The term “Cup or bust” gets thrown around a lot for the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers team, meaning every season they don’t win the Stanley Cup is considered unsuccessful.

The Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last two seasons, but this past season felt especially unfulfilled after they were knocked out in the first round for the first time since 2021. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the problems they faced that contributed to the underwhelming season.

The Oilers dealt with injuries all season

A recurring problem for the Oilers in the 2025-26 campaign was their inability to stay healthy, with several notable players missing significant time throughout the season, including:

– Kasperi Kapanen missed 41 regular-season games
– Mattias Janmark missed 39 regular-season games
– Jake Walman missed 29 regular-season games
– Zach Hyman missed 24 regular-season games
– Leon Draisaitl missed 17 regular-season games
– Adam Henrique missed 17 regular-season games, plus five playoff games

And the list goes on. Of course, those injuries to key players carried into the playoffs, and we later learned that others were also dealing with significant issues in the first round. For example, Connor McDavid and Jason Dickinson were both playing through fractures in the foot/ankle area, with the Oilers’ captain summarizing the injuries in the playoffs as, “too hurt, too soon.”

The Oilers’ 2025-26 season will be defined as one was riddled with injuries, which is quite the opposite of the team Draisaitl alluded to recently as their best version so far — the 2023-24 team that lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, where many of their key players missed only a few games during the regular season.

That said, with the Oilers out of the playoffs in the first round for the first time since 2021, a longer summer to reset and recover both physically and mentally will go a long way.

Trent Frederic’s lack of point production was a problem for the Oilers

Normally, singling out one Oiler among several problems the team faced throughout last season isn’t my style, but Trent Frederic’s lack of point production is pretty hard to overlook.

Before the season began, I wrote a piece suggesting that a successful year for him, after signing an eight-year, $30.8-million contract, would be reaching at least 35 points, which would be a reasonable return for a player earning $3.85 million per season. I learned I’m no Nostradamus, as I missed that projection by 28 points, with Frederic finishing with just seven points (four goals, three assists).

Frederic was brought in to provide the role that Evander Kane or even Corey Perry brought in terms of toughness, but at a price tag of $3.85 million, there was also an expectation that he would contribute offensively as well.

And when the Oilers were writing on the whiteboard projecting their goal totals for the 2025-26 campaign before the season........

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