The Puck IQ snapshot from last season points to a pretty clear truth about the Oilers: the star power is right where you’d expect it, but the middle and bottom of the forward group still need work.
Connor McDavid is easy to spot. Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Matt Savoie also show up in strong territory, with most people likely sorting those names in a slightly different order than the graph does.
The bigger takeaway comes after that. Once you move past that elite core, the picture gets murkier.
If Savoie is back sooner rather than later and Hyman stays healthy, Edmonton still has most of two strong outscoring lines built around that group of four on the right side of the chart. The rest of the top six is where the questions start.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen are clustered together in a spot that says they were facing elite competition but not producing the kind of outscoring a contender wants. That’s not especially surprising.
Nugent-Hopkins had to spend more time at center after Jan. 1, while Podkolzin and Kapanen spent 10-plus games without Draisaitl down the stretch.
A new coach could reasonably lean on combinations that already have some experience together. That could mean Nugent-Hopkins with McDavid and Hyman, and Podkolzin with Draisaitl and Kapanen. That version of the top six, at least on paper, looks very competitive.
The depth chart tells its own story. Jason Dickinson was used against elites more than any other forward in the second half, measured as a share of his overall minutes, but the results were rough, in part because of an 87.9 PDO. Josh Samanski and Trent Frederic stand out as possible fits with Dickinson, though that would leave three lefties on a checking line and create a need for a right-handed center who can win faceoffs.
Farther down in the lower-left area, there are players who often end up in other hockey cities the next season. Ike Howard got some elite minutes too, though it’s possible some of those came alongside McDavid.
Looking at the whole picture, Stan Bowman’s offseason followed a logical path based on the graph. If he had added Andrew Mangiapane, Adam Henrique and Curtis Lazar, that would have looked odd.
With Savoie and Mattias Janmark dealing with injuries, one possible opening-night alignment would be Nugent-Hopkins-McDavid-Hyman, Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Howard, Joseph-Dickinson-Kapanen and Dach-Samanski-Frederic. Your mileage may vary.
In Other News...
Former Teammate's Evander Kane Criticism Will Get Canucks Fans Talking
Former NHL winger Kurtis Gabriel has revisited his time with Evander Kane in San Jose, and the picture he painted was not a flattering one. Gabriel described Kane as a disruptive presence in the locker room, but he also stopped short of turning the comments into a simple takedown, offering a measure of empathy and suggesting there may have been personal issues driving some of the behavior.
For Oilers fans, any conversation around Kane tends to carry extra weight because of the way his career has followed him from stop to stop. Gabriel pointed to the Sharks ending Kanes contract in 2022 after alleged COVID-19 protocol violations, a reminder of how often the wingers off-ice questions have shadowed his on-ice reputation and kept him at the center of scrutiny. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Savoie Faces An Early Oilers Setback At Worst Time
Matt Savoies momentum from a strong rookie season has hit an unwelcome detour before the next one even begins. After scoring 18 goals and finishing with 37 points in 82 games, while also giving the Oilers useful minutes on the penalty kill, he had positioned himself as one of the more intriguing young pieces in the lineup heading into a new year and a new head coach.
Instead, the first real checkpoint of his 2026-27 season is already in doubt after an offseason-training injury will cost him the start of camp and most of October. The Oilers can handle a short absence from a developing player, but the longer this recovery drags on, the more it affects where Savoie fits when the roster starts to settle and the seasons early roles get sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers May Be Forced To Revisit A Familiar Goalie Plan
The Oilers are already looking ahead to a goaltending question that could shape their 2026-27 roster, with Frederik Andersen expected to miss the start of the season. That leaves Edmonton potentially exploring the market for help, and two familiar names are naturally coming back into the conversation because of their previous ties to the organization.
Connor Ingram and Cam Talbot have both been floated as possible solutions, which gives the Oilers a pair of experienced options who would at least know the market and the pressure that comes with playing here. The complication is that Edmontons goalie depth chart is already crowded, so any outside addition would require more than just identifying the right fit, it would also mean making room for him. [Read more 🡒]