Connor McDavid is about as predictable as the NHL gets, and that’s a luxury the Oilers are happy to live with. After another monster season in which he paced the league with 48 goals and 138 points in 82 games, Edmonton’s captain enters 2026-27 with the same expectation he always carries: dominance.
That 138-point total was the second-highest of his career, and it extended a run that now includes six straight 100-point seasons and nine in his last 10. He’s been doing this long enough that the real question isn’t whether he’ll produce, but how much damage he’ll do while he’s at it.
One place the Oilers should ease off is the penalty kill. McDavid logged 86.39 shorthanded last season, a massive jump from the 4:40 he had the year before, and he finished fourth among forwards in penalty-kill ice time.
That kind of usage doesn’t need to be his nightly burden. Edmonton has other options to handle that job, including Matt Savoie, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jason Dickinson, with Josh Samanski, Kasperi Kapanen and Trent Frederic also candidates to get a look there.
Head coach Mike Babcock has to sort out those depth roles, and the penalty kill is one area where those players can help in a real way.
The logic is simple: McDavid already carries a huge load at 5-on-5 and spends nearly every second on the power play. With the NHL expanding to 84 games, the Oilers need to be smarter about managing that workload.
There’s no reason to pile extra wear and tear on their best player when they can save some of those minutes for the spots that matter most. The goal should be keeping him fresh and dangerous all season long, especially as the schedule grinds deeper into the year.
If everything goes right, the upside is obvious. McDavid could put together another absurd offensive season, push toward 50 goals and 150 points, and keep adding to a Hall of Fame résumé that already feels stacked beyond belief. His career high remains 64 goals, and his best point total is 153, so those benchmarks are still there if he catches fire again.
There’s also more hardware in play. McDavid is the front-runner for his seventh Art Ross Trophy, and he’s chasing a sixth Ted Lindsay Award and a fourth Hart Memorial Trophy. That’s the company he keeps now.
The Oilers’ season ended in a Round 1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks after back-to-back Stanley Cup Final trips, but there is at least one upside to that disappointing finish: McDavid has had an extended offseason. For a player who has logged as much hockey as he has, that rest matters. Edmonton will want him arriving at camp refreshed, sharp and ready to push the team back toward the top.
The floor, of course, is still outrageous by normal standards. For McDavid, anything short of elite can feel underwhelming, and injuries are usually the only thing that keep him from his usual level. A 100-point season would be a dream for almost anyone else, but it would count as a disappointment for him.
If there’s one area where the Oilers would love to see a little more, it’s shooting mentality. McDavid often looks to set up teammates when he might be better off letting it fly himself.
He had 306 shots last season, his third-highest total, and his two best shot totals came in his two best goal-scoring seasons. That’s no accident.
The season before last, he finished with just 26 goals and 196 shots, which is far below his standard. Under 280 shots and fewer than 40 goals would leave plenty on the table for a player with his talent.
Then there’s the adjustment to Babcock. How McDavid responds to a new coach will be worth watching, especially with a more detail-oriented system coming in.
The Oilers want better structure without taking away the freedom that makes their captain so lethal. That balance matters.
The last thing Edmonton can afford is a system that dulls McDavid’s creativity.
He’s the easiest superstar in hockey to forecast because the answer is usually the same: he’ll be great. The only real question is how great.
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Oilers Are Playing A Risky Waiting Game With Matt Savoie
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For the Oilers, the gamble is in the timing as much as the dollars. A recent flurry of CBA-deadline deals has helped inflate the marketplace, and Edmonton may be willing to wait for some of that noise to fade before settling on the terms that matter most for Savoie. It is a patient approach, but in a cap world where every small edge counts, waiting too long can be just as risky as moving too early. [Read more 🡒]