The Edmonton Oilers are heading into 2026-27 with the spotlight burning hotter than ever. Connor McDavid is now in the first year of his two-year contract extension, the roster has been reshuffled, and after a disappointing 2025-26 season, the margin for error is basically gone.
For this group, it’s Stanley Cup or bust again - and that means the pressure isn’t just on the stars. It’s on everyone.
Still, a few names stand out above the rest.
McDavid sits at the center of it all. No one can reasonably pin the Oilers’ lack of a championship on him.
Management has repeatedly fallen short of giving the game’s best player enough help, and he still dragged Edmonton to two Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025. But fair or not, the burden is there.
He’s 29 now, and the reality of not having won it all yet hangs over him every day. If he finally gets over the top, it would lock in his place among the greatest players ever.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is another player who needs a big year. Edmonton’s forward depth still isn’t where it needs to be, and part of that is because his game has dipped in recent seasons.
He’s continued to post respectable point totals, but a lot of that production has come on the NHL’s best power play unit. If the Oilers are going to make a real run, they need more from him at even strength.
The flashes are still there - now he has to show he can deliver that version of himself consistently in 2026-27.
Then there’s Trent Frederic, who had the roughest year of the bunch. After signing an eight-year, $30.8 million deal last offseason, he managed only four goals and seven points in 74 regular-season games.
The playoffs were even tougher: he was scratched twice in Edmonton’s six games and didn’t record a point in the four contests he played. He was never brought in to be a high-end scorer, but the contract demands more than what he gave last season.
Maybe a fresh voice from behind the bench in Mike Babcock helps. If not, the noise around him is only going to get louder.
Jake Walman rounds out the group. Injuries limited him to 53 regular-season games in 2025-26, and even when he played, he didn’t look fully right.
His ice time dipped below 19 minutes per game, and he never quite found his best form. With Darnell Nurse’s full salary moved out, Edmonton is going to need Walman to soak up some of those heavy minutes.
Staying healthy is the first requirement. Playing with more consistency at both ends of the ice is the next.
That’s the only way his seven-year, $49 million extension makes sense.
Those are the four players with the most to prove, but the pressure doesn’t stop there. Everyone in that locker room will feel it.
If 2025-26 repeats itself, it could mark the end of McDavid’s time in Edmonton. If the Oilers turn it around and win, the entire fan base will finally feel like all the frustration was worth it.
In Other News...
Kasperi Kapanen Is Suddenly Caught In The Oilers' Toughest Lineup Call
Kasperi Kapanens place in the Oilers forward mix has become one of the more interesting decisions hanging over camp, because Edmonton is no longer short on options. The conversation is not just about whether Kapanen can fit into the top half of the lineup, but how the team balances established names with younger forwards who are pushing for meaningful minutes. Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard have both added pressure to a group that already needs to sort out where the offense is going to come from beyond the obvious stars.
Mike Babcocks preferred line construction only makes the puzzle trickier, especially with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins all factors in how the top end gets arranged. Once the coaches start sorting out those combinations, the ripple effect reaches all the way down the lineup and puts Kapanen in a spot where his role is far from settled. What looked like a simple depth question now feels like one of Edmontons toughest calls. [Read more 🡒]
Podkolzin Is Becoming Too Important For Oilers Fans To Ignore
Vasily Podkolzin did not arrive in Edmonton with the kind of fanfare that usually follows a player who ends up mattering this much. Acquired in August 2024 for a 2025 fourth-round pick, he was more of a depth add than a headline move, but he quickly carved out a real role and became the sort of dependable presence coaches trust and teammates notice. Playing all 82 games in his first season only reinforced how steady he has been for the Oilers.
Now, in 2025-26, Podkolzin has taken another clear step forward, and that is where the conversation around him starts to change. His work ethic and development have drawn praise inside the room, and the sense around him is that this is still trending upward rather than peaking. For a team always looking for useful, affordable pieces that can grow into more, Podkolzin is becoming hard to overlook. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Fans Finally Have Context For Trent Frederics Rough Season
Trent Frederics first full season in Edmonton did not go the way anyone around the Oilers expected, and now there is some needed context for why the production never really followed. The forward finished with just four goals and seven points while clearly fighting through a rough stretch, and he has since said he was not fully healthy for much of the year. What looked like a disappointing fit on the surface now reads more like a player trying to survive a season without his normal legs under him.
Frederic says he is finally feeling recovered, which matters for an Oilers team that has already made changes to the roster and is looking for cleaner answers heading into the next season. A healthier Frederic gives Edmonton a chance to see what he can actually bring under new coach Mike Babcock, and whether he can become a more useful piece rather than just another name from a frustrating year. The bigger question now is whether this is the reset that lets him move past the injury-plagued version of 2025-26 and show the player the Oilers thought they were getting. [Read more 🡒]