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Ten Oilers on pace to hit career highs in various categories after the Olympic break
Edmonton Oilers celebrate goal
Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Sean Panganiban
Feb 9, 2026, 11:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 9, 2026, 11:35 EST
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Not watching the Edmonton Oilers play every second night feels kind of strange, doesn’t it?
But for many of us, watching the Olympics is filling the void — Team Canada’s women’s team dominated Switzerland 4–0, and it was a treat to see Leon Draisaitl wave the flag for Team Germany at the opening ceremony, with both his and Connor McDavid’s teams starting their games on Feb. 12.
With that in mind, while the dynamic duo are set to take on some of the world’s best hockey players and the rest of the team enjoys a break, several Oilers are on track to set career highs in various categories over the final 24 games after the Olympic break. We take a look at ten of them below.

Darnell Nurse is on pace to set a career high in penalty minutes

Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse’s career-high in penalty minutes (PIMs) in a season came during the 2018–19 campaign, when he registered 87 PIMs on 31 penalties. This season, he’s on pace to blow past that mark, currently sitting at 86 PIMs.
However, it’s not that Nurse is taking more penalties. According to Natural Stat Trick, his 21 penalties this season are tied for the fourth-lowest total of his career. The increase in his PIMs is instead due to the nature of the penalties he’s taking. The D-man has four fighting majors, the latest coming on Feb. 3 against Brandon Carlo while stepping in to defend his captain, matching his single-season high. He also has four misconducts, a career high, with his previous most being two in a season.

Mattias Ekholm is on pace to set a career high in blocked shots

Mattias Ekholm has 91 blocked shots in 58 games this season, which puts him at roughly 1.57 blocks per game.
The blueliner’s career-best in blocks is 117, which came during the 2017–18 season with the Nashville Predators, and over the final 24 games, if Ekholm continues his 1.57 blocks per game, he’ll be on pace to finish the 2025–26 campaign with roughly 129 blocks.

Leon Draisaitl is on pace to set a career high in faceoff percentage

Oilers centerman and Germany’s recent flag bearer at the Olympic opening ceremonies, Leon Draisaitl, is as dependable as they come in the faceoff circle, currently ranking 18th in the league with a 56.39% faceoff percentage — the second-highest of his 12-season career. His lowest mark was 40.63% in his rookie season, while his career high of 56.93% came in 2023–24.
That said, over his last four games, he’s averaged 71.4%, 52.9%, 64.7%, and 63.9% on the dot, and if he keeps up that pace after the Olympic break, he’ll surpass his career-best 56.93% in the faceoff circle.

Ty Emberson is on pace to set a career high in points

Oilers’ blueliner Ty Emberson has only played parts of three seasons in the NHL, and last season, in 76 games, he finished with 13 points with the Oilers.
The D-man currently has 11 points this season and is on a 0.20 points-per-game (PPG) pace. If he continues that trend over the final 24 games, he’s on track to produce five more points, which would bring his total to 16.

Jack Roslovic is on pace to set a career high in both shots and goals

Jack Roslovic is currently sitting at 96 shots this season, while his career high in a single season is 139. To surpass that, he’ll need 44 more shots on net in the remaining 24 games, which means averaging 1.83 shots per game. That said, over his last ten games, he has 20 shots on net, averaging 2.0 per game.
In addition, to highlight Roslovic’s shooter mentality this season, his 7.97 shots per 60 minutes is the highest of his career, with his previous best being 7.79 shots per 60 during the 2023–24 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Moreover, Roslovic’s career-high in goals in a single season is 22, which he hit twice with the Blue Jackets, and he currently sits at 15 goals this season. With his shot volume, as noted above, there’s a good chance he can surpass the 22-goal mark by scoring eight more goals in the final 24 games. On top of that, his 1.25 goals per 60 this season is the highest of his career.
Roslovic is known to be streaky, and hopefully, he’s saving another hot streak for after the Olympic break.

Curtis Lazar is on pace to set a career-best faceoff percentage

Oilers centerman Curtis Lazar has played 12 seasons in the league and has a career average of 48.9% in the faceoff circle.
This season, if Lazar maintains his current 59.24% faceoff percentage, he’ll smash his career-high of 51.94% set in 2022–23 with the Vancouver Canucks. The centerman has been an ace in the faceoff circle, and given how hot he has been on the dot this season — combined with the Oilers’ recent penalty-killing struggles — he should almost be automatic for right-side draws when the Oilers are killing penalties.

Andrew Mangiapane is on pace to set a career high in penalty minutes

It’s been a tough season for Andrew Mangiapane. His 12 points put him on pace for the second-lowest point total of his career, and he’s on track to post a career-high in penalty minutes this season.
He currently sits at 36 PIMs, where his career-high 40 PIMs was set during the 2022-23 season, and his 3.47 PIM per 60 is by and large the highest of his career, where the second highest of 1.85 PIM per 60 came during the 2023-24 season with the Calgary Flames.
That said, the number of penalties he’s taken is a reflection of his frustrating season overall, but his most recent one against the Toronto Maple Leafs — a roughing penalty he earned in a scrum with Oliver Ekman-Larsson after snowing Anthony Stolarz — is the kind of penalty I’d imagine the Oilers can easily forgive.

Vasily Podkolzin is on pace to set career highs in both goals and points

Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin currently has 25 points this season (12 goals, 13 assists) and is on the best points-per-game (PPG) pace of his career at 0.43 PPG.
When speaking with his skills coach, Ned Lukacevic, who has worked with Podkolzin to improve his game, I asked what he’s seeing in the Oilers forward this season that might explain his uptick in points, and he said:
“He’s just being more assertive, and he’s not overthinking it.” He added. “It seems he just has more of an ‘I can do it’ mentality, which comes from the confidence given to him by the coaching staff and management.”
Podkolzin set his career-high in points during his rookie season with 26 (14 goals, 12 assists), and if he keeps up his pace over the final 23 games, he’s on track for 35 points, which would top his career best in a season.

Connor McDavid is on pace to set a career high in giveaways

For soon-to-be Olympian Connor McDavid, given the number of ridiculous offensive seasons under his belt, at 29 years old and already having a 64-goal, 153-point season, it’s hard at this stage of his career to top his career bests in offensive categories.
Given that, this unexpected stat isn’t exactly a positive one, but McDavid currently sits at 87 giveaways this season, and the most he ever gave the puck away was 89 times during the 2018-2019 season.
To avoid topping his career-high 89 giveaways, he’ll have to keep the puck on a string over the final 24 games. But don’t worry — the Oilers’ captain still controls the puck like the best in the game, and the uptick in giveaways could be a result of experimenting with new moves. Either way, it’s a surprising stat.

Evan Bouchard is on pace to set career highs in both goals and total points

Oilers blueliner Evan Bouchard currently has 63 points in 58 games, which equates to 1.08 points per game. His career-high in points is 82, set during the 2023–24 season, and if he maintains his 1.08 PPG over the final 24 games, he’d finish with 89 points.
On that note, Bouchard has scored 15 goals this season and is on pace to surpass his career-high of 18. The Oilers’ blueliner got off to a slow start, going pointless in his first six games of the season, but he’s been on a tear since, and his 63 points currently lead all NHL defencemen.

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