If you’re a Seinfeld fan or have been hanging around the site for a while, you already know that December 23rd is Festivus, which means it’s time to air out our grievances and celebrate feats of strength. And with the calendar only being a few short days away from flipping over to 2026, there are plenty of Festivus items we need to discuss.

Being as obsessed with the Edmonton Oilers as we are makes Festivus feel like it was invented specifically for this fanbase. We pay enough attention to earn the right to air a few well-intentioned grievances, and every now and then, we even get to celebrate the wins along the way. If life is about balance, then Festivus might actually be the perfect holiday. Our loyalty buys us the right to complain, and the grievances I’m laying out this year are only meant to help the Oilers be better. With that, let’s get into it.

Everyone’s list of grievances is different, but these are the three things that annoyed me the most about the Oilers this past year and that I’d like to see cleaned up in 2026. Even though no one at OEG has ever asked for my opinion, I’m climbing onto my soapbox anyway to purge some of the dark cloud energy I’ve been lugging around all year.

When I think back over the last 18 months, it’s honestly hard to believe how much elite level sports pain has been crammed into such a short window. We got a second consecutive Stanley Cup Final loss for the Oilers, followed not long after by the Blue Jays losing a World Series Game 7, is a brutal run that feels almost targeted and personal. That’s not just disappointment. That’s a sustained emotional grind that never really lets you reset.

The first Cup Final loss hurt because it felt like that was our moment. The comeback story, the way the season went, it all seemed to fit. The second one hurt because it felt like the moment that was supposed to flip the script or right some kind of wrong. By the time the Oilers were back on that stage again, it felt like we earned a win this time. It felt like the group had learned the lessons and taken the scars with them. Watching it end the same way, again, albeit one game shorter, is a kind of pain that sits a little deeper.

And before there was any real time to process that, the Blue Jays piled on. Another season that seemed to build toward a climax at just the right time. The Jays were another team that dragged us all the way to the brink of euphoria. Another Game 7 where you sat there thinking this had to be the one, only for it to slip away in the final innings. Three massive heartbreaks in 18 months is a lot to ask of anyone, and yet here we are, still showing up, still investing, and still convincing ourselves that eventually one of these runs has to break the right way.

I don’t know how to frame this, but it’s hard not to notice how our recent run of free agents hasn’t exactly worked out… like… at all. Whether it’s Jeff Skinner or Viktor Arvidsson struggling through their only year as Oilers, or Andrew Mangiapane and Trent Frederic fighting it this year, the Oilers haven’t had much luck signing UFAs lately. That’s not to suggest many of us weren’t excited about getting those deals done — we were, generally speaking — but the results from these players just haven’t been there. I don’t know what the answer is to this problem, but it’s an issue we’ve got on our plate, and one that Stan Bowman needs to solve.

How can I put together a list of grievances without mentioning goaltending? It’s the most important position on the ice, and the fact of the matter is that the Oilers’ goalie tandem hasn’t been nearly good enough. We saw it for stretches during the regular season (last year and this year) and in the playoffs, prompting Stan Bowman to pull the trigger on a Skinner-for-Jarry trade just over a week ago. Yet, even with Jarry brought in and Skinner shipped out, I don’t know that the problem has been solved yet, especially with the former being on the injured list for the foreseeable future. That said, I’m hopeful that Jarry will work out as a long-term solution, but that’s hard to see right now, given that he won’t even be on the ice until the new year rolls around.

I’m not going to revisit the whole Trent Frederic contract situation because we all watched it happen in real time, and screaming into the void won’t change the paperwork. What I will say is that the bet behind this deal is already making a lot of us uncomfortable, and the fact that he just got healthy scratched this past weekend certainly doesn’t help. Eight years is a long time to commit to a player who looks more like a project than a staple, and it feels like the Oilers talked themselves into upside instead of protecting themselves from downside. I understand what they’re trying to do here, but understanding it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

From my side of the laptop screen, all I can think about is how little margin for error this contract leaves. Frederic can be a valuable player when he’s on, but usefulness and eight years are very different conversations. If this works, great, everyone will pretend they loved it all along. If it doesn’t, this deal is going to sit there, quietly haunting every roster decision that comes after it. And every time he looks invisible out there, that contract number and that term are going to be staring us right in the face. Figs.

