The Edmonton Oilers could make an unwelcome kind of history in the 2025-2026 season, if they become the first team in NHL history to lose the Stanley Cup Final three years in a row, all to the same opponent. In fact, no team in any of the four major North American sports leagues â NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL â has ever lost a championship to the same team more than two years running.
On Wednesday, one NHL expert strongly suggested they hold off that fate by making a bold play for Detroit Red Wings forward Alex Debrincat, to create “the best forward lineup” in the NHL.
Edmonton has lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers in each of the last two seasons and the rivals are high among the early preseason favorites to meet in the Cup final yet again in the 2025-2026 season, according to ESPN BET odds.
Oilers Risk Wasting the McDavid-Draisaitl Era
In addition to the incentive of avoiding the embarrassment of that dubious record, the five-time Stanley Cup winning Oilers will also be desperately looking to secure their first championship of the Connor McDavid era â which more accurately could be called the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era.
The German import Draisaitl came into the NHL one year before McDavid, when Edmonton made him the No. 3 overall pick in the NHL entry draft, but saw limited action in his rookie year and scored only twice. The following season, 2015, the Oilers owned the draft’s No. 1 overall pick, and used it to take McDavid.
In the 10 years the pair have been Oilers teammates, McDavid and Draisaitl have combined for 758 goals and 2,031 total points. Draisaitl led the NHL in goals last season with 52. McDavid led in 2022-2023 with 64, and has also topped the league in assists four times. Draisaitl has one NHL assist lead on his ledger.
Upgrade to Prolific Scoring Front Line
In short, the Oilers have perhaps the most powerful scoring combination in the NHL, and certainly one of the top three. And yet, still, no Stanley Cup â despite making the final in each of the last two years.
What do the Oilers need to do to push themselves past the Panthers and in position to finally take home the hallowed trophy? According to NHL analyst Jesse Courville-Lynch of The Hockey Writers, the answer is â add another goal-scorer.
And the scorer Courville-Lynch suggests is Debrincat, the Red Wings’ 27-year-old right wing.
“The Oilers have shown they arenât scared to make big moves if it means improving their team and being able to make a deep postseason run, which was evident when they acquired Jake Walman before the 2025 Trade Deadline from the San Jose Sharks,” the Hockey Writers scribe explained. “One player who stands out as a potential trade target for the Oilers is superstar forward Alex Debrincat, who has solidified himself as a star in the NHL.”
Multiple Seasons With More Than 30 Goals
Debrincat, playing for his third team in an eight-year career, tallied 39 goals last season â the fourth time in his career that he topped 30. In fact, he has exceeded 40 twice, with 41 each in 2018-19 and 2021-22, both with the Chicago Blackhawks who drafted the Farmington Hills, Michigan, native in the 2016 second round.
Debrincat is also a former teammate of McDavid’s when the two played for the Ontario Hockey League Erie Otters.
Here’s What Debrincat Trade Looks Like
With two seasons remaining on his four year, $31.5 million contract with Detroit, Debrincat would not come at a discount, however.
“Realistically, a trade looks like the Oilers acquiring Debrincat in exchange for Mattias Ekholm, Beau Akey, their 2027 first-round pick, and their 2028 second-round pick,” Courville-Lynch wrote.
“The Oilers bring in a superstar for their top-six forward group,” the Hockey Writers expert continued. “They would create, arguably, the best forward lineup in recent NHL history, and likely become the favorite heading into the postseason.”
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