Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers Lost Their Depth Backbone: It Shows

Last year’s Edmonton Oilers had swagger and depth. This year’s group is missing the vets who knew how to tilt a game.

by
Old Prof
February 7, 2026

Every once in a while, a player says something that lands a little too close to the truth. That happened the other day when Leon Draisaitl talked about the Edmonton Oilers’ play slipping, and Elliotte Friedman added his own observation: the bottom six looks like it’s standing around waiting for the top six to make something happen. And when that’s the case, nobody really knows what their job is.

Last Season, the Oilers Were a Much Different Team

Funny thing is, that wasn’t the Oilers of last season. Not even close.

Last year, Edmonton’s depth wasn’t full of passengers. The team was packed with pros who knew exactly who they were and what they brought. Connor Brown, Evander Kane, and Corey Perry came with experience and attitude. None of those guys needed instructions.

Nobody was going to lean over the boards and tell Corey Perry where to stand or how to get under someone’s skin. Connor Brown didn’t need a map to find the forecheck. And Evander Kane, when he was healthy, brought that mix of edge, swagger, and scoring touch that made the Oilers feel a little bigger than the sum of their parts.

Corey Perry Oilers extension talk — Corey Perry was solid for the Oilers because no one needed to tell him how to play.

The Oilers’ Backbone Is Missing This Season

And now? Well, the Oilers’ backbone is not nearly as strong.

The Oilers tried to replace those players with younger legs. The kids can skate and have talent. They genuinely want to contribute. The issue isn’t effort or desire. It’s the wealth of experience. There’s a big difference between having skill and knowing what to do with it in the deep end of an NHL game. Brown, Perry, and Kane didn’t wait for someone else to make the play—they drove the play. They created the spark. They gave the top six some room to breathe.

That’s the part people underestimate: a good bottom six doesn’t just “check.” They tilt the game back in your direction.

The Oilers’ Bottom Six Looks Uncertain in How to Play

Right now, those minutes look uncertain. You can feel it. A little hesitation here, a missed read there, and suddenly Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are climbing uphill again. And this is exactly what Draisaitl was hinting at: Edmonton lost the players who knew how to carry the team for a shift or two, settle things down, and give the stars a clean runway.

Good teams know who their keepers are. Edmonton let a few too many of theirs walk out the door.

The Oilers aren’t worse by accident. They’re missing the guys who brought moxie, bite, and the kind of know-how you only earn through years of doing the hard jobs well. Until they rebuild that backbone, this team is going to feel a little unsteady—no matter how many points the top six put up.