{"id":451524,"date":"2026-02-08T20:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/451524\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T20:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:32:14","slug":"oilers-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-olympic-break-edition-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/451524\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Olympic Break Edition – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Edmonton Oilers, this week is entirely defined by the 2026 Winter Olympics. There are no NHL regular-season games, but several key storylines involving current and former players will dominate the conversation.<\/p>\n

McDavid Chasing Gold<\/p>\n

The biggest story in the hockey world is Connor McDavid finally making his Olympic debut<\/a>. After missing out in 2018 and 2022 due to NHL non-participation and COVID-19, McDavid is on a mission to add a gold medal to his trophy case.<\/p>\n

He entered the break leading the league in points and is widely expected to centre Canada\u2019s top line, potentially playing alongside Sidney Crosby or Nathan MacKinnon on the power play.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSnubbed\u201d Stars: Rest vs. Rust<\/p>\n

While McDavid is in Italy, a major storyline in Edmonton is who isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

Evan Bouchard & Zach Hyman: Despite strong offensive numbers, both were left off Team Canada\u2019s roster. Bouchard\u2019s exclusion was debated heavily due to his elite offensive production from the blue line, but concerns over his defensive play likely cost him a spot.<\/p>\n

Mattias Ekholm: The veteran defenceman was left off Team Sweden\u2019s roster in favour of younger options, including former Oiler Philip Broberg. Ekholm publicly expressed disappointment, calling it likely his \u201clast shot\u201d at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Silver Lining: For the Oilers as a team, this is a massive advantage. Key contributors like Bouchard, Hyman, Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins get two weeks of rest to heal bumps and bruises before the final playoff push.<\/p>\n

Draisaitl Leading Underdog Germany<\/p>\n

Leon Draisaitl returns to the international stage as the undisputed leader<\/a> of Team Germany. He is joined by Oilers rookie Josh Samanski, who earned a spot on the German roster after making his NHL debut just last month. This is a huge development opportunity for Samanski to play meaningful minutes alongside Draisaitl.<\/p>\n

Germany faces a tough test against Team USA on Sunday, Feb. 15, which will be a major measuring stick for Draisaitl\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

Pacific Division Race<\/p>\n

The Oilers entered the break in a tight battle for the top of the Pacific Division, closely trailing<\/a> the Vegas Golden Knights.<\/p>\n

The health of the players returning from the Olympics will be critical. Oilers fans will be holding their breath that McDavid and Draisaitl return injury-free for the final regular-season stretch.<\/p>\n

Related \u2013 Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Men\u2019s Hockey Tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

Oilers Olympic Schedule This Week<\/p>\n

DateEvent \/ MatchupTime (ET)NotesThu, Feb 12Canada vs. Czechia10:40 AMMcDavid (CAN) vs. Tomasek (CZE)Germany vs. Denmark3:10 PMDraisaitl & Samanski (GER)Fri, Feb 13Canada vs. Switzerland3:10 PMMcDavid leads Team Canada.Sat, Feb 14Germany vs. Latvia4:10 AMCrucial group stage game for GER.Sun, Feb 15Canada vs. France10:40 AMMcDavid vs. former Oiler Auvitu.Germany vs. USA1:10 PMDraisaitl vs. Team USA.<\/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":"For the Edmonton Oilers, this week is entirely defined by the 2026 Winter Olympics. There are no NHL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5125],"tags":[3189,155,198,146,5300,5,7154,370,4,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-451524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-connor-mcdavid","10":"tag-edmonton","11":"tag-edmonton-oilers","12":"tag-edmontonoilers","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-josh-samanski","15":"tag-leon-draisaitl","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-oilers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116036918110655198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451524","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=451524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}