The Edmonton Oilers will begin the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs with all of the team’s elite talent on the roster, and a few important tweaks designed to improve depth for the long run to a championship.

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has added some youth, meaning better pace and a more aggressive checking group. He also acquired a right-handed second-pairing defenceman (Connor Murphy) to shore up a vital area while adding a substantial goalie (Connor Ingram). Edmonton has had success with its new hires down the stretch, aided by the return of defence coach Paul Coffey, who has given the team structure and consistency.

The changes give us a chance to ponder the Oilers’ strengths and weaknesses. Here’s a look at the year-over-year opening-night lineups, and where the team has flourished and failed in populating this year’s model.

The No. 1 line

Last season, coach Kris Knoblauch started the series against the Los Angeles Kings with a relatively new line. Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman have delivered great outscoring numbers, while both men cheat more for offence than defence. The third player was Connor Brown, an ideal player for the line based on his prowess without the puck. However, his offence made the trio a stretch as a potentially lethal scoring unit. This year, the staff has a different look for opponents.

YearLineNotes

2025

Hyman-McDavid-Brown

Six minutes TOI during season

2026

Savoie-McDavid-Hyman

89 mins, 63% goal share

Last year’s No. 1 line was abandoned after four minutes of playing time, reflecting Knoblauch’s lightning-quick line shuffles. McDavid and Hyman stayed together for 118 minutes, scored 4.06 goals per 60 and owned a 53 percent goal share (64 percent expected). Knoblauch checked down to McDavid with Hyman and Leon Draisaitl for 33 minutes in the playoffs last spring, and scored 5.53 goals per 60. It’s an exceptional number, but the line allowed the same number of goals. A 50 percent goal share isn’t close to enough for a line containing McDavid, Draisaitl and Hyman.

The new top unit has a two-way upgrade in rookie Matt Savoie. During the regular season, the trio scored 3.36 goals per 60, a far cry from the numbers managed by Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman in the postseason last year. However, the new version of the top line allowed just 2.02 goals per 60 at five-on-five. That’s where champions play, in goal suppression.

Savoie is a clear upgrade on Brown, and McDavid with Savoie is an outscoring plus for the Oilers. This line must score and also suppress the opposition’s offence.

The No. 2 line

Knoblauch’s second line against the Kings in the opener last season featured Draisaitl with Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson. The three men played 261 minutes during the regular season and delivered a 55 percent goal share. That’s a quality line, despite scoring just 2.52 goals per 60. Outscoring is the key. In the playoffs a year ago, the line stayed together for just 21 minutes.

Based on Sunday’s practice lines, Draisaitl will run with Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen. Over the last two regular seasons, this line has been together for 226 minutes at five-on-five. The results are fantastic, including 71 percent of the goals and a 3.97 goals per 60. Kapanen’s best work is on the Draisaitl line, where his skills meet an ideal job description (win battles, cycle, get the puck to Draisaitl). In 36 minutes during last year’s playoffs, the line scored 1-0 goals with an expected goal share of 59 percent.

If Knoblauch stays the course with this line, Edmonton’s playoff spring is brighter.

The No. 3 line

The third line last season was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with Trent Frederic and Jeff Skinner. Fans may recall it was something of a wing and a prayer, as Frederic couldn’t get to the battle in time due to a high-ankle sprain, and Skinner was miscast in everything that happened after the anthem.

The line lasted five playoff minutes, gave up four shots, a goal and was never heard from again. The Oilers would have been better off fading the struggling veterans and running Nugent-Hopkins with two players who were productive leading up to the playoffs.

Based on Sunday’s lines, Nugent-Hopkins will play left wing on a line with Jason Dickinson at centre and Jack Roslovic on right wing. This trio represents an upgrade with some danger included for the Oilers. The line has been a high event (2-2 goals in 16 minutes) and has just a 40 percent expected goal share. It’s a small sample for sure, but Dickinson has had difficulty at five-on-five since coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks at the deadline. His five-on-five goal share, including all linemates, is 5-10, 33 percent, via Natural Stat Trick. Those numbers came in 213 minutes of playing time, and suggest the Oilers should look for another option on the Nugent-Hopkins line.

