The Edmonton Oilers may not have had much postseason success in recent years despite having two of the best players in the NHL in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but they have at least been one of the best regular season teams for the past four seasons. That alone gives them something to hang their hats to. But even that has disappeared in the early goings of the 2023-24 season, with the Oilers reaching yet another low point on Thursday night when they suffered a 3-2 loss to the moribund San Jose Sharks.

Much has been made about the Sharks' pitiful 0-10-1 start; but now, the Sharks have taken two wins in a row, with one of them coming against an Oilers team that had high hopes entering the year. In fact, pundits had high expectations for the Oilers, with Edmonton even coming in at sixth place in ClutchPoints' Week 1 NHL Power Rankings.

And it's not like the Oilers are missing their biggest stars, as both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were on the rink during their embarrassing loss to the Sharks. That may not even be the worst part; Draisaitl even admitted after the game that the entire Oilers team appears to be devoid of confidence, which isn't something fans would wanna hear from a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations.

“It's a tough league. Guys played hard. Obviously, not too many guys in this room that have confidence right now. I'm part of that group. I just keep trying to get better every day,” Draisaitl said, per Chelena Goldman of NHL.com.

Now, the Oilers are in free-fall, as they're currently tied with the Sharks with the fewest points in the entire NHL, with five. That is unfathomable for a team with two top-10 players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and it's not like their slate is about to get much easier. The Seattle Kraken and New York Islanders, their next matchups, will be two difficult hurdles for the Oilers to overcome, and then after those two teams, they'll be taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But there's certainly room for the Oilers to regress to the mean, especially when it's still early on in the season.