A Healthy Oilers Team Could Have Beaten the Golden Knights in the Playoffs – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

A healthy Edmonton Oilers squad could have beaten the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vegas is the City of Luck, and the Golden Knights have been lucky to be healthy. They hold a 3-0 series lead over the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final because the best player on either team, Cale Makar, has been playing with an injured shoulder.

Makar, who sat out the first two games in Colorado, returned for Game 3 but is obviously playing through pain. Watching Vegas dismantle the Avs, it’s hard not to wonder what would have happened had the Oilers been healthy heading into the postseason.

Injuries to Draisaitl and McDavid Altered the Oilers’ Playoff Fate

Leon Draisaitl suffered a lower-body injury on March 15, which caused him to miss the final 14 games of the regular season. His absence disrupted power play chemistry and line matching heading into the playoffs and ultimately created a domino effect that the team’s depth couldn’t overcome.

Connor McDavid‘s injuries, most notably to his ankle, sustained in the first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, significantly affected his game. Add in the injured Zach Hyman, and the Oilers’ top three offensive producers were neutralized before falling to the Ducks in six games.

Luck Was Not on the Oilers’ Side

With all the end-of-season navel-gazing, including letting head coach Kris Knoblauch go, the Oilers need to take a deep breath and recognize how much fatigue and injury played a role in their playoff demise this season. Some call it the luck of the draw, and 2026 just wasn’t the Oilers’ year.

After two trips to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, Edmonton, like the Florida Panthers, needed time to rest and reset. The season-ending injury to captain Aleksander Barkov had a huge effect on Florida’s season. Good organizations with a solid core of players do not need to panic.

Edmonton Mustn’t Throw Baby Out With the Bathwater

The Oilers are still contenders, especially when their core – McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard – is healthy and rested. There’s no need for the team to make any major changes. The obvious fix should be in goal. They can’t enter the 2026-27 NHL season with Tristan Jarry as their starter.

Financial sacrifices must be made to bring in a solid goaltender, like Jordan Binnington. Or maybe the Oilers take a chance on a young goalie like the Montreal Canadiens did with Jakub Dobeš, who is currently reminding hockey fans of former young miracle-working Montreal goalies such as Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Carey Price.

The Sky Isn’t Falling in Edmonton

After the Oilers lost their first-round series to Anaheim, you’d think the sky was falling in. There has been a lot of drama, including the saga in the search for a new head coach, that you wonder if people have forgotten that the team’s nucleus is still very talented. They need a few tweaks and to bolster their bottom-six forward group, but if management can sign defenceman Connor Murphy, consider that a good deal for Edmonton.

McDavid Deserves a Rest

McDavid has played more pressure-packed hockey in the last two seasons than any other Oiler. He felt the pressure of representing Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 and the 2026 Winter Olympics. It’s understandable if all the travel, all the hockey, and a condensed NHL schedule finally caught up to him. Hopefully, he is resting, healing and enjoying life outside of the rink this summer. A rest is as good as a change, not only for McDavid but for the organization overall.

2026-27 NHL Season

The Oilers slayed their Vegas demons in last year’s playoffs when they beat the Golden Knights in five games in the second round. They might have beaten them again this year had they been healthy and with a bit of luck on their side.

Bringing in a goalie, as the Golden Knights did with Carter Hart, would help. Hart has been the difference in the Western Conference Final. The Oilers don’t need to panic this offseason and make more bad moves. Instead, get the team rested, tweak the roster a bit, and come back stronger next season. The nucleus is strong; the Oilers might have needed a little rest before finally making it to the top of the mountain.