For a franchise that joined the league 50 years after the Boston Bruins, the Edmonton Oilers have an exceptional lore about them.
Early in the 2026-27 season, veteran Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is poised to pass Kevin Lowe on the all-time Oilers games played list. Lowe’s record has held for almost 30 years, and I wonder now if the Nuge will hold the crown for the rest of my lifetime. I think he might.
Leon Draisaitl isn’t far behind, and was chosen three years later. Odds favour Leon getting more NHL games. I’m not sure they will be in Edmonton, and that answer won’t come for at least a couple of seasons, maybe more.
- Draisaitl career: 855GP, 434-619-1053
- Messer career: 851GP, 392-642-1034
I’m struck by how similar these numbers are, and how impressive Draisaitl looks alongside Messier. Draisaitl is playing in a lower scoring era, as Messier was off to Manattan by fall 1991. Two all-time greats, man we’ve been lucky to watch this show.
Connor McDavid is on his own moon (709GP, 409-811-1220), he’s a dream player who makes the impossible routine. I cannot begin to describe what he means to this franchise.
Gretzky is out there beyond the farthest possible star, his Oilers career (696GP, 583-1086-1669) totals a road hockey lifetime delivered against the best men on the planet.
I remember when Gretzky’s rights were sold (it was a sale), John Short told me Edmonton would never be the same, and neither would 99. That’s the reality of change. All we can hope for is to recognize the best times as they happen. These are the good old days.
On the Lowdown today, our feature guests will be Steve Lansky (in studio) and Jason Gregor and we’ll talk Elks, Oilers, Jays at the trade deadline and more. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube. See you on the radio!
An Edmonton Oilers roster tweak that could help their Stanley Cup chances
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7471196/2026/07/27/edmonton-oilers-trade-targets-roster-centre-depth/
I am, not unlike Reja, fond of the idea of a Dach family reunion in Oilerville. But that’s a sentimental take, at least on my part.
I loved a little of what KD showed in the playoffs. However… As someone who watches the Habs and the Oilers, and who reads about both, the only reason to trade for KD is because you think you can unlock his high draft promise. It hasn’t happened with wunderkind MSL, hence the one-year, show-me extension. Is MB the guy? What might GMSB know that HuGo and MSL don’t?
I am a sentimentalist, but even I am of the opinion to, “Keep the powder dry.”
Dach was huge during the Chicago play in round. It’s too bad his career hasn’t unfolded the way it should have.
I haven’t followed him since then much,
NHL edge has him at the 94th percentile for skating top speed which is crazy for a guy who is 6’4 and 220.
The ACL injury hasn’t seemed to impact his speed. What are you seeing as the lingering issues?
I’d certainly have time for Kirby.
I don’t have a lot of insight on KD. He presents as a player with lots of potential. He’s not realizing it in Montreal, where they —like LT— would like to see him as the no. 2. centre. Last year, rookie Oliver Kapanen (our Kappy’s cousin) became that guy. Then, in the playoffs, Jake Evans. Habs, like the Oilers, are looking for the same player, despite LT’s view that the Habs are deep at centre. They want/need a player who’ll complement Demidov. Again, maybe it’s just bad luck (injuries ) for KD?
This isn’t really true. He had 1 burst over 35km/h that was his 94th percentile.
He was below 55th percentile in mid-tier bursts/game and below 50 in average bursts.
You could certainly point to injury, but 1 burst with 27 seconds left in the game (6 on 5) may be the holy grail of small sample sizes.
He’s a player of interest if his legs aren’t toast. He had a couple of plays like Stahl for goals. When guys that size that can skate go to the net they are not easy to stop. But given his career they are probably not up to NHL hockey
I can see Bowman buying low on Kirby if he doesn’t get out of the chute in Montreal this year. Bowman drafted both Colton and Kirby. When Kirby is on he’s like a wrecking ball same as Colton. You obviously see the potential in Kirby as I do. Could you imagine a line of Colton-Kirby-Clattenburg facing off against the Tkachuk brothers. I would personally fly to Florida and get seats in row 1 directly behind the net. The Tkachuk clan wouldn’t be pulling any stunts facing off against that line. Make it happen Bowman either this year or his free agency year next summer.
There is no such thing as buying low when the contract been acquired is 3X value.
Colton/Kirby/Clatt would be a line every opposition coach would LOVE to see as they’d likely get scored on at least a few times a game:
LW: A nice young player with some upside that is non-estabsliehd and a poor defensive player so far.
C: A once high end prospect who’s ceiling has been massively lowered via injury, who is a bad 2-way player, not a centre and does not always provide full effort
RW: A player that is not ready to play in the NHL
From all accounts out of Montreal that I’ve heard/read, Dach is highly frustrating player that does not always play 100% committed and is very poor 2-way.
He is a shadow of his pre-injury self and it seems the injuries have massively lowered his ceiling.
He is definitely not a center at the NHL level any more and I wouldn’t touch him for his current cap hit and likely anything over $1.225MM.
