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How many Oilers could score 20 goals next season?
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Aug 2, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 2, 2026, 15:15 EDT
Last season, the Edmonton Oilers had six different players reach the 20-goal milestone. That was actually tied for the second-most in the league with both the Colorado Avalanche and the Utah Mammoth.
The only team to have more was the Carolina Hurricanes, who had seven different players hit the milestone. What’s surprising about the Canes is that even though they were the second-highest-scoring team in the league, their highest scorer was Seth Jarvis with 32 goals.
They really didn’t have an elite goal-scorer, but they really did produce offence by committee.
Edmonton finished sixth in goals last season, but if you take special teams out of it and look at just even-strength scoring, they fall to 11th in the league.
The leaders for the Oilers were the usual suspects. Connor McDavid led the way with 48 goals, Leon Draisaitl picked up 35 in just 65 games, and Zach Hyman popped home 31 goals in just 58 games, which prorates to roughly 44 goals over the course of an 82-game season.
The other players to hit the 20-goal mark were Jack Roslovic (21), Evan Bouchard (21), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (20).
The Oilers’ forward group for this upcoming season is largely unchanged. Jack Roslovic is out after signing a two-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and while that does mean that they lost a 20 goal scorer, that also means that there is some extra top-six playing time to go around, and that could push one of the players who got close to 20 goals last season to hit the milestone in 2026-27.
Could they actually pass the number they hit last season? Let’s take a look.
THE LOCKS
There are no surprises in this category. McDavid has scored at least 20 goals in every season since his rookie campaign, when he still managed to score 16 goals despite missing almost half the season with a shoulder injury.
The only other season where he was below 30 goals was 2024-25, when he scored 26 goals in 67 games.
Assuming he’s fully healthy, McDavid should be good for 35-plus again this season.
Draisaitl is on a nice run of 10 straight seasons with 20 or more goals, with the lowest mark in that stretch being 25 goals back in 2017-18. He’s scored 30-plus in eight straight seasons and hit the 50-goal mark three times.
If healthy, you can safely mark him down for 40-plus this season.
Since becoming an Oiler ahead of the 2021-22 season, Hyman has hit the mark every single season. His best year was the 54-goal campaign in 2023-24 and he’s averaged 35 goals a season over the last five years.
This season, 35 seems like a really solid number to expect.
Those three are the only stone-cold locks, but there were others that were close to getting into that category for me.
THE HOPEFULS
Both Nugent-Hopkins and Bouchard hit the mark last season and I do think it’s more likely than not that they get there again, there are some reasons to be nervous that they won’t do it again this season.
The only reason I’m hesitant on Bouchard is that only six defensemen in the league hit the mark last season and even in a year where Bouchard shot 9.5 per cent, which is 2.5 per cent higher than his career average, he still barely hit the mark.
It’s hard for a defenceman to do it once, never mind in back-to-back years. Still I’d give him a 70 per cent chance of hitting it this year just because he gets to spend so much time on the power play and playing in overtime.
As for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, he scored 11 of his 20 goals last season on the power play and spent 548 of his 955 five-on-five minutes playing with Connor McDavid.
There is a real possibility that he sees his ice time on the Oilers’ top line fall quite a bit this season and I also think that Matt Savoie could steal some of his power-play time this season, considering he looked quite good in that spot towards the end of the season.
Nugent-Hopkins also shot the puck less than he ever has last season, and that is a concerning sign. I’d put his odds at hitting the 20-goal mark slightly below 50 per cent.
I would put Savoie’s odds well above 50 per cent, though.
A hot run down the stretch brought Savoie’s goal total up to 18 last year with 11 of them coming in the final 41 games of the year.
He is fully capable of smashing the 20-goal mark next season and if he sticks on a line with either McDavid or Draisaitl and finds his way into a semi-regular role with the top power play unit, I think he could score north of 25 next season.
The final name is Vasily Podkolzin.
He came within one goal of hitting the milestone last year and I think there is a north of 50 per cent chance that he hits the mark this year.
The big thing that I want to see from Podkolzin is just trusting his shot more. He has no problem scoring goals from in front of the net and I have no concern that he will continue to go to difficult areas of the ice but he has a very good shot and if he starts using it more off the rush, I think his goal totals could really spike next season.
Honestly, both him and Savoie should be 20-goal scorers next season and if they aren’t, I’d be a little disappointed.
So between the three locks, Savoie, Podkolzin, and hopefully one of Bouchard or Nugent-Hopkins, I think there is a solid chance that the Oilers once again have six 20-goal scorers on their roster.
But could any other players surprise us? Let’s look.
IT’S POSSIBLE
With Roslovic off the roster and Nugent-Hopkins potentially spending more time on a line with Jason Dickinson than with Connor McDavid, there is a chance that a spot in the top-six is up for grabs this season.
The two most likely candidates to fill it: Isaac Howard and Kasperi Kapanen.
Howard scored just twice in his 29 games with the Oilers last season, but when he was down with the Bakersfield Condors, he was electric, scoring 24 goals in just 47 games.
If this summer went well for Howard, there is a chance that he could start the season with either one of McDavid or Draisaitl and if that happens, then 20 goals is definitely in the picture.
I’m not sure if there is a path for him to get consistent power-play time in Edmonton, though, and that will hurt his chances. I know he isn’t technically a rookie anymore, but last season only two rookie forwards scored 20 even-strength goals.
It’s really hard to score at five-on-five in the NHL, and Howard will have to do a lot of it if he wanted to join the 20-goal club.
Kapanen is a really interesting case.
His best NHL season was in 2018-19 when he scored 20 goals with the Toronto Maple Leafs. His coach that season? None other than Mike Babcock.
Considering he re-signed after the Babcock hiring and had a great season with him in the past, I think it’s fair to assume that the two have a good relationship and if that is the case, then he could have the inside track to a spot in the top-six.
He’s also coming off a great playoff, scoring four goals in six games. Last season he found the back of the net eight times in 48 games, and staying healthy is going to be a massive part of this equation.
If he plays in all 84 games and spends the majority of that time on Draisaitl’s wing, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities that he hits the 20-goal mark next season. In fact, I might bet on him to do it before I bet on Howard.
I would love to see the Oilers finish in the top five in five-on-five scoring in the NHL while maintaining an elite power play. It’s fun to watch a team that scores a lot, and with the talent on their roster, scoring is their superpower.
Of course, Babcock and his staff are going to want this team playing a very structured game, and a lot of people think that it could hurt their ability to score.
I still think that even if there is more attention being paid to the defensive side of the game, this group can still score a lot, and that’s evident with the number of players who have 20-goal potential heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
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Edmonton OilersTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$99,274,166
$87,350,000
Projected Cap Space
$4,725,834
$26,150,000
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$4,725,834
$26,150,000
Active Players
23/23
15/23
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