There is no team in the NHL that is going to be facing more pressure this offseason than the Edmonton Oilers. That pressure is already starting, and it is coming from the franchise’s two best players, forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
They are also sounding alarm bells about McDavid’s future with the team.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl put Oilers management on the clock
The Oilers’ first-round exit at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks was never going to be seen as acceptable. Not after back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, and certainly not as the team still seeks a championship for its two dynamic forwards.
It is not just the fact that the Oilers lost in the playoffs that is frustrating their best players.
It is the fact that they were mostly dominated and outplayed by a young, up-and-coming team, and also because the team took a huge step backwards this season.
The latter point is what both players focused on in their end-of-season media availability on Saturday.
Draisaitl did most of the talking in that regard, but McDavid echoed the sentiment.
McDavid also said immediately after their elimination defeat earlier this week that they were an average team all season that had high expectations, and that combination will always lead to disappointment.
But what was most concerning on Saturday was Draisaitl putting everybody on notice about McDavid’s future. McDavid only signed a two-year contract extension with the team this past offseason, doing the organization a major favor by taking what was basically a pay decrease under the salary cap. The two-year term is what makes it concerning.
Said Draisaitl on Saturday, via NHL.com:
“In what world do you have the best player in the world on your team and you’re not looking to win?” Draisaitl said. “I know we’re looking to win, but we need to be better, we have to be better, there’s no way around it. We have to improve. He’s signed for two more years, and God knows where that goes, but we have two years here as of right now and we have to get significantly better.”
Referencing the contract length, and specifically pointing out they have two years to get it done, should be sending alarm bells throughout the entire organization and fan base.
They have two years assuming McDavid does not try to force his way out before then. That will probably largely depend on how next season goes.
There is nobody in the organization who should not be feeling the pressure, and that includes everybody from ownership to the general manager, to the coaching staff, to the rest of the players.
The Oilers hitched their wagon to general manager Stan Bowman before the 2024-25 season, despite the fact that he helped accelerate the Chicago Blackhawks‘ decline during his last years there. His first two years in Edmonton have been a disaster from a roster and asset management perspective, not only failing to fix the team’s biggest issues, but also, in some ways, making them worse (like their goalie situation).
They are now tied into Tristan Jarry’s contract for three more years, have little forward depth, little defensive depth and very few assets to make trades to help fix them. It is about as grim a situation as a team could be in, despite having two of the best players of their generation on the roster, and still in the prime of their careers.