Time will get the Edmonton Oilers over the playoff hump
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers fell short of their ultimate goal this season, but next year can be better.
Well, maybe saying the Edmonton Oilers fell short is a bit of an understatement. Edmonton didn’t just fall short, they basically did not even show up for the event. Edmonton was swept out of the first round almost a month ago now, and the team is going to have to do a little bit of work to get back on track.
While I am a believer that this team is missing something and that they should go add some players from different teams. I also do understand the idea of not letting these players off the hook. Trading guys and signing a bunch of new players gives the group that remains the idea that what happened in the postseason can be blamed on one or two people.
What happened was a mistake, but it is one that I think can be righted with time. Edmonton is a high-flying team that is just coming off one of the best regular seasons in team history. Now is the time to take that play to the next level.
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Making the playoffs is no longer good enough.
Edmonton is in win-now mode. It is time to see where this team can take their game to the next level. If next season ends in a similar fashion then I think some players will be traded and the organization will have to rethink some things, but for now, it is all about giving the players time to fix this on their own.
Everyone in the locker room that will be back next season could have been better in the playoffs. No one was that great getting swept in four games, and I hope the Oilers come out flying faster than ever ready to go from game one.
We can talk about a lot of different players the team needs to add this off-season, and while a lot of them could help the team, I think the biggest thing this franchise needs is a little bit more time to figure things out. Tampa Bay went through this in 2019 and they followed it up with a Stanley Cup the next season.