Mathieu Joseph likely adds more to the Oilers lineup at this point.
Sather traded for a dozen of those guys and more than a few worked out.
The Pat Price for Pat Hughes is one of my favourite trades as Sather liked his 3rd line centres whether it was Hughes or Linesman. I remember going to the Hughes 5 goal game getting off the LRT and the walk to the Coliseum was so cold that your eyes would freeze shut if you didn’t blink fast enough. We walloped the Flames 10-5 with no Kurri-Gretzky-Messier as Pat was basically the 1st line centre with PP minutes as well. I remember Pat could have had 7-8 goals that game. I don’t think I ever seen a fight where Hughes lost. Here’s a fun fact for you Pat Price one year had 322 minutes that is more than twice as many as the league leader last year. The thing is Pat Price wasn’t remembered for fighting as he was a very talented D-man.
Sure, much less risk when there is no salary cap.
Taking a flyer on the player at $1MM and $3.6MM are not equatable.
If he’s so terrible why did the Habs qualify him? There’s more to Hockey than just getting 3rd touch PP points in the regular season. I could see Kirby upping the ante playing with his baby brother.
This is my sentimentalist wish, too: that playing together the bros are greater than the sum of their parts. Right now, KD has been qualified for a one-year, prove-it contract because the Habs see the glimmers of the gold they thought they’d traded for, but only glimmers. You’re a fan of the sandpaper/grit, but some in Habsville question his willingness to play hard (which may be a consequence of his delicate physique/history of injury?).
I don’t think KD is the risk that’s needed here in Oilerville.
Why would the Habs qualify Dach for 3.6 million if he’s not worth a minimum salary 775,000? The Habs are in no danger of the cap floor. Again If Dach is so useless and uncoachable why again would the Habs qualify him? Dach is only 25 I would think every team in the league would line-up all night to have him at league minimum. As for the Kirby-Colton-Clattenburg line never materializing we shall see.
The Habs qualified him on a 2-way deal which is VERY odd business for an established player – there is clearly somethink up there and, in any event, a management team making a decision does not mean it was good – all managers make poor decision.
As I said, I’d take a flyer on him at $1MM but nowhere near the anchor of his $3.6MM
What kind of package could Edmonton use to acquire Marchenko?
Dicussed earlier but I say starts with Podkolzin and 2 other top assets.
The bigger question is related to the $10MM he would require in a year.
I disagree that is an isssue…I mean, it is, but we could also pump and dump him, sell high with a sign and trade and replenish our cupboards a bit to offset his acquisition cost after he scores 40+ on Leon’s wing. We get an elite power winger for a year then turn around and flip him for a first, prospect, ++
Ya, perhaps but that’s a lot of moving parts and, after this season, he’s one year away from UFA with arb rights – he has the ability to force a one year deal taking him to UFA – its a high player leverage situation that essentially allows him to choose his team as no-one will trade for him without knowing he’ll be signing long term. Its essentially trade protection.
Power winger? He’s not very physical and generally shoots from mid-range. Podz had more high danger chances last year, Marchenko is big, fast and skilled but not a Hyman / Podkolzin type of player.
I wouldn’t do it. Marchenko is a nice player who scores at a high-end 2nd line pace, similar to Podkolzin. Florida picked up Tkachuk without sending any roster players back to Ottawa, that’s the route the Oilers need to go here.
The Oilers will not sit back on the PK. Just like the playing up tempo and with pressure in the neutral zone and defensive zone, there will be pressure on the PK.
They will have lots to teach on the pressure PK but they are going to do it.
Stauff asked Smith about less Bouchard on the PK and Smith would NOT agree on that. He is high on Bouchard’s abilities.
The stunningly good PK of the 2024 Cup run was aggressive. If I remember correctly, the loss of a few key pieces (Deharnais, McLeod) and Janmark’s rumoured injury, had a significant impact on that PK. The more passive PK we saw last year was, we were told, a response to a 2024-25 PK that the rest of the league had figured out. It had its moments (but only when both RNH and Henrique were healthy).
I like the aggressive style. It needs quick confidence. I look forward to what that might look like in the coming season.
Smith says they are working hard during the summer to finalize d structure but it’s going to be a hybrid. They will 100% more competitive and absolutely they are going to pressure pressure pressure.
DJ Smith implies that there may be a chance Ek and Bouch play apart at times to make the team the best. You do need to tinker to ensure you know what options are changes are forced. A bunch of new guys on D so they will work is to see what works best for the group and the team.
Stauf back today and said we can rest assured the Oilers will add at some point and it’s likely to be a top 6 forward. He did not say this would be this off-season but spoke about how much cap space they could have with accrual.
The most productive wingers of the McDavid / Drai era have been:
1) Hyman
2) Nuge
3) Maroon?
4) Podkolzin??
5) Yamamoto???
Since Hall and Ebs departed, Connor and Leon have largely had scraps to work with in the top-6.
The cap space, along with Podz, Savoie, and maybe Howard coming along means they might finally have two lethal lines.
