The Edmonton Oilers aren’t trying to be the flashy team right now. They’ve leaned into a tougher, grittier identity, and Connor McDavid spelled it out plainly when asked about the change.
“Yeah, it’s hard-working. It’s a hard-working group,” said the team captain.
That’s the point of this version of the Oilers. The organization has clearly decided the old formula wasn’t enough, and the message this season is all about structure, responsibility, and putting defence first. The high-flying image has given way to something far more practical.
Last year’s disappointment forced the issue. Edmonton knew its team defence had to get better, or the Stanley Cup was never going to be realistic.
As Sean Panganiban wrote in May, “In the regular season (last season), the Oilers ranked 25th in goals against (265), and of the seven teams that gave up more goals than them, only one qualified for the playoffs.” The problem wasn’t just the volume of goals against.
The Oilers were also giving up the puck too often and surrendering too many high-danger chances.
Mike Babcock was brought in to help fix that. His job is to sharpen the structure, change the habits, and remake the team’s approach. When Edmonton’s leaders met with him over the summer, they agreed on that rebrand and committed to defending better.
The roster changes support that shift. New forwards Mathieu Joseph, Owen Michaels, Alex Formenton, and Filip Hallander have been added to the mix, and they join the hard-checking trio Edmonton acquired from Chicago at the last trade deadline: Jason Dickinson, Connor Murphy, and Colton Dach.
That identity has shown up in the lineup construction too. Right now, Edmonton is rolling out one scoring line and three checking lines. Injuries have pushed them into that setup, but even when the roster is whole again, the expectation is that everyone will have to buy into the same heavier style.
McDavid’s line has done the damage offensively, while the other groups have spent plenty of time in their own end. The line of Owen Michaels, Alex Formenton, and Mathieu Joseph has been one of the clearest examples of the new approach. The forwards are tracking back hard, the five skaters are moving as a unit, and the space between the forwards and the defence has shrunk compared with past seasons.
The forecheck is starting to look more like what Babcock wants as well. Edmonton is pressuring opponents more consistently and trying to spend longer stretches in the offensive zone.
That style is built to make the other team uncomfortable, cut down time and space, and force heavier hockey on a shift-by-shift basis. Players such as Podkolzin, Kapanen, Formenton, Joseph, and Hallander have stood out in that area.
The early returns are encouraging. Edmonton is 5-1-1, with one strange overtime loss mixed in.
They’ve won five of seven despite missing several top players, and while the games haven’t always been pretty, the results have held up. They’ve defended well for most of the season so far, and there’s no mystery that a new system takes time to settle in.
The real test comes next: whether the Oilers can keep playing this way once the opening stretch is in the rearview and the hard work becomes less of a headline and more of a habit.
In Other News...
Jake Walman Is Testing Edmontons Bet On Him Early
Jake Walmans start to the 2026-27 season has put a fresh spotlight on the long-term bet Edmonton made when it locked him into a seven-year extension before last season. The Oilers expected a steady, minutes-eating defenseman who could help stabilize the blue line, but injuries and uneven play have made his early stretch a little more complicated than the contract suggested.
The numbers have been mixed so far, with some encouraging shot-attempt results offset by the kind of expected-goals-against profile that raises questions about fit and usage. Edmonton may need to keep experimenting with his defensive partners and overall role to find a better match, because this is still a player the organization clearly believes in even if the opening weeks have not made that belief easy to see. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Linked To A Top-Six Target They May Struggle To Land
A potential top-six addition is already hovering around the Oilers radar, even if the path to getting him looks like a long shot. If Philadelphia decides to make changes, Travis Konecny has come up as a possible fit in Edmonton, the kind of winger who would immediately draw attention for a team still looking to reinforce its forward group without disrupting the rest of the roster.
The catch is the usual one for Edmonton at this stage: money and assets. Any serious pursuit would likely force the Oilers to move salary back the other way, and they are not exactly sitting on a deep reserve of prospect capital either. So while the link is real enough to keep an eye on, it also feels like the sort of idea that tests how creative Edmonton can get before the market and the cap start closing in. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Forward Depth Suddenly Has A New Jason Dickinson Problem
Edmontons forward depth took another hit Thursday when Jason Dickinson was unavailable after getting hurt in practice, adding a fresh complication to a role the Oilers had already been trying to stabilize. For a player whose start was delayed by a foot and ankle issue in the preseason, it was a familiar sort of interruption at an inconvenient time, one that left the team adjusting again on the fly.
The injury is separate from the ankle problem that slowed Dickinson earlier, which matters because the Oilers were hoping to build some continuity around him after that delayed ramp-up. Instead, they are suddenly dealing with another absence in a part of the lineup that can least afford churn, and the uncertainty now lingers over how long he might be out and what it means for Edmontons depth chart going forward. [Read more 🡒]