Surging Oilers’ Have Wide Open Path To The Top

It’s been a long time since the Edmonton Oilers won their division.

In fact, it’s been so long that it’s scarcely believable. They last finished the season in first place in 1986-87, the last of six consecutive Smythe Division titles.

In the 37 seasons since, they have never won their division—not when they played in the Pacific, the Northwest, or when they returned to the Pacific, or even the one-year North, and not in a four-, five-, six-, seven-, or eight-team division.

It’s gotten even more ridiculous lately, as they’ve placed second in their division each of the past five years. There are more important things than winning divisions, yes, but it’s worth it for the high seeding alone, not to mention the bragging rights.

But the Oilers are finally in a position to claim those bragging rights, and the top seed to boot. They currently sit tied with the Vegas Golden Knights atop the division, sporting an identical 29-14-3 record, good for 61 points through 46 games. Neither team is there by chance, either: Edmonton’s +25 goal differential isn’t far off Vegas’ +29.

The Oilers also carry a slight advantage over the Golden Knights: strength of schedule. Edmonton has the third-easiest remaining schedule in the league, facing a combined points percentage of just .540.

Vegas isn’t far off, at .545, but they don’t get the advantage of a combined eight games against San Jose, Chicago, Buffalo, and Anaheim like Edmonton does. Picking up as many relatively easy points as possible is a huge deal in a race as close as this.

Edmonton is also getting hot at the right time. While they and Vegas were equally hot in December, the Golden Knights have slowed down a bit while the Oilers have only built up steam. The Oilers are 8-2 in their last 10, while Vegas has lost five of six, including tough losses to Chicago and Nashville.

That being said, this race is still likely to come down to the wire. MoneyPuck has the Golden Knights as slight favourites, with a 43% chance to win the division. The Athletic, meanwhile, has Edmonton finishing seven points ahead of Vegas and winning not only the division but the Presidents Trophy.

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For a team that’s recently been undone by lower seeding in the playoffs, winning the division this year would be huge for the Oilers. They haven’t forgotten their playoff loss to the Golden Knights two years ago when Vegas had home-ice advantage after finishing two points ahead of Edmonton to win the division.

The timing couldn’t be better for the Oilers’ first division title in nearly 40 years.