EDMONTON — A calendar year in Oil Country doesn’t pass quietly anymore, the way they once did.
Today, we bid goodbye to a 2025 that brought Edmonton Oilers fans far more joy than heartbreak, though admittedly, the heartbreak that did arrive had a grimly familiar taste to it. Another sunset in Sunrise, another set of parade blueprints stuffed back in the city planner’s desk drawer — to be used again some other time.
Or perhaps never.
The Boston Bruins were scheduled to be the final victim in a 69-win 2025, playoffs included, but something went sour en route to the party. The Bruins won 6-2 as goalie Connor Ingram fell back down to earth in his worst start since his call-up to Edmonton four starts ago, and his team followed suit.
Boston was vastly the better team, but even still, the Oilers still managed to put their heads down on their pillows Wednesday evening as the Pacific Division’s first-place team — a decent feat considering the road-heavy schedule the NHL threw at them in the first half of 2025-26.
But what of the year passed?
Can any year that brings three playoff series wins, another Conference championship and a second straight Stanley Cup appearance be considered anything less than a success? Not the ultimate success, of course, but ask folks in 30 other cities — or six other Canadian markets who haven’t had a sniff at a Cup in years — if they’d take that template for their team. We would suggest that we know what the answer would be.
The year 2025 ends with Connor McDavid on a legendary tear, cemented as the undisputed best hockey player on earth and poised to show the world a new level of Olympic performance, as we wrote about here.
On Wednesday, with a one-assist point performance against Boston, McDavid capped off the most productive month of his career. He had 34 points in December, topping his personal best of 31 points, attained twice in his career.
McDavid’s 2025 had the same tragic awesomeness that did his team’s: the good news was he signed a new contract to remain an Oiler. Phew!
The bad news? It was only a two-year deal, not the eight-year pact folks around here were hoping for. And so the clock ticks once again in Edmonton.
Alas, Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year deal kicked in for the Oilers in October of 2025. So if McDavid disappeared tomorrow, the Oilers will still have one of the three top centremen in the world on their roster.
The year ends with an injured goalie in Tristran Jarry, who is framed as either the answer or the problem inside Edmonton’s eternal goaltending woes — depending on his health — and an unhappy Andrew Mangiapane. Like Jeff Skinner a year ago, Mangiapane hasn’t found a way to mesh with either world-class centre here, and can’t hold down the job in the top six that he signed up for.
Mangiapane spent a night in the press box, returned Wednesday to play on Draisaitl’s wing, and lasted just 14 minutes into the game (three shifts) before being replaced by Jack Roslovic. He made a few appearances back on Draisaitl’s unit, but Roslovic made just as many as Mangiapane’s meh season continued into 2026.
At game’s end, nobody played less than Mangiapane’s 6:54. If this is being showcased, we’d wonder what it looks like when they’re not trying to trade you?
It’s been reported that the Oilers are shopping Mangiapane, and that he’ll be willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to a team that is willing to give him more ice time. Mangiapane was asked by a reporter on Wednesday morning if he could “set us straight on where things sit from your end?”
“I’m not, to be honest, really sure,” he began, in as tepid a response as could be imagined. “It’s kind of the business side of it, right? I’m happy to, kind of, be here and be with this team, right?
“So we’ll see, kind of, where it plays out. But that’s, kind of, beyond my, kind of, control. I’m just going to continue to play my game and focus on hockey.”
Sounds like a guy who wants nothing more than to be an Oiler. Kind of.
A year ago, Jeff Skinner found himself in the same embarrassing position. But Skinner earned respect in the dressing room by keeping his mouth shut and his head down. He played it out and put the team first, whereas Mangiapane and his agent are clearly ready to give up and move on.
If you’re giving up in December, we would ask, what’s it going to be like going to battle with you in May? Likely not great, we would say.
The problem is, Mangiapane can’t find any semblance of an effective game while riding shotgun for Draisaitl and, at times, McDavid. As such, what NHL general manager could possibly be saying to himself, “Maybe if we bring him in here and play him with (insert generic centreman here), he’ll start scoring.”
When it comes to the calendar, the Oilers should perhaps consider closing up shop on July 1, a day that has caused a lot more problems than it has solved over the past two summers. Over two crops under this management team, the Oilers have reaped Viktor Arvidsson and Skinner — both healthy scratches in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final — and then Mangiapane and Trent Frederic, whose eight-year deal hangs over this franchise like ice fog.
In 63 games as an Oiler in the year 2025 — regular season and playoffs — Frederic had three goals and seven points. All for the tidy price of $3.85 million per season.
Oh well, you know what they say.
Maybe next year.
