3 key factors for the Oilers’ 2024/25 season
By Noah Pomeroy on October 7, 2024
It has been a very quick three months since the Oilers were one win away from winning the Stanley Cup.
The Edmonton Oilers are already gearing up for this upcoming regular season.
A lot needs to go right for the Oilers to return to the Stanley Cup Final, but players, management, and fans believe this team is even stronger than last year.
So here are the biggest key factors for this Oilers team.
The stars got to keep shining:
Connor McDavid:
The fact that Connor McDavid will only keep getting better must keep teams terrified at night.
The 2024 Conn Smyth winner had yet another masterclass season by racking up a milestone 100 assists, and don’t forget his 42 points in 25 games in the playoffs.
I’m excited to see what McDavid could bring this season, as he is only 18 points from hitting the 1000 points mark. He will likely end up in the top five fastest players to hit that milestone, depending on how fast he does it.
McDavid’s brilliance on the ice is the engine that drives this Oilers team, and his continued dominance will be essential for another deep playoff run.
Leon Draisaitl:
Leon Draisaitl is entering the last year of his $68-million deal before his newly signed $112-million deal ($14 million average annual value) over the next eight years kicks in.
He is coming off his fifth 100-point season and is looking to get back into the 50-goal club this season.
Like McDavid, Draisaitl’s performance will be key in keeping the Oilers among the league’s elite.
Zach Hyman:
Zach Hyman is coming off an incredible season with 54 regular-season goals and 16 in the playoffs. Sixty goals in a year is not bad for a player who only gets paid $5.5 million AAV for the next four years.
While it’s unlikely he will repeat that miracle season, as long as he can pick up at least 35 goals, his contract is still one of the best in the league.
The new guys in town:
Jeff Skinner:
Jeff Skinner signed a one-year $3 million deal with the Oilers this offseason—a reasonably low price for the former 40-goal-scorer.
After a down year in Buffalo last season, expect Skinner to have a bounce-back season with the Oilers and another dangerous goal scorer in the top six.
I could realistically see 25 or more goals this season on that second line and power play unit.
Viktor Arvidsson:
Former L.A. King Viktor Arvidsson signed a two-year deal with the Oilers worth $4 million AAV. He is another goal-scorer added to this team, with five seasons where he has scored more than 20 goals.
I do not doubt that Arvidsson can hit that 20-goal mark again as long as he stays healthy this year. Arvidsson only played 18 games last season due to a back injury that required surgery.
Ty Emberson:
Acquired from a trade with the Sharks, Ty Emberson is going to have to be the replacement for Cody Ceci on the second pairing.
Ty Emberson was named the best defensive defenseman in the AHL’s Eastern Conference in the 2022-23 season during his time with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
That will be a lot of pressure for a player who has only played 30 NHL games, but looked really reliable in the short stint, with the looks of being one of the league’s next up-and-coming defensive defensemen.
Overcoming playoff fatigue:
This Oilers team has played a lot of hockey over the past year, and fatigue could be a real issue going into the season.
Evander Kane is already going to miss the first part of the season with a long list of injuries that includes a sports hernia, torn adductors and injuries to his lower abdominal muscles.
Leon Draisaitl played with a hand and rib injury during the cup final. Connor McDavid had surgery for an abdominal injury that he got during the playoff run. Will this affect them for this upcoming season?
Now, with the short offseason, the physical and mental toll of back-to-back long playoff runs could affect the team, and managing fatigue will be essential to their success this year.