The West has six teams with a chance to win the Stanley Cup north of 2.5 percent. These are each team’s signature strengths and fatal flaws.

So close, yet so far. This was the story of the Edmonton Oilers in 2023-24 season as they lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final against the Florida Panthers and fell short.

After a shocking trade, the Hurricanes have elevated their chances of winning the Stanley Cup in the 2024-25 NHL season. Which other teams are contenders?

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid will be back in the lineup for the Edmonton Oilers when they host the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, KONG, KHN), having served his three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland on Jan. 18.

Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid is facing an NHL hearing after a cross-check occurred during a team game against Vancouver.

Connor McDavid missed an opportunity to play for Canada at the 2018 Olympics when the NHL skipped the event after going to five straight between 1998 and 2014.

While Connor McDavid served the final game of his suspension, the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 at Rogers Place on Saturday (Jan. 25).

The Edmonton Oilers wake up this Sunday morning in First Place in the Pacific Division, and third overall in the NHL. The Oilers went 2-1 with Connor McDavid out due to suspension and have been 25-8-2 since November 9 th. How different will the Oilers look when Connor is back is not the question. How officials will look at him…is.

So the @BuffaloSabres scored a goal in the 3rd period without registering a shot on net. According to @nhl stats, this is the 3rd time it has happened in an NHL game since team shots in a period were kept in the stats in 1965-66. Detroit in 1986 and Montreal in 2016 against the… pic.twitter.com/eTJU8sGIGX

As a 5-on-5 force, the Oilers remain a top-three club in both shot attempt differential (measuring total puck possession) and expected goals rate per Moneypuck.com. Then there is the largest concern of all, which has bitten the Oilers when push comes to shove every year they've been within arm's reach of a Cup: Goaltending.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby dropped a very sincere confession about Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid's three-game suspension issued by the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

Nearing age 40, Corey Perry is having a terrific season. He's part of an exclusive club of Oilers who have played past their 39th birthday.