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Teams in the Pacific Division are getting better, but the Oilers remain in a good spot to contend
Photo credit: © Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
May 5, 2026, 09:00 EDTUpdated: May 5, 2026, 03:51 EDT
Less than a week later, the Edmonton Oilers’ first-round defeat is still raw.
After back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, expectations were high in the 2026 postseason. Instead, the Oilers picked up numerous injuries down the stretch and into the postseason, before bowing out after just six games.
The 2025-26 Oilers’ 93 points were the fewest in a non-COVID-impacted season since 2018-19. Their loss to the Anaheim Ducks also marked the first time they’ve lost in the first round since 2021. Back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances are nothing to sneeze at, but when you have the best player of all time on your roster, the Cup is expected.
It’s only going to get harder from here for the Oilers, who have McDavid locked up for just two more seasons. In McDavid’s press conference at the end of the season, he had this to say about the changing landscape of the Pacific Division:
“This year felt like there was a big turnover. Those young teams are not young, you know, losing teams. They’re really good teams with great players. San Jose is the same way. You know, how long before Chicago figures it out? Utah is right there, too. So it was a big, big kind of change over a year, and we got to get going.”
The Ducks, who had a seven-season playoff drought coming into 2025-26, drastically improved this season. They finished third in the Pacific Division thanks to a 43-33-6 record, and were in the hunt for first in the Pacific Division all season long. Last season, they showed glimpses of improvement, but finished with a sub-.500 record and 80 points, 16 points out of the final wild card spot.
In Northern California, the San Jose Sharks’ improvement was even better. The Pacific Coast team finished with a 20-50-12 record in 2024-25, the lowest point-total in the league. With Macklin Celebrini’s emergence as a true superstar this season, the Sharks finished with a 39-35-8 record, good enough for 86 points and just four points out of the final wild card spot. They’re only going to get better as well, especially when their defence improves.
Both the Chicago Blackhawks and Utah Mammoth are not of the same concern given that they’re in the Central Division. But if the postseason stays the same, a showdown with either team in the Western Conference Finals is not out of the realm of possibility.
Before the start of the postseason, there were a few parallels between this postseason and the 2016-17 postseason. Ten seasons ago, the Ducks were the experienced team and the Oilers were the young team looking to get playoff experience. In the end, the Ducks’ experience won them that second-round series, but that was their most recent series victory.
Another team to compare, and arguably a better comparison, are the 2016-17 Sharks. The year prior, the Sharks went to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, losing in six to the Pittsburgh Penguins. A year later, they couldn’t handle the Oilers in the first round, losing in six.
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The good news is that the Oilers’ situation isn’t that dire at the moment. McDavid will turn 30 in January, Draisaitl will turn 31 in October, and Evan Bouchard will turn 27 in October as well. Of the Sharks’ five-best players, namely Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau, only one was still in their 20s. Both Thornton and Marleau were in their late 30s, and Burns and Pavelski were in their early 30s.
Now, the 2016-17 Sharks were deeper. Both Tomáš Hertl and Timo Meier were early in their careers, while Couture was in his prime at only 27 years old. That said, they didn’t have a generational talent like McDavid or a top five player like Draisaitl on their team.
Even with an older core, the Sharks remained competitive. In the 2018 postseason, they swept the Ducks in four games, but lost to the newly founded Vegas Golden Knights. They got their revenge over the Golden Knights in 2019, mainly thanks to a pretty terrible five-minute major in Game 7, then defeated the Colorado Avalanche in seven. The Sharks ran out of steam in the Conference Finals, falling to the St. Louis Blues during their Cinderella run.
Thankfully, the Oilers aren’t at that stage in their window of contention. But with the departure of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg in the 2024 off-season, they may not have their Hertl or Meier, who were important pieces of the Sharks’ 2019 postseason run.
Hopefully, players like Vasily Podkolzin, Josh Samanski, and Matthew Savoie can take another step forward for the Oilers in 2026-27, while Ike Horward lives up to his potential. Still, the right moves need to be made this off-season because the clock is ticking on the Oilers’ window of contention.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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