Open this photo in gallery: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid faces off against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period in game six of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena.Gary A. Vasquez/Reuters In preseason, the Oilers ranked among the favourites to win the Stanley Cup. Eight months later there are doubts that they can pull it off. From the outside, at least, it appears they are not cruising but limping into the playoffs. Leading scorer Leon Draisaitl hasn’t suited up since April 3. Goalie Stuart Skinner started in goal on Sunday for the first time since March 26. After he missed seven games with an undisclosed injury, defenceman Mattias Ekholm returned on April 11, was pulled after two shifts and, even if Edmonton advances, could miss the entire postseason. Zach Hyman sat out the last three games of the regular season, also with an undisclosed issue, and team captain Connor McDavid sat one out this week, though his absence was said to be for precautionary reasons. There is no word yet if Evander Kane, who has undergone multiple surgeries, will re-join the club in the opening round versus Los Angeles. “They have always been a top-heavy team and last year they might have been the most balanced that we have seen,” P.K. Subban, the former defenceman, said this week during a video call between ESPN hockey experts and journalists. “They are not the same team. “I’m just not as optimistic about Edmonton as I have been in the past.” The Oilers, who lost to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final in seven games a year ago, finished third in the Pacific Division behind Vegas and Los Angeles. Their task is to defeat the Kings in the opening round for a fourth straight year. Much easier said than done. “There is no carryover from one year to the next,” McDavid said this week. “It’s a new series. It is a challenge every time.” The Kings won three of the four contests between the teams during the 2024-25 campaign and have the home-ice advantage in the first round, where they are 31-5-4 this season. As a whole, the Western Conference is very tough. The Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche led the way in the Central Division, and any or all can make for a difficult gauntlet to run. Lanny McDonald readies to bid farewell to Hockey Hall of Fame “The Western Conference looks like a murderers’ row,” Ray Ferraro, the ESPN hockey analyst, said this week. “I’ll be interested to see who comes out of there. I have been impressed with L.A. Their home record is astounding. “They feel really good about their game and good about their chance to knock out Edmonton this year.” McDavid was testy this week when he addressed the media. His message essentially was: Yes, we are banged up a bit but should not be given up for dead. “I don’t like that people are counting us out,” he said. He missed 15 games this year and still finished with 100 points. “I don’t like this whole notion that we are the walking wounded. We are just fine. Everybody is going to be ready to roll. Not everything is as it seems.” Mark Messier, the long-time Oilers great, mused that both Florida and Edmonton seemed to have struggled somewhat and believes it has to do with the energy that it took for both to go four rounds last year. That is two months of playoffs. “Edmonton has been knocking on the door and broke through last year but you can see the toll the long playoff run has taken on them,” Messier said. “They look very fatigued to me, more emotionally than physically.” Skinner missed eight games but returned to the net last Sunday and recorded a victory over Winnipeg. On Wednesday he shut out San Jose in the final game of the regular season. He allowed just one goal on 36 shots in those two starts. “I feel really good,” Skinner said on Wednesday before the Oilers closed out the regular season against the Sharks. “The time off was probably the best thing for me. It knocked some sense into me.” Skinner weathered some turbulence but went 14-9 during last year’s playoffs. At one point he looked so shaky that he was replaced by backup Calvin Pickard. Overall, however, he outplayed the Stars’ Jake Oettinger in the Western Conference final and was equal to the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky. “One of the biggest lessons I learned in the playoffs was to ride the rollercoaster,” Skinner said. “There are moments where you think everything is amazing and life is good, and then, two days later, you think the world is crumbling. “You have to be able to get off that rollercoaster really quickly and get back to level ground.”