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Nobody welcomes adversity quite like the Edmonton Oilers

2 1
11.11.2025
The Edmonton Oilers and Dealing With Adversity. Name a more iconic duo. I’ll wait.

From a 2-9-1 start to a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final, this team always finds a way to grab the headlines — often for the wrong reasons. And once again, they’ve found themselves in a pickle.

Their 6-6-4 record on paper doesn’t look terrible. But peel back the layers, and you realize they’ve only played a handful of genuinely good hockey games. After a humiliating 9-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, we’re all left wondering — what exactly is this team?

Changes made over the summer shouldn’t have rocked the roster this much. Corey Perry and Connor Brown signed deals in LA and New Jersey that Edmonton couldn’t afford, while Evander Kane was moved to make room for the upcoming extensions of Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl. But in doing so, the Oilers lost character and physicality — two traits they haven’t replaced with Trent Frederic or Andrew Mangiapane, yet.

The team’s personality is unappealing. They give little pushback on a nightly basis and are incredibly frustrating to watch for a team that is supposedly a contender. Phyiscality doesn’t exist throughout the lineup, ranking 29th in total hits (274) and 31st in hits per 60 minutes (16.78). Even if you didn’t see the numbers, it’s clear as day where this team falls on the physical scale. The fan base is agitated, and the players don’t seem equally pissed off.

Then there’s Frederic’s comment: “Who wants to fight a guy that has one goal in 15 games? I wouldn’t.”

© Oilers Nation