On paper are the Oilers better or worse than they were last season?

[Breakers]

Surprised by how many people are taking the Ceci loss as a blow to the oilers when I’ve seen them comment about how bad he sucks.

At least be consistent.

 

[9911]

Surprised by how many people are taking the Ceci loss as a blow to the oilers when I’ve seen them comment about how bad he sucks.

At least be consistent.

They are being consistent. Consistently dumping on the Oilers. Every move they make is a wrong move.

 

[BLNY]

The name is Barrie, Tyson Barrie

I did say "substance". lol

 

[um]

Worse for now, but I'm sure they'll add a defender or two.

Still a very risky move to try and fix your defence mid season.

 

[Canovin]

Oilers are a top 3-5 contender

They need to add a top 4D this season if they want to be the favorite or top2 to come out of the west

Nurse playing well for once in their playoff runs could go long way as well.

If MTL sell Matheson this deadline oulers should be in on him. Another name is Marcus Pettersson from the Pens

Does Petterson play RHD?

 

[Cup or Bust]

With Arvidsson and Skinner they are definitely better. They do need to add some cheap journeyman d-man to replace Ceci to start the season though and then hopefully an upgrade at the deadline, although an upgrade would have been needed before the playoffs whether they kept Ceci or not.

 

[DJJones]

Surprised by how many people are taking the Ceci loss as a blow to the oilers when I’ve seen them comment about how bad he sucks.

At least be consistent.

He's a poor #4 that you can upgrade on. Doesn't mean you can just lose him for nothing.

Emberson or Stetcher with Nurse is even scarier.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

What 2nd pairing right shot defensemen will even be available at the deadline? That can be quite the elusive asset to get at the best of times and looking at next years pending UFA's....not sure the piece is there. As for the question, I would say marginally worse just from a roster construction stand point, probably a more talented team but will leak more goals then last year.

 

[Canovin]

What 2nd pairing right shot defensemen will even be available at the deadline? That can be quite the elusive asset to get at the best of times and looking at next years pending UFA's....not sure the piece is there. As for the question, I would say marginally worse just from a roster construction stand point, probably a more talented team but will leak more goals then last year.

Rasmus Andersson

 

[DJJones]

Rasmus Andersson

Oilers have nothing of value to offer

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

What 2nd pairing right shot defensemen will even be available at the deadline?

If nothing else, unironically Cody Cedi lol

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Rasmus Andersson

I am sure Calgary will be receptive to that phone call lmao

 

[Canovin]

I am sure Calgary will be receptive to that phone call lmao

Get a 3rd team involved

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Better on paper, think they'll be worse on ice however.

Defense is a huge problem if Ekholm has to miss games and it's even a big problem if Nurse does.

Barring a catastrophic injury (i.e. one to 97 or 29) they should be a playoff team that can add using draft picks. But gut says it's a house of cards. Playoff grind + regular season grind + lack of depth + relying on the health of guys like Arvidsson + relying on one or two guys to be magic for 82 games is a formula for another year of "what if we hadn't screwed up in new and unusual ways again this summer?"

 

[SEALBound]

Hard to ignore the additions of Skinner, Arvidsson, and retaining of Henrique. I say better. They will overcome the defensive woes if Skinner maintains.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Get a 3rd team involved

If they decide he isn't going to end up in Edmonton....they could just trade him to another contender? They wouldn't start the dance. Or they will make them pay out the ass.

 

[Yepthatsme]

Surprised by how many people are taking the Ceci loss as a blow to the oilers when I’ve seen them comment about how bad he sucks.

At least be consistent.

This reasoning is flawed, it’s not that all of a sudden Ceci was good and will be missed, it’s that now someone that Ceci managed to outplay and earn a higher role than has to take his place. Which sounds terrifying that someone worse than Ceci will now play 20 minutes a night in the role of covering for Nurse.

 

[Connor McConnor]

I think they are worse. Marginal improvement on offense and worse on defence and they needed to improve their D. Oilers ownership and management seem bent on proving they can win a cup with the worst defence possible.

17 less GA than league average in the RS and some of the best in the Playoffs but yeah, checks out.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Worse. People projecting that all the new offensive signings will have big years are ignoring the fact that there’s only so many spots open to play with McDavid or Draisaitl and there’s no spots open on a league leading PP. The D looks a fair amount worse and improving it should have been the focus this off season.

 

[HitterD]

I feel like the Oilers will have a better regular season than last year, but i'm concerned about the playoffs for them. They lost a lot of size which may take a toll in the post season, and they are now the oldest team in the league, which may also have an effect on the post season.

I picked worse, but really they should still be good to win the division, and maybe a round or two.

 

[Three On Zero]

Defence - worse
Offence - marginal upgrade to the top 6, downgrade in the bottom 6
Goaltending - Same

 

[Cypher]

You know what they say, defense wins championships and it's a young man's game. Neither things the Oilers possess.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Vs. last regular season? Stronger.

Up front, they have Foegele and McLeod out, with Skinner and Arvidsson coming in. Plus a full season of Henrique and a fully recovered Brown. I don't see how anyone could call that anything but a massive upgrade, even with Kane starting on IR.

On defence, they moved on from two 3rd pairing guys (or am I going to suddenly hear how Ceci and Desharnais are actually valuable and integral members of a hockey team?) and replaced them with two more 3rd pairing guys in Stecher and Emberson. A lateral to slight downgrade depending on what Emberson actually is + the latter two being walking bandaids.
Though it wouldn't surprise me to see either mesh better with Nurse, as both can actually skate. It's not hard to see the Oil getting more mileage out of Nurse-Stecher/Emberson vs. Nurse-Ceci/Vinny (setting a very low bar there).

In net, it's a wash with the same pair.


Remember Holloway and Broberg didn't contribute at all during the regular season, so their loss doesn't impact the Oil in the standings.

 

[TheNumber4]

Improved up front. But got slower which has its risks.

Unknown on the defensive side. Ceci could be addition by subtraction. Losing Vinny hurts but keeping it in perspective he’s just a 3rd pair guy. It really depends on how these bets pay off for the new guys brought in. There’s a lot of hope and pray with these players though. Broberg was going to play right side so not really a fit either.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

The Oilers lost two NHL players and have no money to replace them in the short term.

However, the 2nd and 3rd they just acquired can be used on a Chris Tanev type defenseman at the deadline, if this past February’s values are any indication.

The Oilers also have all their 2026 picks.

So between a 2026 1st, two 2nds and two 3rds, they should be able to land pretty much any rental they want next year, and all three players are likely to be more important to a successful playoff run than Holloway and Broberg.

Not matching was the right call.