It would be kind to call the vibes in Edmonton bad after the Oilers’ first round elimination at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks.
Following two consecutive Stanley Cup Final losses to the Florida Panthers, the Oilers faced a tumultuous 2025-26 season that ended in a 4-2 series loss to Anaheim where it never really felt like Edmonton had any kind of control or direction. Connor McDavid finished with six points in the series and was held without points in three of those games, whereas Leon Draisaitl had 10 points. It was confirmed after the postseason McDavid suffered a fracture in his lower leg during Game 2, but all the same, McDavid and Draisaitl didn’t hold back in their postmortem evaluation of the Oilers’ season.
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“We were an average team all year,” McDavid told reporters after the game. “An average team with high expectations, you’re gonna be disappointed. Um, you know, we just never found it.”
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Looking forward, however, Draisaitl was more concerned about what this season means on a bigger scale for Edmonton.
“I am concerned about [moving in the wrong direction],” Draisaitl said in his season-ending interview. “And a little bit of that leads into … we didn’t do a good enough job of properly winning games. … But I think you really have to in the regular season form these moments and get comfortable in these moments and we didn’t do that this year … But yes I am concerned because we’re not trending in the right direction, we’ve taken big steps backwards.”
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The biggest question for Edmonton now is what its window looks like. McDavid is still the NHL’s premier player, having led the league in points in 2025-26. But as McDavid talks about his desire to win, there is a clock.
Connor McDavid contract details
McDavid inked a two-year extension in October 2025 worth $12.5 million AAV to cap off an eight-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2017. The extension kicks in during 2026-27 and will put him as a free agent in 2028 at age 31.
Draisaitl made no bones about it: The Oilers’ window closes if McDavid leaves.
“He’s signed for two more years and God knows where that goes, but we have two years here right now,” Draisaitl said of McDavid’s future. “We have to get significantly better.”
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Oilers GM Stan Bowman also spoke to reporters on McDavid calling the team average.
“We were average for a lot of the year,” Bowman said. “The way I took that comment was in previous years we’ve had stretches where we’ve been able to get our game going and dominate and win five-six-eight, 10 in a row. And also have some losing streaks.”
Though Bowman focused on the “average” comment and sidestepped the McDavid aspect, he did say the time for the Oilers is now.
“I know how bad Connor wants to win,” he said. “And I certainly feel the same way. That’s why we all do this. So we’re pushing hard. Not every year does it work in the decisions you make. But it’s not like we’re building for five years from now … We’re pushing every year … Now is the time when we want our team to win, we’re not looking down the road.”
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While McDavid did concur in his news conference that the “organization as a whole has taken a step back, and that starts with me,” the subtext of what he and Draisatil are saying is clear: If the organization doesn’t build a team that can win with them, they’ll go win without them.
Draisaitl, of course, is under contract until 2033, so he’s locked in as a franchise staple. But with McDavid putting up 138 points this year, it seems disingenuous to say he’s taken a “step back.”
McDavid and the Oilers now go into the offseason licking their wounds, but the wounds are different than the festering gashes of two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals losses. Perhaps two deep runs caught up to them, and this season can be a reset. Either way, the Oilers have two years to figure it out with both of their franchise staples. How they come out in 2026 will be a good litmus test for where they’re at.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oilers’ latest playoff disappointment raises Connor McDavid questions
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