Hand up, it may have been my fault that the Edmonton Oilers got swept. Heading into this postseason I said every matchup has the potential to be a really good series, except for this one, I think the Oilers will sweep Winnipeg. Sorry Jets fans, but it wasn’t that far off. Based on how this season went the Oilers were clearly the better team and Winnipeg was without two of their top players to start the series. Clearly that didn’t matter as the Oilers lost game one, and then another and another and a triple overtime loss sealed the deal.
At the end of the day, goaltending is a HUGE deciding factor in playoffs and I should’ve really thought about that before making my proclamation because literally anyone would take Connor Hellebuyck over a 39 year old Mike Smith any day of the year. Not to mention, the Oilers opted to play an almost 40 year old goaltender in BACK TO BACK Stanley Cup Playoff games and the second of which went to TRIPLE OVERTIME. Kudos to Mike Smith, seriously I’ve always liked the guy, bit of an underdog story and had some really good seasons but come on. I get it’s the playoffs and it’s do or die but you try not to play any goalie of any age back to back let alone a guy pushing 40. Did this really matter? No, because I don’t think playing Koskinen would’ve led to Edmonton forcing Game 5 but it does begin to show some of the flaws in Edmonton’s system.
Along with that, Oilers GM Ken Holland refused to go all in at the trade deadline. He had the ability to make some acquisitions that would’ve made the Oilers a stronger playoff team but he didn’t. Sure perhaps he’s playing chess and not checkers, maybe this wasn’t the year to put all the chips in, but you have to assume if not this year it’s next?! It’s been what, almost six years since they drafted Connor McDavid? If this team doesn’t start winning and inch closer to the Stanley Cup you’re going to have to worry about him wanting out. Connor McDavid is without question the best player this league has had since Crosby and he’s already spent a quarter of his career with a franchise that has been struggling to solidify its identity since 2007.
So where did this team go wrong? It’s hard to say when you watch them and see McDavid along with Leon Draisital just absolutely dominating play. However one or two guys don't make a team, this is something my Dad has told me ever since I was a kid and he’s not wrong. The Oilers aren’t going to be successful by just throwing anybody on the ice with McDavid and Draisital, they need to really put some stake in the players surrounding these guys. I’ve expressed my appreciation for Mike Smith but Edmonton NEEDS to improve their goaltending situation and go from there. They’ve already mentioned how they want to bring Mike Smith back, that’s great, but you’re going to have to upgrade from Mikko Koskinen then.
The hope has to be for them to keep Ryan Nugent-Hopkins around or else they wasted an opportunity to bring in some talent or assets in a trade. Regardless they need to invest in some talent to spread throughout their line up. Commit to either stacking Leon and McDavid on the first line or to use them as a one-two punch and build around that. There’s going to be names in free agency that can help this team a lot and if Ken Holland doesn’t go all in on it with the off season and next season's trade deadline, the Oilers may need to make a change or they’re going to risk losing their franchise player.
It will be interesting to see what they do with their pending UFA’s, especially on the back end. Adam Larsson and Tyson Barrie being the biggest concerns. Is it time for the Oilers to accept that they lost the Taylor Hall trade and move on or do they look to keep him around as they continue to push to compete. I think extending Tyson Barrie is in their best interest but at the end of the day, it’s all about the cap situation. The Oilers have a lot of guys in need of new deals and not a lot of cap space. A lot of which is already invested in their defensemen, coincidentally a position they also need to be a bit better in. In a perfect world, if they can afford to give Barrie a pay raise and maybe keep Larson on a team friendly deal, look to add one more solid defenseman, a Ryan Graves type guy perhaps for the third pairing? They will be in decent shape.
They do have some promising young defenders who can take over if resigning Larsson isn’t in the budget. While it isn’t a guarantee that they are NHL ready, they may have to be in order for Holland to put his best team together while staying under the cap limit. As previously mentioned, the Oilers won’t have a ton of cap space going into the off season, on top of that they have a couple bad contracts on their payroll. It will be a tough squeeze to be able to add any big names to their roster assuming they resign two of Barrie, Larsson, Nugent-Hopkins. Dominik Kahun and Kailer Yamamoto are two RFA’s who’s new deals could also take a toll on the teams cap hit. You have to wonder if Holland will think about buying out the remainder of James Neal’s contract in an attempt to free up cap space.
Overall, I don’t think the Oilers need to hit the panic button, they have a good team, two of the best players in the league, they just need to come back stronger next year. This will be a defining year for Holland and if he doesn't make significant improvements or the team doesn’t make it past the first round next year, then we have a different discussion. Resign the guys you need, look to add a top six winger and a couple depth guys, look to improve your goaltending situation, it’s time to ante up and establish yourselves as contenders.
Chris Feldman
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