The Edmonton Oilers will have a major salary cap crunch coming in the next few seasons with new contracts for Evan Bouchard, Connor McDavid, Stuart Skinner, and Draisaitl's raise - but that may get help from an increasing salary cap.

The Edmonton Oilers simply didn’t have it in this one, as they lost to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night (Jan. 18) by a score of 3-2. The theme of the past few games was falling behind early and battling back.

THROUGH GAMES OF SUNDAY, JAN. 19, 2025

The Edmonton Oilers potentially bolstered their defense Friday by signing free agent John Klingberg, a low-risk move that could amount to adding a top-four blueliner.

Dallas needs Klingberg more than the Oilers. Their other three right-shot D — Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin and Nils Lundkvist — haven’t scored a goal all season long. He wants to play on a Cup contender and wherever he signs, he’s in audition mode for next season.

The Edmonton Oilers overcame two deficits in Minnesota Wednesday to register a 5-3 win, behind the timely goaltending of Calvin Pickard. The Wild shot out to a deserved 2-0 lead as the Oilers got into penalty trouble.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch refused to elaborate on what exactly is going on with the hiking Swedish defender. Though it wasn’t said in his pre-game availability, OilersTV’s Tony Brar confirmed that Ekholm will be a game-time decision for the club tonight.

PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (27-13-4) are back in action tonight as they play host to the Edmonton Oilers (27-13-3) for the third and final meeting between the two teams this year. The Wild aren't expected to make any changes for their lineup.

Elsewhere in the lineup, Noah Philp joins Corey Perry and Kasperi Kapanen on the fourth line in his return to the NHL. Jeff Skinner's rocky tenure in Edmonton continues, as he's set to be a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Made a swell seam pass to set up McDavid’s first period Grade A. He got wiped out hard by massive Tanner Jeannot in the second but hung in there. Slammed a slot shot at net half-way through the third but failed to drain it. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 1/0

The expectations for the Chicago Blackhawks this year were low. Now in year two of the Connor Bedard era, there was a thought they could take a slight step forward and become a more competitive team.

Bouchard logged a power-play assist and seven shots on goal in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Wild. Bouchard has been steady since the holiday break with a goal and seven assists over his last 10 games.