As the 2024-25 NHL season nears, fans around the league are blindly optimistic for their favorite teams. Following the Edmonton Oilers’ Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, expectations for the Oilers are at an all-time high. Now with a strong offseason and new season ahead, there are many reasons to believe the Oilers will win the 2025 Stanley Cup.
1. Oilers Were Right There
The Panthers lost the 2023 Stanley Cup to the Vegas Golden Knights and bounced back the following season with a dominant 16-8 playoff run en route to winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. With the Oilers just a few favorable bounces away from winning the 2024 Stanley Cup, there is no reason to believe they cannot return to where they were.
2. Maintaining the Core
Typically when teams go on deep playoff runs, pending free agents will look for massive paydays. Fortunately for the Oilers, this was not the case for the majority of the core. Outside of the departures of Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod, no impactful roster players departed. Philip Broberg and Vincent Desharnais were nice stories to the defense but had minimal impact during the team’s playoff run. Dylan Holloway had some upside, but so will Vasily Podkolzin. By bringing back the core, the Oilers are well-situated to build on last season’s success.
3. Full Season under Knoblauch
Kris Knoblauch replaced former Oilers’ head coach Jay Woodcroft in the middle of last season. Under Knoblauch, the Oilers went 46-18-5 in 69 games. For an 82-game pace, the team would have finished with 115 points in the standings. With a full offseason, training camp, and preseason, he will be able to fully implement his system.
4. Skinner and Arvidsson Additions
Throughout the Connor McDavid era, the Oilers have struggled to provide him with sufficient depth among the forwards. While this was not a weakness last season, the additions of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson should put any remaining concerns to rest. The team now boasts not only a star-studded top six but also significantly stronger third and fourth lines thanks to these free-agent signings. Both players are aiming to bounce back from last season and are poised to join the Oilers’ middle six where they could make an immediate impact and potentially reach career-high point totals
5. Stuart Skinner’s Brilliant Second Half
Looking at Stuart Skinner’s 2023-24 season, he did alright. He finished…
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