The Edmonton Oilers came into the season with a pretty specific shopping list. Stan Bowman has made it clear he’d like to add a right-shot centre who can kill penalties, win faceoffs and handle tough minutes.
But after two games, the bigger issue in Edmonton might not be the middle of the ice at all.
The Oilers have already played a pair of wild games, dropping a 6-5 overtime decision to the Vancouver Canucks before turning around and beating them 9-7 on Thursday night. The offense has been loud from the start - 14 goals in two games - but the other end of the rink has been a mess, with Edmonton allowing 12 goals in regulation. That kind of start can change a front office’s thinking fast if it keeps going.
Bowman’s offseason comments made the team’s preferred target pretty obvious. “You’d love to find that guy.”
He laid out the kind of centre Edmonton has been chasing: right-handed, strong on draws, able to skate, play physical and go head-to-head with top opponents. It’s an ideal fit, and also the kind of player that’s notoriously hard to find.
That’s why the Oilers have stayed linked to centres on the market. The question now is whether that’s still the most urgent hole.
Goaltending has already forced its way into the conversation. Tristan Jarry had a rough opener, and Devon Levi gave up seven on Thursday.
By Friday morning, Edmonton was sitting on a league-worst .711 team save percentage. Jarry’s number through one appearance was .739, while Levi was down at .682.
Mike Babcock isn’t sounding alarms yet. “If it wasn’t this early, I might be [worried].”
He pointed instead to the need for better team defense and better protection in front of his goaltenders. That’s the sensible stance this early in the year, especially with Edmonton believing Levi still has real upside.
Bowman has previously pointed to Levi’s long run of AHL success as part of the case for a bigger NHL opportunity.
Still, if those numbers stay ugly for weeks instead of days, the Oilers may not have the luxury of waiting.
And the goaltending isn’t the only part of the problem. Edmonton’s defensive play has been shaky too, and Thursday’s game laid it bare. The Oilers raced out to an 8-2 lead, then watched Vancouver claw back to 8-6 less than eight minutes into the third period.
Connor McDavid liked what he saw for much of the night. “That 40 minutes we have to replicate night in and night out.”
For two periods, Edmonton tracked back well, managed the puck and buried Vancouver. Then the structure slipped, and a game that should have been over suddenly needed one more Oilers goal to settle it.
That’s what makes this such a tricky evaluation. Is the problem really the goalies, or is it the chaos happening in front of them?
Bowman doesn’t need to rush into anything. Two games are too small a sample to force a trade, and Edmonton has time to figure out whether these early defensive issues are just part of settling into Babcock’s system or something more serious. The club also needs more from Jarry and Levi before deciding whether to add another goalie.
But the priorities may already be shifting. A right-shot centre would still help.
Yet if Edmonton keeps scoring in bunches and still can’t put games away cleanly, Bowman’s next move may become clearer than the one he started the season planning. The next few weeks could decide whether the Oilers go after a centre, a defenceman or someone whose main job is simply stopping the puck.
In Other News...
Oilers Suddenly Have A Goalie Opportunity Fans Did Not Expect
The rematch with Vancouver comes quickly for Edmonton, and it arrives with a different look in net than many fans expected. After the season-opening loss, the Oilers are turning to Devon Levi, who is set to make his debut and earn his first start of the 2026-27 season as the club tries to steady itself against the same Canucks team that handed it the opening-night setback.
The crease change comes amid a longer injury shuffle for Edmonton, with Tristan Jarry having struggled and Frederik Andersen sidelined, while the forward group is also taking hits. Zach Hyman will miss the game, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been moved to injured reserve, forcing the Oilers to call up Josh Samanski from the AHL to help fill out the lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Huge Night Still Left Fans Worried About One Problem
The goals came fast and the points piled up in a wild 9-7 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Edmontons second game of the 2026-27 season, the kind of night that showed why this roster can still overwhelm opponents when its best players are rolling. Connor McDavid finished with five points, Leon Draisaitl added two goals and Evan Bouchard kept driving the attack from the back end, giving the Oilers the sort of offensive burst that can make almost any early-season concern feel secondary.
Still, the unease around this start is hard to miss when the scoreline gets that messy. The Oilers were asked to win a track meet, and while they did it, the kind of defensive and goaltending stability this group usually needs never really settled in, leaving fans with plenty to celebrate and one lingering question about how sustainable nights like this can be. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Suddenly Have A Real Chance To Test Josh Samanski
Josh Samanski has quietly become one of the more interesting depth bets in the Oilers system. The 24-year-old German centre signed a two-year entry-level deal ahead of the 2025-26 season after moving from the DEL to Bakersfield, and he already got a taste of the NHL last season when he appeared in 24 games. For a player who profiles as a potential bottom-six or middle-six centre, the next step is less about flash and more about whether his defensive game can translate when the pace tightens.
Now, the Oilers suddenly have a real opening to see what Samanski can handle under pressure. An emergency recall put him back on the NHL roster because of injuries, giving Edmonton a chance to evaluate whether his blend of size, structure and limited offense can hold up against bigger responsibilities. For a team always searching for affordable depth down the middle, his ability to survive this stretch may tell them a lot about how quickly he can move from promising call-up to something more permanent. [Read more 🡒]