The Edmonton Oilers, once two-time Western Conference champions and one game away from a Stanley Cup, have fallen to an average team. Two years later, they finished with 93 points and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Connor McDavid described the team as 'an average team with high expectations.' How did this happen? Here are seven steps from contender to average.
1. Depth Exodus
Key players from the 2024 run—Corey Perry, Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, Cody Ceci, Brett Kulak, Connor Brown, and Evander Kane—are all gone. Some left due to salary cap constraints, but overpayments elsewhere forced the Oilers to let them go. Foegele scored 20 goals in Edmonton and signed for $3.5 million in Los Angeles, where he scored 24. Perry went from $1.1 million to $2 million. These players brought character, toughness, penalty killing, and secondary scoring that the Oilers sorely missed.
2. Poor Free Agent Signings
General manager Jeff Jackson's brief tenure yielded poor results. In summer 2024, he signed Jeff Skinner ($3 million), Viktor Arvidsson ($4 million), and re-signed Adam Henrique ($3 million), using up cap space and triggering a chain reaction. In July 2025, Stan Bowman signed Andrew Mangiapane ($3.6 million) and gave an eight-year, $3.8 million deal to Trent Frederic, who underperformed. These moves bombed, wasting money on the wrong players.
3. Leadership Core Fatigue
Three long playoff runs in a row took a physical and mental toll on the core group, including McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The team lacked the energy and desperation needed to compete at a high level.
4. Goaltending Issues
The Oilers struggled in net, with inconsistent performances and a lack of stability. Goaltending was a recurring problem that undermined their chances.
5. Defensive Decline
The defense, once a strength, regressed. Key defensemen left or declined, and replacements failed to fill the void. The team allowed too many goals and struggled to protect leads.
6. Special Teams Struggles
The power play and penalty kill both dropped off. The penalty kill, in particular, suffered from the loss of key penalty killers, and the power play became predictable and less effective.
7. Inconsistent Effort
The Oilers only managed three wins in a row twice all season. They would have missed the playoffs by seven points if they played in the Eastern Conference. The team lacked consistency and often played down to their competition.
In summary, a combination of poor roster management, cap mismanagement, fatigue, and declining performance from key areas led to the Oilers' fall from contender to average. It took a village to raze this team.
