Top 10 must-see Edmonton Oilers games in the 2026-26 NHL season

Finally, the full 84-game NHL schedule has dropped. Now all that’s left to do is hurry up and wait for the season to arrive. Edmonton Oilers fans have to be forgiven for feeling impatient over the next couple months, considering this is the longest off-season they’ve had in three years. Stanley Cup Finalists no longer, [...]

Finally, the full 84-game NHL schedule has dropped. Now all that’s left to do is hurry up and wait for the season to arrive. Stanley Cup Finalists no longer, their team has to fight its way back into the contender category with a new coach, new goalies, two new defensive pairings and the same core group looking to get things back on track in their ever-closing championship window of opportunity.

And it all starts Sept. 29, against the visiting Vancouver Canucks, when Mike Babcock will make his Oilers regular-season debut behind the bench in the tone-setter for things to come. But that’s just one of the top 10 must-see games on their schedule this season: (Sorry, Darnell Nurse. Your return to Edmonton with the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 13 didn’t make the cut).

Opening night. Make that nights, plural, as the Oilers kick things off with a home-and-away series against the Canucks. And not for the first time, either.

The schedule opened the same way in 2023. You know ... back when the Canucks were actually good. Or at least not 58-points bad.

Back then, Vancouver opened with a convincing 8-1 win at home before following up with a 4-3 squeaker at Rogers Place. Of course, by the Oilers’ count, that was three coaches ago. Things have changed.

And with the way they’ve been going on the west coast lately, the chance Edmonton returns the favour is high. Thursday, Oct. 22 vs. the Carolina Hurricanes The champs are here the next month, when new Oilers netminder Frederik Andersen will be facing the team he helped to the Stanley Cup for the first time since joining Edmonton in free agency.

The starting role in the Edmonton crease is up for grabs in the meantime, with incumbent Connor Ingram’s contract not getting renewed. But with the Oilers finally bringing in a proven veteran goaltender, like the fan base has been screaming for forever now, Freddie has the inside track on the most playtime. Wednesday, Oct. 7 at the Anaheim Ducks Will this mark the year of a changing of the guard in the Pacific Division?

We know the Ducks are on the way up. What about this reloaded Oilers roster? A first-round exit at the hands of the upstart Ducks felt like nothing short of quackery for a high-octane Oilers group looking to make it third-time’s-a-charm in the Cup finals.

But Anaheim needed six games to show they’re for real. Now it’s the Oilers’ turn to show they’ve still got what it takes to run the Pacific. Tuesday, Dec. 1 vs. the Buffalo Sabres Going back to their first meeting of last season, the Oilers suffered their worst loss of the schedule against what was the last-place team at the time.

To put it in perspective, the 5-1 loss in Buffalo came in the same month as a couple of 9-1 and 8-3 trouncings at the hands of a couple of Central Division behemoths, in Colorado and Dallas, respectively. But Buffalo was the farthest thing from behemoth then. That all changed, of course, and the lopsided 5-1 victory over the two-time defending Western Conference champion Oilers was turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for a Sabres squad that would end up taking off and turning their fortunes around from that point on.

Now it’s the Oilers who would be making a bit of a statement with a decisive win in this one. Thursday, Dec. 17 vs. the Dallas Stars Add ‘em all up, and the Stars outscored Edmonton 19-8 to sweep the three-game season series last year. In the end, it didn’t translate to post-season vengeance, however, as neither team was able to return to the conference final.

Tuesday, Jan. 26 at the Colorado Avalanche The mighty Avalanche set the bar on the way to a franchise-record 121-point President’s Cup season a year ago, exposing the Oilers as pretenders instead of the contenders they were used to being. Edmonton managed to show they still had what it takes to run with the big dogs, earning a 4-3 victory in Colorado to settle the season series 1-2-1.

But all that ended up accomplishing was frustrating Oilers fans with the fact their team could still do it ... they just weren’t. Wednesday, Feb. 3 vs. the Vegas Golden Knights Replacing Edmonton as Western Conference champs, and after making a midstream coaching change, no less, Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in their nine-year existence.

Perhaps as much as anything, that’s what inspired the Oilers to part ways with Kris Knoblauch, seeing someone as polarizing as ‘Torts’ turning things around in Sin City. So, Edmonton went out and found the villain in the coaching realm with the next closest amount of heat. Either way, this one will be part of an eight-game Oilers homestand where they’ll be looking to earn some separation in the standings.

Ideally speaking, that is. Sunday, Dec. 27 at the Columbus Blue Jackets This one will pit Babcock against the last team that hired him. Sure, he might not have coached a single game there before resigning amid a fervor of personal-privacy issues, and only 10 players from the 2023-24 season remain on the roster, but you just know we’re not making it through this one without hearing the word ‘cellphone’ ... or the word ‘gate’ after it.

(Insert eye-roll emoji here). This one’s on here strictly for nostalgia, at this point. It’s no secret the Battle of Alberta has lost its luster since the days of Zack Kassian showing us a good turtling.

But what better time for the Oilers to show they have more toughness and size on their roster, and won’t be so easily pushed around this season? As for the provincial rivalry, that’s up to the team down south to start holding up their end again, beyond being able to win a game here or there. Tuesday, Nov. 17 at the Florida Panthers Speaking of turtles, the Oilers will face a couple of them next time they take on the Panthers, whose roster reunited the Tkachuk Bros. in June.

But Edmonton’s biggest cross-conference rivalry goes beyond a couple of aggravating factors, considering Florida represents their biggest measuring stick. The Panthers had an off year following three-straight trips to the Cup finals, while Edmonton made the playoffs only to suffer a first-round dismissal. This game might not mean much considering the Panthers are a couple of Cups up on their foes, but a win here would go a long way to show which team has the better ability to bounce back after a couple of long runs through the post-season.

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