Of course, in certain games during the last two Stanley Cup Finals, they’d liked to have scored more goals. However, over the past three regular seasons, the Oilers have scored the most goals, 876, in the NHL, followed by Tampa Bay (860), Dallas (850), Colorado (849), Toronto (843), and the New York Rangers (806).

Their offence has been good, but since 2023, there have been some areas on a downward trend that need to be reversed.

Let’s start by looking at the past three seasons.

*XAG is extra attacker goals.*

YEAR	GF	GA	5X5	4X4	3X3	PPG	SHG	ENG	XAG
2023	325	256	191	3	4	89	18	15	5
2024	292	236	193	4	5	64	7	12	7
2025	259	235	169	5	10	51	5	12	9

Edmonton led the NHL in goals in 2023 with 325. Their PP was outstanding that season at 32.4 percent, they led the NHL with 18 shorthanded goals, and they were 5th in 5×5 goals at 191. But offence across the NHL has declined since 2023.

2023: Oilers were 1st with 325 goals.
2024: Oilers were 4th with 292 goals. (Colorado was 1st with 302).
2025: Oilers were 11th with 259 goals. (Tampa was 1st with 292).

Goals across the league are down, but last season, the Oilers fell out of the top 10 in goals scored. With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the team, at the bare minimum, the Oilers should be top 10 in goals. Edmonton was tied with Toronto for 12th in 5×5 goals last season. Not awful, but down from 5th and 3rd the previous two seasons. It is an area they need to improve this coming season.

Same with the power play.

2023: 32.4% with 89 goals on 275 chances.
2024: 26.3% with 64 goals on 243 chances.
2025: 23.7% with 51 goals on 215 chances.

Their PP efficiency is down, but so are their PP chances, going from 275 in 2023 to 215 in 2025. Power play chances are down across the league. However, the league’s PP percentage hasn’t changed much in that span. It was 21.3 percent in 2023, then 21 percent in 2024, and 21.6 percent last year. Edmonton still has the highest PP percentage over the past three seasons at 27.8 percent, but it ranks third since 2024 at 25.1 percent, and last year it was 12th at 23.7 percent. Paul McFarland will oversee the power play, and while I don’t expect any changes to the first unit in McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard, the reduction in success suggests a few tweaks will help.

The first change should be focused on increasing their shot totals on the power play.

In 2023, the Oilers led the NHL with 67.04 shots/60.
In 2024, they were 4th at 62.33 SF/60.
In 2025, they were 12th at 53.73. New Jersey was the only team above 60, as the NHL started tracking shots a lot more tightly.

But the Oilers’ PP is most dangerous when they shoot more. Here are the shots/60 for their first unit players by year.

2023:
McDavid: 20.13 (108 shots in 321 TOI).
Draisaitl: 19.88 (105 shots in 316).
Hyman: 13.04 (60 shots in 276).
RNH: 11.36 (60 shots in 316).
Tyson Barrie: 8.65 (29 shots in 194) and Bouchard: 9.02 (28 shots in 186).
2024:
Draisaitl: 18.97 (87 shots in 275 TOI).
Hyman: 14.73 (64 shots in 260).
McDavid: 14.58 (63 shots in 259).
Bouchard: 12.45 (58 shots in 279).
RNH: 8.30 (37 shots in 267).
2025:
Draisaitl: 15.97 (62 shots in 232 TOI).
McDavid: 11.93 (43 shots in 216).
Hyman: 11.21 (43 shots in 230).
Bouchard: 10.25 (46 shots in 269).
RNH: 9.87 (40 shots in 243).

McDavid has seen the biggest decrease, going from 20.13 shots/60 down to 11.93 last year. The only player who shot more in 2025 than in 2023 was Bouchard. When I hear people state the Oilers need to have Bouchard shoot more for the PP to be successful, I strongly disagree. This power play works best when the point man is distributing the puck. Bouchard has a bomb, and I’d have him shooting more than Barrie did, which he did last year. But I don’t think it will benefit the power play to have Bouchard in the top three of shots/60 on the Oilers’ power play.

Simply put, McDavid needs to shoot more, and Draisaitl should be in the 19.00 shots/60 range like he was in 2023 and 2024.

Jun 4, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers right wing Vasily Podkolzin (92) reacts after a goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the second period in game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images

DEPTH SCORING

Here’s a breakdown of how the Oilers forwards compared to the rest of the NHL.

