Is this the closet Connor McDavid gonna get to a Stanley Cup?

[PuckFather]

I was talking about core guys.

I thought you could read between the lines that having those two meh players eating 14.5 M of cap space won't let the Oilers to sign players that can help the team.

 

[Hank Plank]

Draisaitl is an all-time playoff producer. Bouchard broke Coffey's record for most assists in a playoff run. Hyman has the most goals in a playoff run since Sakic. Nuge is a versatile two-way center/wing who scored 100 points a year ago and has 32 points in his last 33 playoff games. That's without even mentioning Ekholm, Henrique, Foegele, Kane, etc. This isn't a great supporting cast?

When you put it like that, how does Edmonton lose? No sarcasm think about it, historic performances and they still can't hoist the Cup.

 

[Minnesota Knudsens]

McDrai barely left the ice in the last 5:00, Drai was dragging his carcass around the ice why not use some of that depth instead?

Frankly with the way Drai was playing, I would have put Janmark or Foegele out there instead of him.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

When you put it like that, how does Edmonton lose? No sarcasm think about it, historic performances and they still can't hoist the Cup.

They lost by 1 goal in Game 7 of the Finals…

 

[WetcoastOrca]

The Oilers were a great team this season after their rough start. But with Hyman, Kane and RNH all on the wrong side of 30, and a lot of roster spots to fill with not a ton of cap space, this might be the high water mark.

Draisaitl will also be 29 by the time next season starts. I think they really have 3 years of having a decent chance of getting back to the Finals. But Holland has really handicapped the next GM going forward with some bad contracts.

 

[WarriorofTime]

He is still pretty young and he's just way too good. I suspect he'll get his. Maybe in Edmonton, maybe somewhere else.

I think a question about whether if this is the closest Edmonton gets (in this era) is more interesting.

 

[TimeZone]

Draisaitl will also be 29 by the time next season starts. I think they really have 3 years of having a decent chance of getting back to the Finals. But Holland has really handicapped the next GM going forward with some bad contracts.

I think Leon's style will age okay, ironically I'm not so convinced the same can be said of McDavid.

The guy relies more on his speed than anyone in the league, gonna be interesting to see how he deals with the decline.

 

[Catscountry40]

He would have to move to a Southern market. Canadian teams do not because they get told every day how good they are their fans are even though most of their barns are not even that loud.

I am surprised there ha snot been 450 articles crying that Fla won because of taxes this AM.

 

[Thrasymachus]

If they can make it this far and rally from 3-0, I dont see why not.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Imagine McDavid playing for the Avs, Knights, Panthers or Stars. Every one of those teams would be instantly absolutely incredible.

They'd look a lot different after you subtracted 12.5 mil worth of their best talent.

I firmly believe they will be there next year. They need to find a way to get more depth at forward so McDavid and Drai aren't playing for 8 of the last 10 minutes in a must win game. But they'll be there again next year.

That was just dumb, dumb coaching.

They already have enough depth. You don't make game 7 of the finals without depth. This narrative that EDM has none but relies on McDrai is getting a bit ridiculous.

Yeah the depth was responsible for 2 of their 3 wins in the finals. And he's never gonna have a PK better than he had this postseason.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

That PK is not replicable next season. Janmark and Brown both had once in a lifetime performances, I highly doubt both players even come close to repeating their performances next year. Janmark was a useless player that has been passed around the NHL every year. Your everyday 4th line plug. This was the first time in his career, he's actually done something beneficial for his team.

 

[Ambisextrous]

Need to replace the runs by Brown and Janmark, by them or other great depth performances
Need Ekholm to stay top pair and not show signs of aging

With those, yeah they can make it again next year.

 

[HockeyWooot]

Really depends if Draisaitl stays, if so why not?

They’ve got great pieces (McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Ekholm, Bouchard, Skinner)in addition to Holloway and Broberg who took nice strides.

They got this far in spite of glaring roster issues, if a new GM who comes in and is half decent they can take this group to the next level.

 

[Sniper99]

In Edmonton absolutely. He has a better chance taking a fresh start in UFA (and no, I don't mean to Toronto)

sure you do.

LOL not even 24 hours and the troll threads are out. Good god this site

 

[Oleksiak]

Depends if he gets a coach with the balls to tell him he either fixes the character issues or he sits. Right now, he's too much of a locker room cancer despite his talent.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

That PK is not replicable next season. Janmark and Brown both had once in a lifetime performances, I highly doubt both players even come close to repeating their performances next year. Janmark was a useless player that has been passed around the NHL every year. Your everyday 4th line plug. This was the first time in his career, he's actually done something beneficial for his team.

Mattias Janmark has a game 7 hat trick on his resume

 

[frontsfan67]

If they don’t go again next year(and good chance they don’t with Dallas who has a young team getting older and better) then I don’t think he will unless he chooses the ray bourque route

 

[HockeyWooot]

Just like Crosby, he will stay with the team that drafted him and he will most likely win a cup or two in the future.

The management will make sure to keep the core there long term. They finally got a great coaching staff. Skinner played better this year. They vastly improved their team defense. McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard, and Hyman all had monster playoffs.

I'd be quite confident after a season like this if I was an Oilers fan.

Agree. Bad contracts in Campbell and Nurse hopefully the latter can be moved out somehow even if adding assets.

If Holland is out and a new shrewd GM is brought in I don’t see why they can’t improve the roster.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Teams garbage , McDavid should dip whenever he can , Oilers without him would instantly be a lottery team like they were before him

 

[Lara Emily]

Gonna be hard

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Depends if he gets a coach with the balls to tell him he either fixes the character issues or he sits. Right now, he's too much of a locker room cancer despite his talent.

Yeah McDavid should have put up 22 points in 24 games with solid 2 way play like Barkov , Edmonton would have won the cup forsure!!!!

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Definitely time for McDavid to come out of the "closet"

 

[Oleksiak]

Yeah McDavid should have put up 22 points in 24 games with solid 2 way play like Barkov , Edmonton would have won the cup forsure!!!!

Easier to hold the rest of the team accountable when your best player buys in. He's created a culture where diving constantly is encouraged and backchecking is optional.

 

[HockeyVirus]

I don't see it. Draisatl is due for a 7M raise, so is Douchard. Ekholm is getting up there and a massive part of the defensive success they had. Nurse is going to get worse and worse with age.

This was their chance. More than likely next season with all the dead cap from Brown and a potential Campbell buyout they run into a team like Colorado or Vegas in the 2nd round and are eliminated early. Especially with such a short offseasonj

 

[JimmyApples]

He probably ends up back in the SCF, it just sucks for him that Edmonton has the bad contracts they do. Imagine the $14M to spend without Nurse and Campbell, and that money actually invested wisely?