The Edmonton Oilers are coming off a devastating loss in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers, where they came back after a 3-0 series deficit to force game seven. They ultimately lost but have retooled their roster and are looking like a contender once again with wins in 11 of their last 13 games.
Teams returning to the Finals is starting to become a theme as four teams have made it back in the following year with the Lightning going to three straight Stanley Cup finals from 2020 to 2022.
This season, the West looks like the Oilers to take as regular contenders in Dallas, Colorado and last year’s breakout team Vancouver have all seen their hardships to start the season with Edmonton’s biggest competition looking like Vegas or Winnipeg.
The Oilers path to the Conference Finals was easier than normal last season as they played the Kings and Canucks, who both had inexperienced teams and played a Stars team that played a far tougher schedule against the Golden Knights and Avalanche.
Vegas was pushed into the opposite end of the bracket as they struggled to find consistency and placed in the first wild card spot, leading to their matchup with Dallas.
They were downed in a hard fought series but had the off-season to fill certain holes and have comeback stronger with a 23-8-3 record to start the season. Edmonton’s road to the finals will run through Vegas as they likely won’t slide into a wild card spot and will face the Oilers in the first or second round.
It will be a very challenging series and one that the Oilers may not win as the Golden Knights are used to postseason success with a 57-38 record in the playoffs since they entered the league in 2017. The Oilers have also seen some deep playoff runs with a 29-24 record since the 2021-22 postseason, which is the second-most wins during that span. Vegas holds the upper hand historically versus Edmonton as they’ve won five of their last eight meetings.
They will then need to go against the best team from the Central Division, who could take advantage of the Oilers being beat up after a series versus the Golden Knights. Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene recently described a series with Vegas on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast as “playing football on ice” in terms of the physicality they play with.
It’s hard to say if an investment on the Oilers right now is worth it especially knowing the value for other teams are so much greater like the Golden Knights or Stars at +1300 odds.
