Adam Proteau says the Oilers' biggest questions are Connor McDavid's run at Mike Bossy's record, new contract extensions for stars Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, and the effect Edmonton's new players will have on their bottom line.
Welcome to the newest edition of THN.com’s series breaking down the key issues facing every NHL team.
Today, we’re looking at three key issues facing the Edmonton Oilers.
1. How long will Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard’s contract speculation last into the season?
The short answer to this question is, “all season long”. With much of the Oilers roster locked up through 2025-26 – and that includes goalies Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, defensemen Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, Josh Brown and Troy Stecher, and forwards Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane, Viktor Arvidsson, Adam Henrique and Mattias Janmark – the focus has shifted to Draisaitl and Bouchard’s long-term status with Edmonton.
New Oilers GM Stan Bowman has already come out and stated he won’t be negotiating new deals through the media. Still, you can bet he and C.E.O. of hockey operations Jeff Jackson will do everything possible to get Bouchard’s and Draisaitl’s signatures on contract extensions. Edmonton media and fans are not going to sit back quietly while waiting for the two young stars to settle on new contracts, and if there are no new contracts to announce before the season begins, Draisaitl and Bouchard are likely going to face nightly questions about their commitment to the team.
It’s not going to get ugly in Edmonton, but it could easily get uncomfortable for the duo. But that’s just the reality of existing in a salary cap world where everyone knows what your short-term and long-term financial flexibility looks like. The longer Draisaitl and Bouchard go without extensions, the more anxious people will get about their future.
2. Can Connor McDavid hit Mike Bossy’s total of 656 games to get to 1,000 points, and be the third-fastest in NHL history to do so?
Bossy set the league record in an altogether different era, one in which it was relatively easier to rack up points. But if anyone can do it, it’s McDavid, who currently has 982 points in 645 games. He’d need 18 points in 11 games this coming year to tie Bossy’s record, so it certainly won’t be easy, and if we’re being honest, we’d bet against McDavid setting a new mark in that area. But McDavid is the closest thing hockey has to a one-man gang, and he showed this past season – especially in the playoffs, where he posted an astonishing 34 assists and 42 points in 25 games – he’s more than capable of putting up more than one point per game.
McDavid almost single-handedly carried the Oilers to their first Cup win since 1990, and as an individual, he’s as dominant as any player in the modern era. But Bossy’s record is going to be difficult to improve on, and McDavid might miss out on setting a new mark by just a handful of games. In any case, such an achievement is no small feat, and fans in Edmonton know full well what a special athlete McDavid is. By the time he’s finished his NHL career, he’ll be the owner of many records, but this one will likely elude him.
3. After adding a few veterans in free agency but losing a couple of youngsters, is this Oilers team better than last year’s team?
Full disclosure: this writer picked Edmonton’s opponent to win in every playoff round this past season, and only in the Cup final were we proven right. But after Bowman picked up several new players – forwards Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Vasily Podkolzin, and D-men Josh Brown and Ty Emberson – we believe the Oilers aren’t notably better than they were in 2023-24, particularly on defense. The same? Maybe. But better? No. And losing youngsters Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to the St. Louis Blues via offer sheets didn’t help matters.
Now, that’s not to say Bowman can’t improve his defense corps once the season begins. Edmonton is essentially capped out at the moment, with only $945,833 in cap space, but if Kane stays off the long-term injured reserve to begin the season, the Oilers will begin accruing cap space to use at or before the trade deadline. Edmonton is as all-in as any NHL team, but like most franchises, they’ll still have to tweak their lineup as the season unfolds. And if they can add one more experienced hand on the back end, the Oilers could have what it takes to win it all.
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Correction: The Oilers can accrue cap space when nobody is on the long-term injured reserve, not if Kane is on LTIR. Dylan Holloway's name has also been corrected.