After the shortest off-season in recent memory, we’re back. The Edmonton Oilers will host the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night as both teams embark on their respective seasons.

1. Excitement in Edmonton is incredibly high as the Oilers are coming into 2024-25 as Stanley Cup favourites following last spring’s run to Game 7 of the Final. That’s not the case in Winnipeg, though, as the Jets just had their lowest attendance in a non-pandemic season since moving north from Atlanta despite posting an impressive 52-24-6 record.

Back in 2017-18, a young and promising Jets team reached the Western Conference Final following their best regular season in franchise history. While that was supposed to be the beginning of a contending era in Winnipeg, the team has only won one playoff series since — a four-game sweep over the Oilers in 2021 with no fans in the stands.

The Jets acquired Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli ahead of last season’s trade deadline to gear up for what the team hoped would be a deep run into the playoffs. Instead, they got knocked out in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche in five games.

2. Both Monahan and Toffoli left Winnipeg as free agents in the summer and the Jets didn’t bring in any notable replacements, so they’re back to having the same forward group that started the 2023-24 season. This is a team that features two scoring lines and two checking lines, with Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele on the first and Nikolaj Ehlers doing the heavy lifting on the second.

The hope for Winnipeg is that a couple of young forwards break out and lift the team’s offence from the middle of the pack. Connor led the team last season with 34 goals and Scheifele and Ehlers were tied in second with 25. Former L.A. King Gabe Vilardi scored 22 goals despite missing nearly half the season and 2020 10th overall pick Cole Perfetti scored 19 goals in his second full season in the league.

3. The Jets also saw a couple of veteran defencemen depart this off-season. Shutdown defender Brenden Dillon inked a four-year deal with the New Jersey Devils and the team opted to buy out the final year of Nate Schmidt’s contract despite his solid results on their third pairing.

Hulking defender Logan Stanley is expected to fill into Dillon’s role as Winnipeg’s big, physical defensive zone presence and smooth puck-mover Ville Heinola should take on a larger role with Schmidt gone. Both players are injured to start the season, so Haydn Fleury and Colin Miller will be playing on the third pairing for the Jets for now.

4. The biggest reason the Jets posted the record that they did last season was their goaltending. Connor Hellebuyck posted a .921 save percentage over 60 starts in 2023-24 and took home the Vezina Trophy for the league’s top goaltender. He also shared the Jennings Trophy with backup Laurent Brossoit, who put up a .927 save percentage in the backup role.

Brossoit signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency and the Jets signed Kaapo Kahkonen and Eric Comrie as replacements. The team is going into the season with a three-headed goalie group, which suggests that they want to give Hellebuyck a lighter load this season. Fatigue could be a bigger factor this year than usual, as the 31-year-old will likely start for the United States at the Four Nations Face-Off in February.

5. From an Edmonton perspective, the Jets are the same team they’ve been for years. They’re not an easy opponent to beat, they have an excellent goaltender, they’re chippy and can score, but they’re far from overpowering or dominant.

What does Winnipeg think about the Jets? This note introducing the team’s season-opening roster from Scott Billeck painted a picture of a fanbase growing frustrated with more of the same.

6. The Oilers need to get off to a good start this season. Overcoming last year’s early debacle was incredible but the team will burn themselves out if they have to play in Game 7 mode for weeks or months at a time again.

The schedule to start the season is pretty favourable to Edmonton. They start off with four consecutive home games in which the Jets are the only playoff team they’ll face. Things will get tougher after that with games against Nashville, Dallas, and Carolina later in the month, but this homestand gives Edmonton a nice opportunity to get the good vibes going early.

Oilersnation citizens, the season is HERE, and what better way to kick it off than with Oilersnation’s home for the fans, Greta? It’s all going down on Thursday, October 17th, presented by our friends at Alberta Blue Cross. We’ve got it all—prizes, trivia, live shows, and more to keep the energy buzzing all night. Plus, this year, we’re supporting Free Play for Kids, helping kids in our community access sports. Doors open at 4PM, and you know the drill—tickets are going fast, so hit up nationgear.ca before they’re gone. This event is 18+.