The Edmonton Oilers are Stanley Cup Contenders for this season. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are two of the best players in the NHL. Evan Bouchard is an elite defenseman who elevates his game in the playoffs. Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have tended to the twine for back-to-back Cup Final appearances.
Elliotte Friedman speculates that the offer sheets of last summer could have a bigger ripple effect than most people realize, specifically with McDavid.
Elliotte Friedman on Connor McDavid & the Oilers
On the most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman revealed that some of the hesitation behind McDavid not extending with the Oilers has more to do with how the team looks in a few years than how it looks today.
“He thinks this team can win now,” Friedman told his co-host on the episode published on September 5. “But he’s not convinced that if he signs for any kind of term, three to five years from now, that he believes the team has the staying power.”
Last year’s offer sheets for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway have left voids that the organization will be hard-pressed to fill. Friedman gives his two cents on the St. Louis Blues‘ strategic move.
“They’ve traded for Savoie, they traded for Howard. And there are plenty of people who think these two guys are going to be players, but they are not yet,” Friedman said of the additions of Matt Savoie and Ike Howard (Isaac Howard). “They lost Broberg, and they lost Holloway last year, players who could be cornerstones of the future for the Oilers. That’s left some holes they’re still trying to fill.”
When you combine the back-to-back Cup Final losses with what an aging team looks like three to five years down the road, it creates questions. Questions that the Oilers must find answers to.
“The two losses have angered him and disappointed him, and pained him so much that he will not allow himself to be put into a situation where he doesn’t think he’s capable of winning,” Friedman said. “He’s put the Oilers on notice, and he’s said ‘I still want to believe that this team can still be a Stanley Cup Contender in three to five years’.”
Neither Oilers Nor McDavid Have a Crystal Ball
TSN’s Edmonton correspondent, Ryan Rishaug, spoke with McDavid on September 4. During their conversation, McDavid provided some comments that add color to the picture painted by Friedman.
“My confidence in this team this year has never been higher,” McDavid said to Rishaug. “That’s what I can say about that. Listen, does anyone have a crystal ball and know what two years, three years, four years, five or whatever [will look like]? Nobody has a crystal ball. Nobody knows what that’s going to look like.”
“The belief is not the issue – not that there is an issue. It’s just that we’re working through it and we’re working through it together.”
To this end, what do the Oilers look like in three to five years? What 22-year-olds does the organization have that will be massive contributors, pushing the team forward when they hit 25, 27 years of age?
Further to that point, what does the goaltending situation look like? Do the Oilers need to add someone like Carter Hart to solidify that position? There are NHL analysts who believe this to be the case.
No matter how you slice it, the pressure is on in Oil Country, and McDavid is turning up the heat.
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