The Oilers’ 3-2 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night did more than push Edmonton to 14-3-3. It also dropped the club into rare company.
Through 20 games of the 2026-27 NHL season, the Oilers have 31 points and a .775 point percentage, which ties for the second-best 20-game start in franchise history. It’s only the fifth time Edmonton has reached at least 30 points this early in a season, and the team now finds itself on a short list of Oilers groups that started fast and carried real expectations with them.
That history is worth revisiting, because the franchise has seen this movie before.
The benchmark remains the 1983-84 Oilers, who came flying out of the gate at 16-3-1 for 33 points. They had just been swept by the New York Islanders in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final, but that setback seemed to sharpen them. Edmonton built a 14-point cushion over the rest of the Smythe Division, outscored opponents 119-79 in those first 20 games, and set an NHL record for most goals by a team through its first 20 games of a season - a mark that still stands.
That team never slowed down. The Oilers went 41-15-4 the rest of the way, finished with 119 points and a 14-point edge over the rest of the league, then rolled through the playoffs and beat the Islanders in five games in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final to win the franchise’s first championship.
The next season brought another blistering opening. Edmonton started 12-0-3 before taking its first loss, then recovered from a three-game skid with an eight-game winning streak. By the 20-game mark in 1984-85, the Oilers were 14-3-3 with 31 points, sitting first overall in the NHL while leading the league with 104 goals and ranking third in goals allowed with 60.
The rest of that season stayed on script. Edmonton finished 35-17-8 the rest of the way, ended up with the Campbell Conference’s best record, and came within two points of Philadelphia for the NHL’s top spot. The Flyers and Oilers then met in the 1985 Stanley Cup Final, where Philadelphia took Game 1 before Edmonton answered with four straight wins, closing it out with an 8-3 victory in Game 5 at Northlands Coliseum.
The 1985-86 Oilers matched that same 30-point pace, going 14-4-2 through 20 games. Once again, there was no sign of a championship hangover. Edmonton was already five points clear of every team in the league except Philadelphia, which had 32 points through its first 20 games.
That season kept building. The Oilers went 42-13-5 the rest of the way and finished 56-16-7, tying the franchise record of 119 points set two years earlier.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, finished first in the Wales Conference with 110 points. But Edmonton’s chase for a third straight title ended abruptly in the second round, when the Calgary Flames eliminated the Oilers in Game 7 on Steve Smith’s infamous own goal.
Calgary later lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, while Philadelphia was upset by the New York Rangers in the first round.
The most recent entry on the list came in 2021-22, when the Oilers went 15-5-0 for 30 points. That start came in a season still shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, with fans returning to arenas and games regularly being postponed and rescheduled. Edmonton used that opening to sit atop the Pacific Division after 20 games, the club’s best start in 35 seasons.
The Oilers then went 34-22-6 the rest of the way and finished 49-27-6 for 104 points, their highest total since 1986-87, earning the No. 2 seed in the Pacific. In the playoffs, they beat the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1 and Calgary in the second round before falling to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final. That run was Edmonton’s deepest since 2006 and launched a stretch of four straight postseasons in which the Oilers reached at least the second round.
Now this year’s group has joined that conversation, with a start that already has Edmonton measuring itself against some of the franchise’s most memorable teams.
In Other News...
Babcocks Return To Toronto Adds Extra Heat For The Oilers
Mike Babcocks return to Toronto gives this meeting a little extra edge, even before the puck drops. Now behind the bench for the Oilers, he is walking back into the building where he once coached the Maple Leafs, a stop that included both real success and plenty of difficult moments. Edmonton arrives with the kind of standing that changes the tone of a road trip, sitting atop the Pacific Division and carrying the look of a team expected to be in the thick of things all season.
For Toronto, the backdrop is different now. Under new head coach Jim Hiller, the Maple Leafs are trying to steady themselves in a crowded Atlantic Division, and any game against a contender already comes with its own pressure. Add Babcocks history with the organization, and this one carries a bit more emotion than a typical regular-season matchup, with the Leafs facing a coach who knows their market well and an Oilers team that has plenty of reasons to treat the night as more than just another stop. [Read more 🡒]
Connor Murphy Is Becoming An Oilers Problem They Can't Ignore
Connor Murphys place in the Oilers blue-line picture is starting to draw more attention than the team probably wants. Edmontons record has kept the focus on bigger-picture success, but Murphys underlying numbers have not matched the clubs standing, and the concern is less about one bad night than a stretch of play that has analysts questioning how much value he is providing at even strength. In a season where the Oilers are trying to stay sharp at the back end, that kind of scrutiny tends to linger.
The wrinkle is that Murphys struggles may not be happening in a vacuum. The second defensive pairing around him has not given Edmonton much support, which makes it harder to separate individual issues from a broader depth problem. With returning players eventually changing the mix and the front office still weighing what the blue line should look like long term, Murphys role could end up depending as much on the teams next move as on his own play. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Trade Buzz Suddenly Centers On One Believable Star Target
The Oilers have not been active on the trade front lately, but the conversation around their next move is starting to sharpen around the kind of addition they could actually justify. Edmonton could still be in the market for either a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman, and that naturally sends the speculation toward the biggest names who might, at least on paper, fit what the roster needs. Among the possibilities being kicked around are Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson and Roman Josi, with each bringing a different blend of talent, contract complexity and roster impact.
What makes the chatter more interesting is that not every star target is viewed the same way. Hughes is considered a long shot, and Pettersson comes with concerns that make him an unlikely fit for Edmontons situation, while Josi stands out as the kind of player who could check both boxes if the opportunity ever materialized. For now, there is no confirmed trade and no official move, but the fact that the discussion keeps circling back to one believable target says plenty about where the Oilers may be aiming if they decide to act. [Read more 🡒]