Regardless of what happens on Saturday, the Edmonton Oilers should be given real credit for making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The best team in the NHL's Western Conference, the Oilers deserve to play for the league's biggest prize. They first took out a physical team from the Los Angeles Kings, then they took out the Vancouver Canucks who are leading the Pacific. In the end, they beat the consensus favorite Dallas Stars. This is a great hockey team and as Connor McDavid said after the Game 3 loss, “Go ahead and have fun. It's not over until it's over.”
McDavid is right. The Oilers can still come back. It would be a nearly impossible task against a very good Florida Panthers team, but if any roster can do it, it's Edmonton's. They boast some of the most powerful offensive players on the NHL's power play. It's surprising that it hasn't clicked at all in Games 1-3, but if it continues, the series could change.
Everyone better hope so, because if the top stars continue to go scoreless and the power play remains low, expect big changes in the offseason.
Questions About Top Guys Who Don't
If this series ends the way it started, there will be real questions about the show. Of course, it seems too early to ask how the combination of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and the rest of the top guys stack up. And no, this is not Toronto where the same core has failed to go anywhere in the playoffs for multiple seasons. Still, if none of these four score in a series where everything is on the line, there will be doubts.
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Did McDavid change his game a lot? Can Draisaitl push his line and turn regular players into six guys? Is Hyman a product of McDavid's success alone and an elite power play? Is Nugent-Hopkins really the top man? As hard as it sounds, the offseason will be filled with questions like this if the Oilers are swept.
Management is Changing
This is the last Ken Holland kicking the can for the Oilers. He will likely move on after five seasons of trying to build a contending roster in his image. It's one thing if the Oilers make this streak go six or seven games. It's one if Edmonton is eliminated in four games. Holland will be leaving and a new GM will be coming in, who may be looking to turn things around.
The new GM will not marry this core group. Specifically, Draisaitl has one season left on his current deal and will be a pending UFA looking for a bigger contract. If he asks for a lot of money, the management may look back on this series and ask where he was when he said he was a great football player but did not score goals. Draisaitl said after Game 3, “I'm proud of being good in the playoffs and playing well, there's nothing I can do.” Is it right to ignore everything else he did and focus on four games? Of course not. Are people? Definitely.
Without a doubt, Draisaitl is an amazing player. Leaving him may be a mistake. But, the idea that a big contract extension is looming, a new GM will want to make his mark, Draisaitl may not be sure he can win with the Oilers, and putting an egg on the Final Cup will hang over his extension talks like darkness. cloud.
The Deepest Pieces Shall Be Shaken
A series sweep or quick exit means the end of the game for names like Cody Ceci, Connor Brown, Warren Foegele, Corey Perry, Adam Henrique, and possibly Ryan McLeod, Vincent Desharnais, Calvin Pickard, and Evander Kane. These are players who will demand more than new managers are prepared to pay, they haven't pulled their weight in a series where everything was on the line, or they've been overpaid for their level of production.
The cap is rising, but the Oilers are dealing with a missed bonus, some big contracts that may have trouble attracting the right pieces, and change is inevitable if the season ends in disgrace.
The Oilers need to win a game in this series. Not just to avoid being swept, but people to look back on this team and remember it fondly. Right now, it's about one game. Long term it's about avoiding the label of a team that drops the ball when the best players in the world get a chance to be greats and win as a team. These top stars were trying their best to finish what they started. They need to get off their feet if they want to stay together.
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