The Edmonton Oilers can’t treat the opening weeks like a warm-up act anymore. After years of digging out from bad starts, this season feels like the one where the first month has to look different, and new head coach Mike Babcock is the man charged with making that happen.
That has been the story far too often in Edmonton. Over the last seven seasons, the Oilers have repeatedly fallen into early holes and spent the rest of the year chasing the pack.
Even when they’ve found their game later, that kind of catch-up hockey drains a team that has carried Stanley Cup expectations for the past five or six seasons. Babcock, with assistant coach DJ Smith, will need a sharper plan right away than the coaches who came before them.
The list of recent Oilers coaches tells its own story. Dave Tippett, Jay Woodcroft and Kris Knoblauch all had turns behind the bench, and the team kept needing a spark to get moving.
The most glaring example came in 2023-24, when Woodcroft was fired after Edmonton stumbled to a 3-9-1 start and Knoblauch took over. If the Oilers begin anywhere near that again under Babcock, the pressure will arrive fast.
A big part of the fix has to come from the veteran core. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins need to come out flying, not ease into the season. That is one of the most important jobs on Babcock’s plate: getting the leaders locked in early and making sure the team doesn’t spend another season trying to claw its way back by March and April.
There’s a blueprint in Oilers history, and it goes back to the 1986-87 season, the last time Edmonton won its division. That team never went through a month without playing .500 hockey or better. Glen Sather knew how to push the right buttons with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Kevin Lowe, and the current group needs that same kind of early buy-in from its top players if it wants to avoid another slow burn.
Goaltending is another area that has to settle quickly. The Oilers haven’t had the kind of early-season stability they need in net over the past seven seasons, and the Jack Campbell signing under Ken Holland became a cautionary tale after he lost confidence early in his Edmonton run. Stuart Skinner ended up having to steady things as Campbell struggled through two seasons in an Oilers uniform.
Last season brought its own turbulence. Skinner and Calvin Pickard both got off to shaky starts, and that led to the controversial December trade for Tristan Jarry.
Now, with Stan Bowman bringing in Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi to compete with Jarry, the Oilers may finally have a setup that keeps the net strong from opening night through the playoffs. Training camp should reveal which goalie takes the job, and that battle alone ought to give Edmonton a better chance of having someone ready immediately.
The 2026-27 season carries major weight for the franchise, especially with Connor McDavid’s future still hanging over everything. A poor start could put Babcock on a short leash and even leave Smith behind the bench if things go sideways in late September and October.
But there’s a different energy around the team this offseason. Fans are about to find out whether Bowman’s moves have worked, from the hiring of Babcock and Smith to the trade of Darnell Nurse and the three-goalie setup.
If the Oilers start strong, they should be in the Stanley Cup mix by April. If they don’t, the same old questions will come rushing back.
In Other News...
Oilers Fans Are About To See A Familiar Media Brand Look Different
Oilers Nation has been a familiar stop for Edmonton fans for years, but the site is headed for a new look. The longtime Oilers blog announced it will become Daily Faceoff Edmonton by January 2027, part of a wider rebrand across The Nation Network as the company works to bring its city-specific sites under one umbrella.
The change follows The Nation Network and Playmaker Capitals acquisition of Daily Faceoff, and the new branding is already showing up on social media accounts. For readers who have followed the site as part of the daily conversation around the Oilers, the shift is a notable one, even if the disclaimer remains the same: these platforms are not officially affiliated with the NHL team. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Face A Costly Question In Search For Hymans Successor
The search for a power forward who can eventually fill Zach Hymans shoes has already pushed the Oilers into the kind of market where patience and price both matter. Edmonton is being linked to one of the Maple Leafs young forwards as a possible long-term solution, a fit that makes sense on paper for a club that values size, speed and net-front work in its top six.
What makes the idea tricky is the cost, because any deal for that kind of player figures to be substantial and could force the Oilers to part with more than just future draft capital. Toronto is not in a hurry to give away a young piece with upside, so Edmonton would likely have to decide how aggressively it wants to chase a replacement before the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Babcock Could Create One Early Oilers Lineup Tension
Veteran coaches tend to bring familiar habits with them, and that is already part of the conversation around the Oilers as they sort out what their next lineup looks like. Looking back at the way Todd McLellan handled combinations in 2017 offers a useful reminder of how quickly role definition can shape a teams early identity, especially when a roster is still settling into how it wants to play.
Mike Babcocks history adds another layer of intrigue because his approach has long leaned toward clear usage patterns and defined responsibilities. For Edmonton, the question is not just which players fit where, but how quickly those choices could create tension around ice time, line deployment and the balance between established stars and the rest of the group. [Read more 🡒]