McDavid somewhat emotional when talking about losing Nurse and how much he’s meant to the group and him personally. On the other hand, very excited for the new additions.
Leon needs 41 goals to pass Jari Kurri for 2nd on the Oilers all-time scoring list. See you in March.
See you in December 😉
If you think the Oiler players have it harder now with the scrutiny they receive you should have listened to the fans rant on the after hours segment with John Short back in the day. Coffey-Messier-Fuhr were always the 3 favourite targets if we didn’t win.
I remember the calls in ‘83 after the sweep that Gretzky was too small for playoff hockey and would never win a cup.
I don’t imagine Leon being traded any time in the near to medium future – health provided, this will be his trophy even though Nuge played at 18.
What do you think he would do if McDavid decided to leave?
That’s easy: request a trade to the juggernaut Utah Mammoth. Why do you even have to ask???
I’d expect him to keep collecting $14M a season here. He does have more than one friend.
I think Leon will try to win it aka Messier. If they get a couple of really good players in return for Connor. I do think Leon sticks around as long they have top 10 chance to win anything less he’ll ask for a trade and that’ll be it for Batman-Robin.
It’s an interesting thought experiment.
Assuming McDavid plays both remaining seasons the remaining lineup looks scary.
Draisaitl – 33
Nuge – 35
Dickinson – 33
Frederic – 30
Podkholzin – 27
Bouchard – 28
Walman – 33
Murphy – 35
Ekholm – 38
Shea – 31
Of course there would be additions but all the listed players except Podkholzin have some form of trade protection making moving them out more difficult.
I also wonder if Bouchard would stick around if Connor leaves and championship chances diminish. With his NMC, he can go straight to UFA status in 29/30
Stan has a lot of work to do and not many prime assets to work with.
This isn’t a thought experiment. This is you sharing with us that you are smelling your own farts, although no one asked.
It is good to know. Thanks.
My favourite part of this is where you ignored every single young player that will still be on the team to point out the Oilers will have just 7 players over 30 and one over 35.
You also ignored the $62M in cap space they’ll have.
Exactly which ones are under contract at that point?
Oh, so under contract but not RFAs that can’t leave? Weird. Let’s do Columbus then, shall we?
Nickushkin – 33
Coyle – 36
Garland – 32
Monahan – 33
Olivier – 31
Wood – 32
Provorov – 31
Severson – 33
Fabbro – 30
Wow, do those guys suck. They’d better trade Marchenko while they can!
Yes they do suck.
However drawing comparisons to a struggling franchise hardly bolsters whatever point you’re trying to make.
Actually, it very much proves my point. In an earlier thread, you had 5 guys better than Podkolzin ready to go. In this thread, not one of those guys is under contract. It proves how ridiculous it is to look at that way. Good times. You just proved me right.
Wanna see San Jose or Anaheim? There are a whole 119 players under 30 league-wide that are signed to a contract with three or more years remaining. That’s a whole 4 per team. Your exercise excludes players like Macklin Celebrini and is the epitome of cherry-picked stats. Maybe troll harder?
Oh I know this one – he will say that $62 million isn’t that much because teams are signing star players to very rich contracts now.
He will say the key is for the Oilers to start accumulating picks to start drafting and developing players.
But if the Oilers start drafting and developing, he will say the Oilers should stop wasting their time and trade picks for young and cheap talent who have potential.
But then if the Oilers trade picks for young and cheap talent who have potential, he will say they should spend their assets on more proven players on good contracts and have the capspace to accomodate them.
But if the Oilers trade for proven players, he will say they are too old and the Oilers should be drafting and developing their own players instead.
Welcome to the Fibonacci Loop of Infinite Goal Post Moving.
It’s fun to watch him squirm! Like, Marchenko is gonna be traded for more than Dorofoyev but McDavid will get a 3rd rounder and a ham sandwich 🤣
Do the loop in reverse you get the “I can knob if” loop in my head.
Like okay now pretend vegas is edmonton and do your thing….i can knob if you don’t want for you.
I actually think Bowman has been quietly rounding up 25ish year-old from all different angles. Bowman has filled the cupboards back-up on the forward front and has finally found some goaltending that Holland couldn’t do after the Campbell flop.
Be the best player on the Oilers and compete nightly.
Why do you think Draisaitl committed to the Oilers for another 8 years without knowing what McDavid would do?
The 2012-13 Lockout kept RNH to just 40 games in his second season so Drai ended up 7 games ahead after their second seasons and Drai is currently 54 games ahead of RNH’s pace.
At times the stats that are brought up during the season and playoff runs for our dynamic duo are just incredible to witness and process exactly what’s being accomplished. I find this Messier stat to be of that nature.
I know we had the balance photo a couple years back, but this year feels different. Like Bowman is at a major poker tournament, he has the cap space, and I’m just waiting for his “all in” moment. Sadly, that will mean even more picks and prospects out but every living person on the planet knows McDavid has to win a cup, at this point, it’s just necessary.
The Connor McDavid on his own moon paragraph, the math doesn’t add up for his total points LT