EDMONTON — So close, yet so far.
The Edmonton Oilers came one goal away from walking away with the Stanley Cup. Alas, it did not come to pass. Now the Oilers join 31 other teams in pursuing the sport’s greatest achievement for the 2024-25 season.
The Oilers are already considered a heavy favorite to take home the trophy for the upcoming season. There are three factors that will help the Oilers walk home the champions this season, rather than the first runner up.
Continued Defensive Development
The Oilers took tremendous strides in their defensive game this past season. The team finished the regular season with the 15th best penalty kill (79.5%). They were first in the postseason with a 94.3% penalty kill percentage.
One area they took a big leap forward in was goals against per game. This past season they averaged 2.88 goals against per game (GA/GP). In 2022-23 they finished with a 3.12 GA/GP.
Part of that improvement involved limiting how many shots their goaltenders faced. In 2022-23 they allowed 31.4 shots on goal per game. In 2023-24 that improved to 28.1, fifth fewest in the NHL.
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Kris Knoblauch deserves all the credit in the world for helping the team play a better all-around defensive game. A full training camp with him at the helm will only help solidify the team’s place as a team that plays excellent defense.
Better Start to the Season
Getting off to a 3-9-1 start is not a recipe for success. Despite falling flat on their face out of the gate, the Oilers managed to write their own Cinderella story over the course of the season.
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This season, they will need to start the year on time. It’s always better to play from a position of strength. Now that this team knows what it’s like to battle and claw for position, that adversity has steeled their resolve to play better from the jump.
To make things easier for themselves, they cannot dig a hole early in the season. Right from game one they need to be at their best. This will put them in the best position to succeed over the course of the entire season.
Healthy Evander Kane For the Playoffs
Evander Kane only played two games in the Stanley Cup Final. For the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup, they need Kane to be healthy. His tenacity, physicality and goal scoring prowess are tailor made for playoff hockey.
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His health affected his effectiveness during the playoffs. It’s easy to argue that a healthy Kane could have been the difference the Oilers needed to walk away with a Stanley Cup instead of the Florida Panthers.
Kane finished the playoffs with eight points in 20 games. That was only three points more than the 2022-23 postseason, where he played eight less games. The Oilers will need the Kane from the 2021-22 playoffs, where he registered 17 points in 15 games. Of those 17 points, 13 were goals.
With an improved defensive game, a better start from the hop and a healthy Kane, it would be hard to not see the Oilers as a heavy favorite to win it all.
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