Since no Festivus celebration is complete without a few feats of strength, I took a look back at the last 12 months and put together a list of the best things that have been going on with our beloved Oilers. These are a few that stood out to me when I look back on 2025, and I’d love to hear what you’d add in the comments.

I know I start the Feats of Strength section with Connor McDavid every single year, but I honestly don’t know how anyone could justify doing it any other way. Every game we get to watch him play is worth our time, no matter the result, and that’s something I never want to stop appreciating. This past year only reinforced that feeling, capped off by McDavid extending for two more seasons at the exact same $12.5 million AAV he was already playing at, which somehow feels both wildly generous and completely on brand.

On the ice, the feats just keep stacking up. At this point, we’re so used to the absurd pace, the takeovers, and the moments where he decides a game is over that it barely registers how rare this all is. What does still hit me, though, is how lucky we are to watch it happen in an Oilers jersey. Night after night, he continues to do things that simply aren’t normal, and we’ve all become dangerously accustomed to excellence that would define entire careers for just about anyone else.

As someone who’s been watching and covering this team for a long time, I’ll never stop viewing Connor McDavid as a gift. The Decade of Darkness still lives very clearly in my bones, and I don’t need much reminding of how bleak things were before that golden ticket flipped our way in 2015. Now, a decade later, he’s still here, still dominant, still choosing Edmonton, and still making the sport feel fun in a way that’s incredibly easy to take for granted if you don’t stop and think about it.

Last year, I wrote about how badly I wanted a max-term extension for Leon Draisaitl, and I’m still riding the high of that wish actually becoming reality. Watching his evolution from a “maybe he’ll be good” third-overall pick into one of the most dominant forwards the league has ever seen has been nothing short of miraculous. The fact that we get to keep watching it unfold in Edmonton for the long haul still feels like a blessing worth talking about.

And then 2025 happened. Draisaitl recently crossed the 1,000-point mark, won the Rocket Richard for the first time, and somehow managed to redefine what his ceiling looks like even though we’re a decade into his career. He’s scoring goals and points at a pace that nobody could have reasonably predicted back on draft day, and yet here we are, treating his ability to pass and score like it’s just another day. The consistency, the finishing ability, and the way he can take over a game singlehandedly is a rare combination, even among elite players.

What really pushes this into feats-of-strength territory, though, is that he keeps finding new layers to his game. The offence is obvious and always has been, but the commitment to playing without the puck, leaning into tougher minutes, and embracing the grind makes him that much more terrifying to play against. When you stack the goals, the points, the hardware, and the two-way buy-in, you’re looking at a player who didn’t just meet expectations, but blew straight through them.

As much as losing in six games of the Stanley Cup Final hurt like hell, the two months leading up to that moment were some of the most fun I’ve ever had. We didn’t travel nearly as much this time around, but honestly, that almost made it better. Spending this run in Edmonton, living and breathing every game alongside the team and a whole pile of Nation Citizens, is something I’ll never forget. Night after night, the city was fired up in a way that’s hard to explain unless you were in it, and I thought we did a great job of capturing the ride.

And as much as I like being on the road, there was something special about being home for our events. Watching playoff hockey with the same people over and over again, building routines, sharing the highs, and surviving the lows together turned those weeks into a blur of late nights, crowd pops, and memories I’ll carry forever. Even with how it ended, I look back on that run and feel grateful that we got the opportunity to watch another push like that. We laughed a lot, we yelled a lot, and we had a ridiculous amount of fun the entire time.

Watching the Panthers repeat hurt, no question, but it doesn’t erase how incredible the ride was. The Oilers are still an elite hockey team, and hopefully they’ll get another crack at Lord Stanley when the spring rolls around. I have no idea how likely a third trip to the final is or how painful it will be on the wallet and emotionally, but I already know I’m so excited to do it all over again. These playoff runs are magic, and there was no chance I was leaving this last one off my Feats of Strength list.

We’re heading back to Las Vegas for the next Nation Vacation, March 24–27, and you’re invited to join the ultimate hockey fan getaway. Trip packages start at $2,400, with the option to secure your spot for just 20% down. Enjoy roundtrip flights, a premium three-night stay at Circa Resort & Casino, access to Stadium Swim, exclusive watch parties, a Nation Citizens pool party, a party bus to T-Mobile Arena, and food and drinks included at the Edmonton vs. Vegas game. Multiple travel options mean you can book the trip your way—so lock in your spot now at nationgear.ca and come be part of the chaos in Vegas!