We finally know who the Edmonton Oilers will face in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and for the second (third) straight year it is the LA Kings. It was the most (not as likely) result and honestly I believe it is a good one for the Oilers. That isn't because I think Edmonton can steamroll through the Kings or that I didn't like the team's chances against the Jets or the Kraken (Golden Knights).
LA is a tough team to play against but we have seen the Oilers focus and play some of their most responsible hockey of the season against the Kings. The phrase "playoff hockey" gets thrown around far too often but that is a fair description for the kind of play we will likely see between these two teams.
Last season the Edmonton Oilers were the favorites going into the matchup against the Kings but the series still went seven (six) games, with the Oilers having to dig themselves out of a 2-3 (1-2) hole and twice having to avoid elimination (having to come back in Game 4 after being down 3-0.) This is a better Oilers team than last years.
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In case that wasn't clear, that is the exact blog I posted last season about starting in Round 1 against the LA Kings... with a few adjustments. Wash, rinse, repeat... it's Oilers vs Kings, Round 1... Round 3.
Here are 5 questions that the Edmonton Oilers face heading into this matchup?
1) How Will Knoblauch Adjust The Roster?
One detail that hasn't gotten much notice yet about this matchup is two rookie head coaches going up against one other. Both the Kings and Oilers fired their previous head coaches this year (McLellan and Woodcroft) and replaced them with rookie head coaches. Knoblauch came from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. Prior to that he served as an assistant coach for the Flyers in 17/18 and 18/19 and coached six games for the Flyers in 20/21 when David Quinn went into COVID protocol.
Jim Hiller for the Kings was an assistant coach for LA prior to being promoted to interim head coach. Hiller before that served as an assistant for the Islanders (2019-2022), the Leafs (2015), and the Red Wings (2014).
Both have experienced playoff hockey though Hiller has far more experience in that regard. Knoblauch was behind the bench for 6 games when the Penguins beat the Flyers 4-2 in 17/18. Hiller has been behind for far more including a few runs by the Islanders.
Both coaches however are new to being in charge during a playoff series. How will Knoblauch adjust if things start to grow stale? On that note...
2) How Long Until the Oilers Go To McDavid and Draisaitl
In the past two years, the Oilers started out against LA with McDavid and Draisaitl separated and by the end of both series the two players were playing on the same line. McDavid and Draisaitl together is the nuclear option and the reason they get put together is because it works. While the two are dominant together, moving Drai off his own line greatly hurts the production of the second line.
Will this be the year when the two remain on their own lines, giving Edmonton much needed depth, or will we see the duo together before the end of Game 3?
3) Is Stuart Skinner Ready?
Skinner became the starter last season after Jack Campbell proved unable to maintain a high pace of play. Skinner was good enough against the Kings but was certainly lacking against the Golden Knights. Skinner had come in as a rookie goalie and asked to shoulder a great deal for Edmonton. This season from the start, Skinner knew he was the starter and has the experience of the 22/23 playoffs under his belt. You can only go far in the playoffs with a hot goalie and Edmonton desperately needs Skinner to get hot.
On the other side, Cam Talbot has a 0.889SV% against the Oilers this season. Edmonton needs to get to LA's goalie early this season and do everything in their power to support their own guy.
4) Where/When Does Dylan Holloway Play?
Holloway scored the lone goal for the Oilers in a lopsided final regular season game against the Avalanche. It was a good test to see how the Oilers supporting cast could fair in an extreme example of their top guys not producing. Dylan Holloway was the only player to answer the call on the scoresheet (though Foegele did have some good looks).
I don't know if Dylan Holloway will play in Game 1. I would heavily argue that he deserves it but if Kane is healthy and ready to go I don't know how the roster gets set up. If Kane is still hurting I would sit him a playoff game or two until he is as close to 100% as they can get him.
Holloway has the speed and skill to help break up the infamous 1-3-1 of LA before they can even set it up. I think he will be a valuable piece to this roster through what should be a long playoff run.
5) Nurse-Ceci
The Oilers have depth throughout their lineup, a legitimate top pairing in Ekholm and Bouchard and strong goaltending. The biggest weakness of this roster remains the Nurse and Ceci pairing. Ceci's struggles have been well documented and Nurse has not stepped his game up at all in the final month of the season.
Excellent work by guys like @NHL_Sid on Twitter have shown that not only are Nurse and Ceci having their minutes dropped, but they have become more of a third pairing in terms of the competition they face. The Oilers can only go so far if they have only one true top 4 pairing. They need both of these players to step up and at bare minimum cut down on the boneheaded mistakes that leave the Oilers hemmed in their own end. Someone on that duo needs to be able to make a pass.
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Edmonton should absolutely win this series but they cannot take the Kings lightly. LA will make any slight mistake that their opponent makes find it's way into the back of the net. Edmonton is used to the grind of LA but they cannot be complacent or they will quickly find themselves down.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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