The Edmonton Oilers are still living off the strength of their core, but the Pacific Division is starting to look a lot less forgiving around them.
After a 2026 first-round Stanley Cup playoff loss to the Anaheim Ducks and a messy start to the offseason that included coaching drama, Edmonton heads toward the 2026-27 NHL season with more uncertainty than usual. The club is healthy and rested, which matters.
So does the fact that Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard remain the kind of top-end talent that can keep a team afloat. But the questions hanging over the roster are real: what happens with Darnell Nurse, how does the goaltending shake out and what kind of impact will new head coach Mike Babcock have?
There’s also the issue of time. Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are getting older, and for a team built around stars and experience, that clock matters.
At the same time, Edmonton’s rivals are not standing still.
The San Jose Sharks may have made the loudest leap at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, landing Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin in the first round. Stenberg, who represented Sweden at the 2026 IIHF Men’s Hockey World Championship, turned heads with a goal against Team Slovakia that had scouts questioning whether he should have gone first overall.
He looks NHL-ready now, and if he clicks with Macklin Celebrini, that’s a dangerous combination. Verhoeff, once projected as a top-three pick, fell to ninth, while Lin, a defenseman with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League, adds another piece to the blue line.
The Sharks are younger, deeper and better than they were before the draft.
Then there’s Anaheim, which may already be closer to the top of the division than anyone else.
The Ducks beat the Oilers in six games in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs and followed that by pushing the Vegas Golden Knights to six games in round two. That kind of run changes the temperature around a team.
Anaheim also used the offseason to get even younger, sending Mason McTavish to the St. Louis Blues for two first-round picks - #15 Nikita Klepov and #28 Marcus Nordmark - and moving veteran defenseman John Carlson to the Carolina Hurricanes for Kyle Masters and a sixth-round pick.
Pat Verbeek didn’t touch the core of Leo Carlsson, Beckett Sennecke and Jackson LaCombe, but he did keep feeding the youth movement.
Edmonton should still be ahead of the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, and right now it looks better positioned than the Seattle Kraken, Los Angeles Kings and the aging Golden Knights. Vegas could still change that if Kelly McCrimmon pulls another rabbit out of the hat.
That leaves the Oilers in a strange spot: still dangerous, still talented, but no longer comfortably alone in the division conversation. Stan Bowman’s offseason will matter.
If he can find a legitimate starting goalie and get a strong return for Nurse, Edmonton has a chance to steady itself. If not, the gap that once seemed wide could keep shrinking fast.
Free agency opens in just a few days, and for the Oilers, it feels like a critical stretch.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Suddenly Look Vulnerable In The Dylan Larkin Chase
Dylan Larkins name has quickly moved to the front of the rumor mill, and the Golden Knights are among the teams watching closely. The Red Wings center is drawing interest from multiple contenders, with Vegas joined by the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars in the pursuit as clubs try to gauge whether Detroit will even entertain moving a player who sits at the center of its plans.
For Vegas, the larger concern is that the chase is suddenly looking crowded and harder to control. Steve Yzerman has offered no guarantees on a possible trade request, which keeps every option on the table for Detroit and leaves the Golden Knights trying to read a market that could swing fast if the situation changes. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Extend Carl Lindbom And Signal A Bigger Crease Plan
The Golden Knights have locked in another piece of their organizational pipeline by extending Carl Lindbom on a three-year deal, a move that keeps one of their better young goaltending bets in the fold as the team continues sorting out its long-range picture in the crease. Lindbom got a brief look in Vegas last season, but his steadier work came with the Henderson Silver Knights, where he looked far more comfortable and reinforced why the organization views him as more than just depth.
For a club that has had to think carefully about succession in net, the timing matters as much as the contract itself. The extension also keeps Lindbom waiver-exempt for the 2026-27 season, which gives the Golden Knights flexibility while they decide how quickly to push him upward, and it signals that the next step could be a larger one, possibly even a future backup role in Vegas. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Just Lost A Scorer They Couldnt Afford To Keep
The Golden Knights had to make a painful calculus decision with Pavel Dorofeyev, a player whose offense had become part of their nightly identity. Vegas turned the forward into future assets, landing the 26th and 92nd picks in the 2026 NHL Draft along with a 2028 first-rounder, a return that gives the organization some long-term flexibility even as it strips away a current source of scoring.
What makes the move sting for Vegas is the timing and the cap picture around it. The club now has roughly $12.55 million to address four roster spots, and finding a way to replace Dorofeyevs production will not be simple, whether the answer comes through a big swing on the market or a series of smaller repairs. For a team that has built its identity on staying competitive, this is the sort of subtraction that can ripple well beyond one lineup card. [Read more 🡒]