To say the Edmonton Oilers were never near winning a Stanley Cup is misleading and unfair. Yes, they’ve taken steps backward, but to make a comment like that without facts to back it up is uncalled for. Nonetheless, to make back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances means they were close enough to win.
Winning two additional time games to get to Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final has to mean something. Everyone knows Edmonton’s rally from a 3-0 deficit within the 2024 Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers to force Game 7, where they got here up one goal short as they fell by a rating of 2-1. So when a team loses by one goal means they were near winning.
Leon Draisaitl Said Nothing Flawed In regards to the Edmonton Oilers Play
But everyone knew this yr that it was going to be hard, not just for the Panthers to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, but for the Oilers as well. Edmonton had a tough enough time making the playoffs. As Leon Draisaitl noted, the Oilers have gone within the incorrect direction.
“Yes, I’m concerned about that. And a bit little bit of that leads into obviously us players. Like I said before, we didn’t do a superb enough job of properly winning games,” Draisaitl said when asked if he was concerned the team was heading within the incorrect direction. “And I don’t like using the terminology of taking the regular season seriously, because we do. We go into every game, and we attempt to do it right. We are saying the best things.
But I believe you actually must within the regular season, form these moments, you’ve gotten to get comfortable in these moments. And we didn’t do this this yr, and it ended up showing in the primary round here. So, but yes, I’m concerned, because we’re not trending in the best direction. We’ve taken big steps backwards, and we’ve got to get a grip of this and head back in the best direction.”
Draisaitl has been open and honest all season about how he feels the team has been performing. A typical theme among the many players was that the team needs to enhance. Everyone needs to be higher from top to bottom. The mindset has to vary.
What to make of Leon Draisaitl’s and Connor McDavid Comments?
As Connor McDavid said following Game 6 of the First Round series against the Anaheim Geese, the team was just average. He backed up those comments on Saturday, together with Draisaitl’s, saying the team took a step back.
“Yeah, I feel the identical way. It’s only a pair days ago I made those comments. Obviously, I feel the identical way I did a few days ago,” McDavid said when asked if the team took a step back and if he felt the identical way concerning the team being average. “And agree with Leon that the organization as an entire is taking a step back. And that starts with me, starts with Leon. All of us will be higher. All of us have to be higher.”
Again, it is tough to make the Stanley Cup Final three years in a row. While the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have completed that feat, every thing has to go right, and the team must be peaking at the best time. The Oilers just didn’t have the depth that they had years ago to make that form of run.
Can Management Improve the Edmonton Oilers Around Connor McDavid
Whether the team desires to admit it or not, they’ve played quite a lot of hockey since 2022. The trail back to the Stanley Cup Final is there, but all of them must buy in. As Kris Knoblauch noted, there must be larger roles for other players on the team. It may’t be a 3 or four-man team anymore. Have a look at the Colorado Avalanche once they won the depth that they had.
The Edmonton Oilers had that depth in 2024 with Evander Kane, Corey Perry, Ryan McLeod, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, Vincent Desharnais, Cody Ceci, and Warren Foegele. Leon Draisaitl called the 2024 Edmonton Oilers one of the best team that they had.
But who’s at fault for the shortage of depth on the team now? Point to management and the way things were handled at the tip of the 2024 season. So, for the Edmonton Oilers to get back to where they wish to be, the team has to enhance and take the regular season seriously moving forward, find an identity that suits their variety of play, and find success.
We needed to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX
Have you ever subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from across the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
In case you love our reporting, select NHLrumors.com as a preferred source on Google.