilers have skilled players who can score and take over games, but regardless of skill level, committing to the defensive game is something nearly every NHLer can do. The Oilers just have to start putting in that extra effort.

As mentioned, the Oilers’ defence has been inconsistent and has lacked attention to the little defensive details, but when that happens, at some point, you need a big save or two from the man between the pipes.

After finishing the seven-game road trip on a high note, the Oilers’ goaltending stumbled against Dallas. Calvin Pickard, who put up a .943 SV% against the Tampa Bay Lightning, dropped to .818 SV%, while Skinner, who stood tall with a .921 SV% against the Florida Panthers, plummeted to .500 SV%.

Inconsistency has been a theme of this piece, and now, 25 games into the season, almost like clockwork, it seems time for a shake-up, with a change in goal appearing to be the most probable move.

A drastic shake-up would be a goaltender trade, yet every NHL team knows the Oilers are desperate, and the price could be at its highest right now. That said, given the number of netminder trade rumours lately, with names like Jordan Binnington and Tristan Jarry floating around, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Although I feel the most plausible shake-up route would be calling up Connor Ingram from the AHL, which the fellas discussed in detail on “Oilersnation Everyday.” GM Stan Bowman likely foresaw a scenario like the one the Oilers are in now, which prompted him to make the deal with the Utah Mammoth for future considerations to acquire Ingram, so it makes sense to put that option to use. Yes, the netminder’s numbers in the AHL aren’t great, but I think it could be the shock to the Oilers’ system that’s needed, without giving up anything in return.

Adding to that, it was reported that the Oilers were planning a goaltender change after the recent road trip, dropping Pickard to the AHL and calling up Ingram. However, it was noted that the players, perhaps the leadership group, stood up to keep him around, saying they’d play harder for him.

However, as much as Pickard has been a good soldier for the Oilers in previous playoff runs, it might take seeing a friend and great locker-room guy being sent down for the team to finally get their act together, serving as a warning shot in a “This is the first shake-up, and there could be more on the horizon” kind of way. Because, for whatever reason, the messages of telling this group to “watch the guy in front of the net,” “don’t pass the puck up the middle,” or “win your board battles” simply aren’t getting through.

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