Oilers' expectation 'is to win the Stanley Cup'

EDMONTON -- Expectations are still sky-high for the Edmonton Oilers heading into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Anything short of winning the Stanley Cup would be a disappointment for a team that believes its championship window is still open despite having an inconsistent regular season.  

“The expectation is the same as always,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “We’ve got a great belief in here. Playoff hockey is unique. It’s a skill to win in the playoffs, and we feel pretty good about having that skill, having been there and winning a lot of playoff games. That being said, it’s exciting for everybody and we’ve got to be ready to roll.”

Edmonton will kick off its postseason on Monday, when it hosts the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Place (10 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, KCOP-13, ESPN2, Victory+).

Regardless of how the Oilers got to the postseason starting line, they are still a playoff savvy group, one that has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons.

The one thing missing is a championship, though, with Edmonton losing to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the 2024 Final and in six games in 2025.

“The expectation is to win the Stanley Cup,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “If we lose in the first round or we lose in the Final we’re going to be (upset).”

To the Oilers' credit, they haven't done much losing lately in the playoffs.

Since 2021-22, Edmonton has played 75 postseason games, going 43-32 with three appearances in the Western Conference Final and two trips to the Cup Final. Only the Panthers have more playoff experience in that stretch (78).

McDavid, forwards Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and defenseman Evan Bouchard have played in all 75 postseason games over those four seasons. Defenseman Darnell Nurse has played in 73 of the games, and forward Zach Hyman has played in 68.

“When you talk about playoff experience and it being a factor, when you don’t have it, you don’t really think it’s that important, and when you do have it, you realize it is important,” Hyman said. “When you’re a young kid and you come in and you play your first playoff game, you’re taken aback because everything is different. It’s not the same as the regular season. Players play differently. Everything is different, everything is faster, every play matters. It’s a different game, so when you have that experience, you know what it’s like.

“You see teams like Florida that had 98 points (in the regular season) last year and they turned it on in the playoffs and they were the best team by quite a lot in the East. It’s a different game.”

Edmonton won't have to worry about Florida this time around, with the two-time defending champions failing to qualify for the playoffs after finishing seventh in the Atlantic Division.

But that doesn't mean the road will be any easier. The Colorado Avalanche, who swept the Oilers in the 2022 Western Conference Final en route to winning the Stanley Cup, won the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best record during the regular season (55-16-11). Then there is the Vegas Golden Knights, who eliminated the Oilers in six games in the 2023  second round en route to winning their first Stanley Cup championship. Vegas finished two points ahead of Edmonton for first in the Pacific Division this season.

Despite all that, the Oilers can't afford to look that far down the road. Not with a current opponent in the Ducks, who are young, talented and well-coached, not to mention hungry after ending a seven-season playoff drought.

Anaheim finished third in the Pacific Division, one point behind Edmonton.

“The goal is to win the Stanley Cup, that’s never going to change,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “We have to focus on one series, on one game at a time, obviously. It’s a long road and we understand that, and we have lot of things to take care of before that, but of course we’re angling to win the Stanley Cup.”

Edmonton may have to start the playoffs without Draisaitl, who sustained a lower-body injury in a 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators on March 15 and missed the final 14 games of the regular season.

Draisaitl, who finished ninth in the NHL with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) despite playing in only 65 games, returned to practice this week and is expected to be ready at some point during the series against Anaheim.

Forward Jason Dickinson is also out after blocking a shot in a 5-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on April 8. There isn’t a timeline for his return.

Despite the two injuries, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said he believes his team is in better health entering the playoffs than it was a year ago.

“Last year, there were certainly more question marks going into the playoffs,” Knoblauch said. “There was a lot of uncertainty knowing what the team was going to look like, especially with our lines, we had so many injuries.”

Perhaps as a result, the Oilers lost the first two games to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round before storming back to win the series in six.

This postseason, though, they're hoping to get off to a better start.

“I think we’ve been showing it a lot lately, the desperation you need to play with and the soundness you need to play with in the playoffs,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “It’s just making it hard on teams, being physical, especially when the playoffs come. You could see these guys seven times, so you want to start being physical, playing fast and wearing them down right away.”