Change needed: Factors standing in the way of the Oilers winning a Stanley Cup next year
Now what?
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After another regime change and a major player overhaul in the summer, the Edmonton Oilers seem father away from a Stanley Cup right now than they did a year ago.
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What started out as an epic series with the Florida Panthers — three-straight ferocious overtime games — fizzled into the Oilers being exposed.
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When your last three losses of a series are by scores of 6-1, 5-2 and 5-1, the gap between you and the team that beat you is more like a canyon.
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This was an eye-opening final, to be sure.
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Edmonton was good enough to steamroll the Western Conference. Going 12-2 in their last 14 games against Los Angeles, Vegas and Dallas is the stuff of a real contender. But face-to-face with a real champion, the Oilers didn't have an answer.
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The Panthers were better on every possible level.
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So this is going to be a massive summer for general manager Stan Bowman and Hockey Operations chief Jeff Jackson. The Oilers need a complete overhaul. If all we see are a couple of tweaks around the edges, the Oilers aren't winning a Stanley Cup next year, either.
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Not as long as the Panthers are around. And you can be sure the other contenders are going to muscle up as well.
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A LITTLE HELP
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Right now, the legacy for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, 10 years into their partnership, is one of near-misses and long-running frustration.
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But they've been more than good enough to win a championship.
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In 96 career playoff games, Connor McDavid has 150 points, including 75 points in 47 games over the last two runs to the final.
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Leon Draisaitl has 141 points in 96 playoffs games and 64 points over the last two runs.
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It's the organization that's been letting them down, not the other way around.
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Edmonton scored 16 goals in the Cup Final, not counting Vasily Podkolzin's garbage-time marker with four minutes left in a 5-0 Game 6. Of those 16 goals, McDavid and Draisaitl either scored or assisted on 11 of them. They were on the ice for 13 of the 16.
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You can't win that way.
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Getting Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson for a combined $7 million seemed like solid moves at the time, but they weren't. Trying to get something for nothing with Kapsperi Kapanen and John Klingberg wasn't the answer, either. Not when the Panthers were getting Seth Jones and Brad Marchand.
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