2023: 1st in goals by forwards with 286. McDavid (64), Draisaitl (52), RNH (37), and Hyman (36). The top four scored 189 goals (100 of them at even strength and 83 on PP). The other forwards scored 97 goals and produced 33.9% of the goals by forwards.
2024: 4th in goals with 244. Hyman (54), Draisaitl (41), McDavid (32), and RNH (18). They combined for 145 goals (97 of them at EV and 47 on the PP). The other forwards scored 103 goals. Depth forwards produced 42.2% of forwards’ goals.
2025: Tied for 11th in goals with 217. Draisaitl (52), Hyman (27), McDavid (26), and RNH (20). They combined for 125 goals (85 of them at EV and 38 on the PP). The other forwards produced 92 goals. Depth forwards produced 39.1% of forwards’ goals.

Just for comparison, I looked at the top 10 teams in goals by forwards last year to see the percentage of goals from forwards outside the top four.

Tampa Bay had 254 goals by forwards. Top four scored 155 goals and the rest tallied 99 (38.9%).
Washington had 248. Top four produced 136 and the rest scored 112 (45.1%).
Toronto forwards scored 246. Top four produced 153 and the rest scored 93 (37.8%).
Dallas scored 242 goals. Top four scored 126 and the rest scored 116 (47.9%).
Vegas scored 239. Top four produced 118 and the rest scored 121 (50.6%).
Winnipeg scored 237. Top four scored 131 and the rest tallied 94 (39.6%).
Carolina scored 236. Top four scored 104 and the rest scored 132 (55.9%).
Buffalo scored 225. Top four scored 128 and the rest produced 97 (43.1%).
NYR scored 221. Top four produced 105 and the rest scored 116 (52.4%).
Colorado scored 219. Top four produced 116 and the rest scored 103 (47%).

The average of those teams is 45.8 percent. I would have to dig deeper into how many PP goals forwards 5-12 scored for those teams, so that could impact it a bit, but the Oilers should look to have at least over 40 percent of their forward goals from outside the top four this coming season.

GOALS FROM DEFENCEMEN

The Oilers have also had good goal production from the blueline.

2023: 14th with 39 goals.
2024: 5th with 48 goals.
2025: 5th with 42 goals.

This past season, the blueline accounted for 16.2 percent of the Oilers’ goals. Colorado was first in the NHL at 19.8 percent, followed by Columbus (19.1 percent), Seattle (18.7 percent), St. Louis (18.4 percent), Minnesota (16.9 percent), and Vancouver (16.3 percent). Edmonton ranked 7th, and goal-scoring production from the backend shouldn’t be a concern with Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, and Jake Walman in the mix.

GOALS AROUND THE NET

Do the Oilers need to score more “garbage” goals on tips, deflections, or rebounds? Let’s look at these stats courtesy of Clear Sight Analytics. These are all situations and only shots on net, not shot attempts.

2023:
Tips: 3 (ranked T29th).
Screen tips: 7 (T20th).
Rebounds: 22 (T24th).
2024:
Tips: 5 (23rd).
Screen tips: 7 (T15th).
Rebounds: 29 (T13th).
2025
Tips: 3 (rank T27th).
Screen tips: 5 (T24th).
Rebounds: 31 (T4th).

Despite their overall goal totals decreasing, their rebound goals have increased over the past three seasons. The Oilers ranked 1st in shots on goal in 2023 and 2024, and they were 6th in 2025. They should be in the top five in rebound goals, and we’ve seen an increase there.

They are below average on tips and screened tips. That matches the eye test. To improve in this area, they will need to spend more time tipping pucks in practice, and more importantly, they need more bodies, more often, in front of the net. I think this would help them most in the playoffs.

No team is going to be great in every offensive category, and the Oilers’ combined numbers the past three seasons are best in the NHL, but as noted above, they’ve been trending downward in total goals since 2023. Some small tweaks on the PP will help, and I suspect the Oilers’ focus on more skilled practices this coming season will help them. Practicing getting in front of the goalie and tipping pucks would also help. I don’t expect an Oiler to suddenly become Ryan Smyth in front of the net, but I do believe, as a group, they need more traffic in front of the goalie, not beside the goalie.

QUICK HITTERS

— If you need your sports fixed, there are many great options this weekend. The Edmonton Riverhawks secured the second-half title last night, and they will host Victoria this Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (if necessary). Get your tickets early, as the Riverhawks games could sell out. It’s a great night out.

— The Edmonton Stingers wrap up their regular season with home games Friday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (4 p.m.). Sean East II leads the league in scoring. He’s very entertaining, and the view and concession prices can’t be beat. Get your tickets here.

— The Elks are on the road in Montreal, and you can watch on TSN. They keep finding ways to lose, but I won’t be surprised to see them pick up their first road win of the season.

— The Blue Jays are in LA to take on Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers. The Jays just swept a three-game series v. the last-place Rockies and outscored them 45-6. The Jays set a franchise record for most runs scored in a three-game series. They also had 63 hits, which is the most in a three-game span in MLB history since the New York Giants had 66 hits in three games in August of 1933.

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