Dickinson looks like he’ll be a drag on five-on-five results, but Sunday’s lines tell us the coaching staff is going full steam ahead. The team has enough depth to fade Dickinson, so the bet is risky.

No. 4 line

Last season in the playoff opener versus Los Angeles, Knoblauch deployed a veteran unit that included Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry. The trio played five minutes together during the regular season and followed it up with five minutes in the postseason.

Based on Sunday’s lines, rookie Josh Samanski will be a healthy scratch. Henrique will slide between Colton Dach and Frederic; the two wingers have developed some real chemistry since Dach was acquired from the Blackhawks. In 71 minutes, the two men have aided Edmonton to a 57 percent goal share, 72 percent expected. That’s sensational for a fourth line created to make some noise and hit somebody on the other team.

Samanski has been on the ice for 40 of those minutes with Dach and Frederic, the trio delivering a 75 percent goal share. Knoblauch inserted Henrique in the middle on Sunday. Henrique is looking better, but it’s a curious choice to break up an effective line on the eve of the postseason.

The defence and goaltending

One year ago, Stuart Skinner started in goal for Game 1 versus the Kings. The defensive pairings were Darnell Nurse with Evan Bouchard, followed by two left-handed defenders (Jake Walman and Brett Kulak) and then Nurse with Ty Emberson and finally Josh Brown stepped on the ice with Bouchard. For those following at home, the coach ran two lefties and two righties on the same pairing in the first two minutes of play in the postseason opener, via NHL.com.

Fans can call it innovative or erratic, but everyone can agree it’s unusual. Knoblauch had to roll with what was in front of him, with Brown on the ice and Mattias Ekholm unavailable, representing an unfair turn.

This year, the pairings look set, and for Oilers fans, it’s a good thing. Ekholm is healthy and playing brilliant hockey alongside Bouchard. At five-on-five this season, the duo has a 56 percent goal share in 1,200 minutes. The second pairing, Nurse with Murphy, has played 289 minutes and is at a 57 percent goal share. The third pairing has some wobble (Jake Walman has talent and needs to play better), but Edmonton’s defensive group looks sound compared to last year.

The goaltending has been solved, at least for now, via trade. Ingram wasn’t expensive to acquire, and currently makes the Tristan Jarry acquisition look superfluous. But no one really cares how the goaltender got here, only that he’s healthy and ready for the playoffs.

Strengths

McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard give the Oilers an exceptional chance in any series. Year over year, the development of Savoie as a complete two-way player is a major lift. The emergence of Podkolzin is a big step for the roster, too, and gives the Draisaitl line extra torque. The fourth line is built for the postseason with some offensive ability to go along with physical fury. It’s difficult to remember the last time Edmonton had a fourth line that could crash, bang and outscore, but Georges Laraque might have been on it.

The goaltending has been sound over the final stretch of games. Ingram looks like the real deal. The addition of Murphy has settled down the second pairing; Ekholm is healthy, and that’s a major item.

Weaknesses

Knoblauch’s roster decisions are, at times, a drag on results. Moving Dickinson into the lineup on the second line with a weak outscoring track record in Edmonton recalls the wing-and-a-prayer approach fans saw with the second line (Nugent-Hopkins with Frederic and Skinner) one year ago.

History suggests Jarry will be needed in the postseason. However, Bowman paid a steep price, and the deal looks bad entering the playoffs.

Walman is a veteran who is so erratic that it’s possible we see Spencer Stastney replace him, but the coach hasn’t played Stastney in a month.

Bottom line

The Oilers have the top-end talent to win the Stanley Cup and more depth than a year ago. Some older players have been replaced by fresh boots, and there are four lines, two pairings and a starting goaltender ready to go. The team is in a good spot. Injuries, roster decisions and luck will all have their say on how this turns out. The lines at practice on Sunday offered both hope and worry, a tradition for Oilers fans.