{"id":427724,"date":"2026-01-25T18:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T18:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/427724\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T18:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T18:26:13","slug":"oilers-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-bouchards-six-points-draisatls-return-and-more-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/427724\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Bouchard’s Six Points, Draisatl’s Return and More – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are the key storylines surrounding the Edmonton Oilers right now, followed by their schedule for the week ahead (Jan. 25 \u2013 Feb. 1, 2026).<\/p>\n

Evan Bouchard\u2019s Historic Performance <\/p>\n

Fresh off a 6-5 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Saturday (Jan. 24), the biggest talk of the town is defenceman Evan Bouchard. He recorded a historic hat trick and three assists, becoming just the fourth defenceman in NHL history to record six points in a single game<\/a> (joining legends like Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey). This performance has been a massive boost for the team\u2019s offence as they solidify their playoff spot.<\/p>\n

Leon Draisaitl\u2019s Return <\/p>\n

Superstar forward Leon Draisaitl has returned to the lineup<\/a> after taking a personal leave of absence to attend to a family illness in Germany. He missed three games but rejoined the team for the recent matchups against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. While he admitted he isn\u2019t fully back to \u201cgame speed\u201d mentally, his presence alone provides a significant morale and skill boost to the top six.<\/p>\n

The Pacific Division Race <\/p>\n

As of Sunday morning, the Oilers sit 2nd in the Pacific Division (26-19-8, 60 points), narrowly trailing the Vegas Golden Knights. They are currently in a tight battle to secure home-ice advantage for the playoffs. With the trade deadline approaching, the front office is reportedly looking at adding a top-nine forward to bolster their depth for a deep run.<\/p>\n

Goaltending Stability <\/p>\n

After an early-season shakeup that saw Stuart Skinner traded to Pittsburgh, the new tandem<\/a> of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram has provided much-needed stability. Ingram, in particular, has been a revelation, though veteran Calvin Pickard has recently found himself as the odd man out, frequently scratched as the third option.<\/p>\n

Oilers Schedule Jan. 25 \u2013 Feb. 1<\/p>\n

DateTime (ET)OpponentVenueNotesMon, Jan. 268:30 PMvs. Anaheim DucksRogers PlaceCrucial division matchupThu, Jan. 299:00 PMvs. San Jose SharksRogers PlaceSharks currently struggling in PacificSat, Jan. 3110:00 PMvs. Minnesota WildRogers PlaceTough test vs. Central Division contender<\/p>\n

AI tools were used to support the creation or distribution of this content, however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of The Hockey Writers editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here are the key storylines surrounding the Edmonton Oilers right now, followed by their schedule for the week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[2663,198,146,5300,425,5,370,4,24,6769],"class_list":{"0":"post-427724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-connor-ingram","9":"tag-edmonton","10":"tag-edmonton-oilers","11":"tag-edmontonoilers","12":"tag-evan-bouchard","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-leon-draisaitl","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-oilers","17":"tag-tristan-jarry"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115957150428110673","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}