Every possible Edmonton Oilers playoff matchup and how they can happen
The Edmonton Oilers’ first-round playoff opponent will be decided on the final day of the NHL regular season.
While the playoff field has been set for a few days now, the Western Conference playoff matchups are still to be decided. The Pacific Division has been a mess all season long, and that chaos will continue heading into Game 82 for the Oilers.
There are several possibilities for Edmonton heading into the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Three potential opponents could line up against the Oilers: the Anaheim Ducks, the LA Kings, and the Colorado Avalanche.
All of those teams have just one more game left on their schedule, but Oilers fans will only need to pay attention to three games on Thursday night. Each will have an impact on who Edmonton will face in the first round:
- Oilers vs. Vancouver (Thursday night)
- Anaheim vs. Nashville (Thursday night)
- L.A. vs. Calgary (Thursday night)
The Avalanche’s final game against the Kraken on Thursday night will not impact Edmonton’s fate one way or another.
To make sense of things, here is an in-depth look at all the possibilities and how they can become reality:
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are among the most likely playoff opponents for the Oilers heading into the final game of the season.
For the past little while, the two clubs have had the second and third seeds in the Pacific, meaning they would play each other in the first round. Home ice advantage, however, is still very much up for grabs.
The Oilers currently sit one point ahead of Anaheim, and also hold the tiebreaker. Here is every possibility that would result in an Oilers-Ducks matchup:
- Edmonton defeats Vancouver, Anaheim defeats Nashville (Oilers home ice)
- Edmonton loses to Vancouver, Anaheim defeats Nashville, L.A. loses to Calgary (Ducks home ice)
- Edmonton loses to Vancouver, Anaheim loses to Nashville, L.A. loses to Calgary (Oilers home ice)
Edmonton won the season series against Anaheim this season by a 2-1 margin. Their most recent game against each other was a 7-4 Oilers victory
LA Kings
The series nobody is clamouring for might be making a return for the fifth-straight year.
It seemed like an Oilers-Kings first-round series would finally be out of the cards this season, but a perfect storm has made it a strong possibility. Edmonton is a single point ahead of the Kings, but do hold the tiebreaker going into Game 82. Here are all the possibilities that would make round five of L.A-Edmonton a reality:
- Edmonton defeats Vancouver, L.A. defeats Calgary, Anaheim loses to Nashville (Oilers home ice)
- Edmonton loses to Vancouver, Anaheim loses to Nashville, L.A. defeats Calgary (Kings home ice)
The Oilers went 1-1-1 against the Kings this season, with the latest being a 1-0 loss earlier this month. Edmonton has, however, eliminatedĀ L.A. from the playoffs in each of the last four seasons.
Colorado Avalanche
The odds are low, but a nightmare matchup against the Avalanche is possible for the Oilers if everything goes wrong on Thursday.
It seems ridiculous, but Edmonton could end Thursday night as either Pacific Division champions or the final wildcard seed in the Western Conference. The swing is incredible, and if they fall out of a divisional spot, they will face the Presidents’ Trophy winners in round one, with the Avalanche, obviously, holding home ice advantage.
This is the doomsday scenario that needs to happen to make it real:
- Edmonton loses to Vancouver, Anaheim defeats Nashville, L.A. defeats Calgary (Avalanche home ice)
The Oilers actually haven’t fared that badly against the Avalanche this season. They got blown out 9-1 in their first meeting this season, but Edmonton took the second game 4-3 and narrowly lost 2-1 in a shootout earlier this week.
Still, this will be a matchup that Oilers fans would want to avoid at all costs.