Things look just as grim and cold with the Edmonton Oilers as the dead of winter, with a particularly disappointing season unfolding in front of us. After an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, which is second to none, Edmonton failed to redeem itself yet again at the showdown against the Washington Capitals at the Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Alex Ovechkin and co., utterly obliterated the Oilers, laying bare several pressing issues that the team needs to come together and solve before things get worse than they already are. Fueling the endless worries that are plaguing the Oilers community, Sportsnet Stats helped put into perspective just how badly Edmonton has fared this season.

Edmonton Oilers’ Defense is a Cry for Help

At any given point when the Oilers tank, fans pounce to blame the goaltending situation with remarkable agility. While Stuart Skinner’s performance misses the mark considerably, as evidenced by his harrowing save percentage of .737, the question remains if Skinner and Calvin Pickard would be better off if the Oilers’ defensive situation were not just as abysmal as the goaltending.

Recently, Frank Seravalli noted that Paul Coffey’s absence as an assistant coach, working closely with the defense, is one of the reasons the team has been struggling to find its footing this season. “Not a perfect situation with Paul Coffey, I don’t think. But you can’t argue with the results because the Oilers defended much, much better previously under his control,” Seravalli said on B/R Open Ice. 

Sportsnet Stats shared several defensive categories in which the Oilers are simply worse than every other team, including Goals Against (80), 5×5 Goals Against (58), and Team Save Percentage (.857).

The Oilers are dead last in several defensive categories pic.twitter.com/K5lDQX08Te

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 20, 2025

Not long ago, Elliotte Friedman had stepped in to argue that the Oilers’ goaltending, although disappointing, shoulders much of the blame that should be the defense corps’. “Nobody is scared of the Oilers’ defense. There isn’t a single team in the league that does not think right now that no matter how much we are down, we can get where we need to in their D-zone,” Friedman had stated in his candid opinion about the Oilers’ defense.

Surely, blaming the goalie situation is undoubtedly easier, but even GM Stan Bowman shared that while the goalies have been average, so has the rest of the team. Coupled with Coffey’s absence, it is easy to see why the problem the Oilers are facing may require a more comprehensive approach than simply swapping goalies.

Moreover, Kris Knoblauch’s tendency to overwork Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to make the playoffs is ultimately not ideal. At this rate, the Oilers may never beat the one-line team allegations.