Christmas Eve is here, which means it’s officially time to fire off a wish list to Santa and hope he’s feeling generous when it comes to our beloved Edmonton Oilers. With the team rolling into the holiday break looking as good as they have all season, I’m choosing to believe they’ve earned a spot firmly on the Nice List. If that’s the case, there’s no harm in swinging big.

Santa strikes me as a practical guy who appreciates effort, so I’m sitting here to write out my thoughts on a wishlist that would really level things up for our boys. As you’ll soon read, I put a lot of thought and effort into my Oilers wishlist, and if jolly Saint Nick can find it in his heart to deliver on even half of these items, then I see no reason why Edmonton can’t make a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Santa, as we roll toward 2026, the one thing this team could use more than anything else is good health when it matters most. The Oilers have shown time and again that when the lineup is intact, they’re as dangerous as anyone in the league. The biggest threat to this group isn’t another team, it’s the injury list. Keeping bodies fresh, willing, and available for the stretch run and playoffs would go a long way toward giving this team the championship the city deserves. So, if you’re in the mood to work a little holiday magic, feel free to wrap the Oilers in some kind of magical bubble wrap that gets them to spring healthy and in one piece. Do that, and I like the boys’ chances against absolutely anyone. This roster has everything it needs to finish the job, but they haven’t had a healthy squad even once yet this season. And heading into next year, staying healthy might be the final piece of the puzzle.

One of the most boring storylines around the Edmonton Oilers is the Darnell Nurse contract. Ken Holland signed Darryl to that monster deal after he put up 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games during the COVID season, and he’s never looked the same since. Of course, signing anyone to a max-term contract after a weird season like that is questionable, but this one has stuck in the minds of Oilers fans since Jump Street. But since Nurse isn’t going anywhere and there’s nothing we can do about the dollar figure, I’m asking Santa for some help with keeping him on the rails. I’m asking for Simple Darryl. You know, the guy who uses his legs to rush the puck out of the zone without thinking he needs to Joe Montana a pass to someone at the other end of the rink? I’m asking for that guy. The one who makes simple plays and doesn’t try to do too much. Santa, I know that might be an odd request for someone paid as handsomely as Nurse is, but I promise you that the K.I.S.S. method works here… sometimes.

When Andrew Mangiapane signed his two-year deal back in July, no one was expecting that he would somehow go back to being the 35-goal guy he was in his last season in Calgary. I thought expecting him to pop 30+ goals again was a pipe dream, but I fully believed he could probably score more than the 14 goals he had last season in Washington. I thought the chance to play with McDavid and Draisaitl alone would be worth an extra three or four goals on top of that. But, at least to this point, I’ve been wrong. He’s actually on pace for 11 goals, and it hurts my heart. With that in mind, Santa, I’m asking for a visit from the Ghost of Seasons past, just like in A Christmas Carol, but without the need for the other two ghosts. My idea here is that taking the Bread Man back to his 2022 season with the Flames, showing him how he used to play, and explaining why it was so effective, will be enough to snap him out of this funk he’s in. Maybe if he sees the annoying pest-like play he used to throw down every time he faced the Oilers, he can remember what the path looks like to better days. I think this might work.

I love Evan Bouchard, and anybody who reads this website regularly knows it. The guy is the best point-producing defenceman we’ve around these parts in forever, and it’s a pleasure to watch him work his magic in the offensive zone. The problem is that sometimes his controller disconnects at the other end of the rink, and those speed bumps cause some folks to lose belief in him. Not me, of course, but I see it out there. Santa, that’s why I’m asking you for some grace from the fanbase when it comes to Dad. I know he’s not a perfect d-man, and I also know that his contract number bothers people more than it should, but I also know that Evan Bouchard ranks second all-time in playoff points-per-game. That’s not normal stuff. So, my ask for grace is to help smooth out the moments between points, and to help folks remember all of the ridiculous things he can do when the games matter most. Perfect? No. Unbelievable at doing what he does best? You betcha.

Is it too much for me to ask for the simplicity of stability when it comes to the Oilers’ goaltending situation? Stuart Skinner is gone, Tristan Jarry is hurt for whatever “weeks” ends up meaning, Connor Ingram looked solid in his first start, and our pal Cal is doing everything he can to hold the fort down in the interim. Needless to say, it’s not an ideal situation. Jarry was playing really well until he got hurt, and a big part of the job is actually being available to play. What happens behind him, whenever he comes back, remains to be seen, but it’s a question I really wish we had answered by now. So, Santa, I’m asking for just a little bit of stability and consistency between the pipes. We need Tristan Jarry to be healthy, and for whoever slots in behind him to be capable of giving this team quality minutes when called upon. Please, Santa. Do it for me? It’s been so long.

Santa, this is a big ask, but I also feel like it lands right in your wheelhouse. Trent Frederic’s season hasn’t gone anywhere close to how we envisioned when that eight-year extension was announced, and seeing him end up as a healthy scratch this early was jarring, even if the numbers made it understandable. I know there were always concerns about the term, but what’s happened so far is a different story entirely. He needs help. But the optimist in me says that Frederic isn’t a lost cause, just a player stuck in his own head and fighting the game a bit right now. So if anyone can deliver a reset button, a confidence boost, a goal off the face, or whatever kind of magic helps the game slow back down, it’s you. This contract isn’t going anywhere, and neither should the belief that Frederic can still be a useful piece on this team. A little holiday intervention might be precisely what the doctor ordered to get him back on track.

Real simple ask here, Santa. Can we please have the free agents we sign actually look like the people we’re trying to sign? Outside of Zach Hyman — the best UFA signing of all time — and Jack Roslovic’s $1.5 million steal, there haven’t been many who have worked out as hoped. Whether we’re talking about Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson last year, or Andrew Mangiapane and Trent Frederic in 2025, there’s something about free agents signing in Edmonton that causes their games to fall off. Can we fix that? Please?

Sometimes all it takes is a good old-fashioned PDO heater to kick things into overdrive, and honestly, that feels like a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for this Oilers team. They’re already scoring more like we all expected them to, so why not add a little extra wind at their backs? We all saw what a PDO bump did for the Canucks two years ago, carrying them into the playoffs when they probably didn’t deserve to be. Now imagine what that kind of luck could do for a team that’s actually built to win. That’s why the final item on my Christmas list is simple. Give the Oilers a PDO heater that doesn’t quit in April, doesn’t cool off in May, and somehow stays white-hot around June. Give us an extra percentage point or two at five-on-five for the goaltending and the shooting percentage, and all of a sudden, the McDavid-led Oilers start to look inevitable. Close your eyes and picture it. I know I am.

Now that you’ve seen my list for Santa, I want to know if there’s anything I missed? While I could have probably gone on forever, I also felt like putting down 1300 words worth of needs was more than enough for Santa to get started on. That said, there’s always room for more ideas to throw on the Oilers’ Christmas wishlist, and if you have anything you’d like to add, be sure to let me know in the comments section.