The Edmonton Oilers entered the 2024-25 NHL Season as the defending Western Conference champions after their incredible run to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, a series that fell just short to the Florida Panthers.
Oilers fans won’t soon forget the image of captain and superstar forward Connor McDavid being nearly inconsolable in the locker room in the immediate aftermath of the heartbreaking loss, even as he was being announced as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But a new season has begun, and understandably, the Oilers came into it with lofty expectations of not only making another deep postseason run but finishing what they started last season. However, right from the get-go, they ran into some very familiar problems that plagued them at the start of last season.
The Oilers lost the first three games on their schedule, dropping into an 0-3 hole and bringing back the haunting memories of last season’s horrific start that resulted in the firing of head coach Jay Woodcroft in favor of Kris Knoblauch.
As they did last season, the Oilers have fought back to get back over the .500 mark. Through the first 22 games of the campaign, the Oilers are 11-9-2, good for fourth overall in the Pacific Division.
That being said, what are the biggest surprises and disappointments for the Oilers so far?
Oilers’ biggest surprise to start the 2024-25 season
Some might argue that Edmonton’s biggest surprise could also be considered its biggest disappointment, but the player’s shockingly low numbers make it more of a surprise than a letdown.
Forward Ryan-Nugent Hopkins has managed to score only two goals with seven assists in the 22 games that he’s played so far in 2024-25, a pace of seven goals and 26 assists.
Nugent-Hopkins is only two years removed from a 104-point campaign; he also tallied 67 points last season. Not only has his production completely dried up, but his defensive play is getting called into question, most notably by former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan earlier in the month via Yardbarker.
“You look at Edmonton, their special teams stink right now,” he said. “Their penalty kill can’t You look at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on that penalty kill goal. I don’t know who he was guarding. Like he might as well, he actually should have just taken his gear off at that point.”
Nugent-Hopkins has no choice but to immediately improve his offensive production.
Oilers’ biggest disappointment to start the 2024-25 season
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Just like last season, the strength of Edmonton’s goaltending has been brought into question. Despite helping lead the Oilers to the Cup Final last season, Stuart Skinner’s numbers this year are anything but impressive. He may have picked up the win on Saturday against the New York Rangers, but his goals-against average is still uncomfortably over 3.00 and his save percentage is a less than pedestrian .882%.
Backup goaltender Calvin Pickard’s numbers are far more digestible, a record of 4-3 with a 2.44 goals-against average. But is this tandem enough for the Oilers to make a second straight trip to hockey’s title round?
According to analyst Scott Maxwell, the Oilers will need a stronger goaltending tandem than the combination of Skinner and Pickard to return to the Stanley Cup Final and finish the job this time, via The Daily Faceoff.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they need a better goalie than Skinner, but they at least need a better one than Calvin Pickard,” he said. “Skinner seems better suited for a 1A/1B tandem than getting 60 starts as a starter, and Pickard isn’t a 1B type of goalie.”
“Give Skinner a capable tandem partner (you know, like what Jack Campbell was expected to be), and I think he’ll be capable of taking them back to the Finals.”