This wasn’t the kind of season Edmonton fans will rush to relive, but the Oilers still had a few moments worth saving from the wreckage. After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final trips, the 2025-26 campaign ended with 93 regular-season points, their fewest in any non-COVID season since 2018-19, and a six-game playoff exit at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. Even so, there were some firsts, a few sparks, and a couple of goals that stood out in a year that didn’t offer many.
The biggest of those early milestones belonged to Matt Savoie. On Oct. 30 against the New York Rangers, the rookie got a fortunate bounce off his skate late in a power play and put Edmonton in front.
It wasn’t a highlight-reel finish, but it counted all the same. Savoie kept rolling from there, adding 17 more goals and finishing with his first career hat trick in the season finale against the Vancouver Canucks.
He was excellent after the Olympics, and if that stretch carries over, he has a real chance to grow into a top-six role.
Isaac Howard also got on the board for the first time in the NHL, doing it earlier in the season on Oct. 21 against the Ottawa Senators. Connor McDavid forced a turnover on the forecheck, Leon Draisaitl collected the loose puck, and Howard buried a one-timer from the slot. Howard’s overall NHL impact was limited - he played 29 games and finished with two goals and five points - but he was outstanding in the American Hockey League, where he scored 24 goals and totaled 50 points.
Another first came from Josh Samanski, who joined the team in the second half and settled into the bottom six. His first NHL goal arrived on March 21 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and it was a strange one: the Lightning won the puck near the corner, a pass back to the open defenceman took an odd bounce off his stick, and the puck ended up in the net.
His first career playoff goal in Game 2 was a much cleaner finish. Howard, Savoie, and Samanski all look like players who could be part of Edmonton’s lineup going forward.
Of the other three players who scored their first NHL goal last season, only one is still in the organization.
Connor Clattenburg also hit a personal milestone, scoring his first career goal in a blowout loss to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 25. The fifth-round pick from the 2024 draft has the kind of game that makes opponents miserable and teammates happy to have him around.
Noah Philp added another first, scoring his opening NHL goal on Oct. 11 against the Canucks. On a rush chance, Kasperi Kapanen fed him as he drove the net, and the right-shot centre finished it off.
Philp appeared in 15 games for Edmonton before being claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes. He played two games with the Stanley Cup champions, then spent the rest of the season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
This summer, he signed in Sweden and joined David Tomášek in Europe.
Tomášek’s time with the Oilers was short, since his contract was terminated in late December, but he still had a moment to remember. On Oct. 23 against the Montréal Canadiens, he took a pass near the point and ripped it past the netminder for his first goal. After leaving Edmonton, Tomášek represented Czechia at the 2026 Olympics and lost to Canada in the quarterfinals.
Beyond the first-goal club, there were only a few other bright spots in a season that never really found its footing. Zach Hyman’s return was one of them.
Injured in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, he didn’t make his season debut until Edmonton’s 20th game. Working back from a dislocated wrist, he managed just two assists in his first six games before finally scoring against the Seattle Kraken on Nov.
- That game had some extra edge to it, too, since Mason Marchment - the player who injured him - was with Seattle at the time.
Once Hyman got that first one, the floodgates opened. He scored 27 goals and 41 points over his next 38 games, and finished the season with 31 goals and 52 points in 58 games. That put him on pace for 43 goals and 73 points over a full 82-game schedule.
Jack Roslovic also delivered a pair of memorable moments after signing early in the season. On Nov. 10 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, he took a late penalty with Edmonton trailing by a goal, but Jake Walman tied it up and Roslovic later scored the overtime winner on a breakaway. In the next game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Oilers were tied after 60 minutes again, and Roslovic came through once more, this time finishing off a two-man breakaway setup from Savoie for the extra point.
He couldn’t keep the streak alive on Nov. 15, when Edmonton fell 5-4 to the Blue Jackets, but the run still put him in rare company. The record for consecutive games with an overtime goal belongs to Andrew Cogliano, who did it in 2007-08.
It wasn’t a season Edmonton will remember fondly. Still, even in a year that fell short, there were enough individual moments to fill a highlight reel.
In Other News...
Bowman Says The Oilers Are Set But Bakersfield Looms Large
The Oilers may be content with where their NHL roster stands right now, but the conversation around the team is hardly finished. Executive Stan Bowman has said the group is set for the moment, even as the reality of a long season usually brings injuries, slumps and the need for a fresh look. That makes the pipeline in Bakersfield especially important, because Edmonton will almost certainly need help from below at some point.
The names worth tracking are beginning to line up, with Isaac Howard and William Nicholl viewed as candidates to help either right away or not long after, while Owen Michaels and Josh Samanski are also edging closer to NHL readiness. For the Oilers, the significance of that depth is not just about filling a temporary hole, but about having real options when the season starts to push the roster in different directions. Bakersfield may end up mattering far more than the quiet confidence of a set lineup suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Vasily Podkolzin Gave The Oilers An Edge Fans Noticed
Vasily Podkolzin has brought a different sort of edge to the Oilers this season, one that fans notice long before the box score catches up. Edmonton has been involved in plenty of scrums across the 2025-26 campaign, and Podkolzin has been right in the middle of that identity shift, stepping into the rough stuff and setting a tone that fits a team willing to get greasy when the game calls for it.
He has led the Oilers in fights and come out on top in several of the more notable ones, including bouts with Peyton Krebs and Anthony Cirelli. And he has not been alone in adding some bite to the lineup, with Connor Murphy and Connor Clattenburg also dropping the gloves more than once, giving Edmonton a physical presence that has become part of the conversation around this group. [Read more 🡒]
Russian Stars Absence Leaves International Hockey Facing Unseen Cost
The International Ice Hockey Federations decision to keep Russia out of major tournaments is reverberating well beyond the bracket sheets, with the ban now set to cover the 2027 Mens World Championship, the 2027 World Junior Championship and the upcoming U18 mens and womens events. The move came after Russias hockey organization sought a fresh review, but the federation stood by its earlier call, citing safety, security and sporting integrity concerns.
For a sport that still prides itself on global competition, the absence of Russian teams leaves a visible hole in events that shape the next wave of stars and establish the pecking order among hockey powers. The on-ice consequences are obvious, but the larger question lingers too: how long can international hockey keep drawing its lines this way before the political backdrop starts changing the game itself? [Read more 🡒]