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The Day After 41.0: Three New Year’s resolutions for the Oilers in 2026
Edmonton Oilers Darnell Nurse
Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Zach Laing
Jan 1, 2026, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 1, 2026, 02:04 EST
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So long, 2025.
It was a long, difficult year, and that’s something the Edmonton Oilers can surely attest to after a second straight Stanley Cup Final loss.
They close out the calendar year with a middling 46-32-8 record for a .581 points percentage — the 14th best mark in the league. They closed out last season with a 26-17-2 record for a .600 points percentage, and have kicked off the first half of this season going 20-15-6 for a .561 points percentage.
Another loss for the Oilers came Wednesday night, dropping a 6-2 decision to the Boston Bruins that, to a certain extent, was a perfect encapsulation of their year. Poor defence, an offence that couldn’t click when they needed it to most, and not pushing back until it was too late.
It’s also exactly what needs to change heading into 2026.

Resolution one: defensive improvements

Make no mistake, the Oilers have not been a good enough team defensively this calendar year. They gave up 3.2 goals per hour this season, the eighth-worst mark in the league, and while a portion of that has been due to the fifth-worst team save percentage, there have been far too many blunders from the players in front of the goaltenders.
Wednesday night was another great example of it, highlighted by the Bruins’ fourth goal, which saw Alec Regula make the wrong read, and be stuck on his stomach while Jonathan Aspirot scored on an open cage.
Injuries have played their part in the defensive issues. Mattias Ekholm was a shell of himself earlier this year, playing through injury that shut down his regular season early, and kept him out of the lineup until the final game of the Western Conference Final. This year, Jake Walman has played in only 17 of 41 games.
When they’re operating at full health, it should be a different story, but the Oilers need to clean the defensive zone up — especially in the playoffs, where their goals against per hour rate was still far too high at 3.08.

Resolution two: a productive bottom-six

Death, taxes and the Oilers’ inability to produce when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are off the ice.
The numbers have only gotten worse this season, but the numbers are stark. With McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers scored 4.19 goals per hour this season. With McDavid on and Draisaitl off, they 3.00 goals per hour. With Draisaitl on and McDavid off, they scored 2.93 goals per hour.
But when neither of them were on the ice? They scored just 1.67 goals per hour. For comparison, the team with the lowest five-on-five goals for per hour in 2025 were the New Jersey Devils, who scored at a 1.94 goals for per hour rate.
This season alone, that number has dipped even lower for the Oilers, scoring just 1.25 goals per hour without McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice. Things are drastic for the Oilers, and while they hoped Jack Roslovic centring the third line would help spread the wealth, head coach Kris Knoblauch said after Wednesday’s game he’ll be returning to the top-six alongside Leon Draisaitl.
Bets on Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Andrew Mangiapane, Trent Frederic and David Tomášek have been nothing short of failures.

Resolution three: showing some more emotion

Listen, when you’ve had three runs to the Western Conference Final and two to the Stanley Cup Final, it may not be the easiest thing to get up for games against opponents from the opposite conference in the dead of winter.
But the problem with the Oilers is that it’s not just happening against opponents from the opposite conference in the dead of winter: it’s happening against teams in their own conference, their own division, their own rivals.
It took until the third period for the Oilers to show any push back against the Bruins, despite them taking their shots throughout the game. Whether it’s Nikita Zadorov flipping a puck at a downed Evan Bouchard after the whistle, others taking an extra whack at pucks already covered by Connor Ingram, or any of the other dozen instances throughout the game where they could show some emotion, they just don’t.
With the Oilers down 6-2, Andrew Mangiapane made some noise with four minutes left getting a roughing penalty and a misconduct in a scrum. Max Jones fought Aspirot with 1:30 left in the game, then with 40 seconds left, Mattias Janmark got a misconduct, and Darnell Nurse got one with 20 seconds left after wrestling with Sean Kuraly.
This hasn’t been an issue in games against just the Bruins — it’s been going on all year long.
The Oilers just can’t wait around until the playoffs to turn their game on, because if they don’t they’re going to be in trouble. Each passing loss for them opens up more and more uncomfortable conversations about where this team is at, and where they are heading.
Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly “Letters to the Editor” segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation’s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com), titled “Letters to the Editor.” Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 PM MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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