It's said that success, perception, etc, in professional sports is often all about timing. This is important to consider, when it comes to an article published by The Athletic on Tuesday, and how it specifically impacts the Edmonton Oilers.
The Athletic's released the results for their ninth annual fans polls (subscription required), which ranked the confidence level of all 32 NHL front offices. They asked fans to grade the teams in six categories, including: roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision.
For some more context, Dom Luszczyszyn advised this year’s poll received nearly 10,000 responses from fans grading their favourite teams. There were 250 responses which graded every team, with all results being presented both individually and as a collective for the 32 NHL front offices, to come up with all of their final rankings.
So what about the Oilers?
In respect of the Oilers, they were only ranked 25th overall, which seems somewhat surprising given the season they just had combined with how well they did at the beginning of free agency. However, the low overall ranking brings us back to the subject of timing.
The Athletic shared a couple of comments from Oilers followers who responded to the poll, which summed up the overall feeling within the fan base. As you'd expect, the overriding sentiment was that any good work done and good will built up during the summer, was effectively eradicated by the decision to hire the controversial Stan Bowman as general manager and vice president of hockey operations.
Now we can certainly appreciate the backlash and frustration surrounding this particular decision. However, you do get the feeling that this almost irrationally impacted how those who responded, graded at least some of the six categories presented.
Objectivity versus subjectivity
For example, it's generally agreed that the Oilers have one of the very best rosters in the entire NHL, and yet the fan base only ranked them 27th in roster building?! Similarly -- as already mentioned -- this year's free agency has been a success for them, and yet the front office was only ranked 19th - and keep in mind this was the highest ranking from the Oilers fan base in the six categories.
Admittedly not quite so clear cut is cap management, which came in at a lowly 30th place, despite CEO Jeff Jackson and company working wonders in getting so many players to agree to such team-friendly deals. On the flip side though, the fact the Oilers had so little cap space to work with in the first place, does allude to poor cap management.
The main category which does tie in to the Bowman controversy -- at least to a certain extent -- is vision, with the Oilers' front office ranked only 29th. No matter how much Jackson says the Oilers performed their due diligence before the hire, they must have realised the extent of the anger and negativity which would surround bringing in the former Chicago Blackhawks' general manager.
(Which does allude to one point of view doing the rounds, that the Oilers just don't care that much about public perception. Having previously received criticism for bringing in the likes of Evander Kane and Corey Perry, they likely believe that as long as the team continues to win, the fans will still follow the team and hand over their hard-earned cash.)
A bit more positive from the general NHL public
For what it's worth, the public feedback from 250 responses is more generous towards the Oilers, including ranking third in free agency. Yes the front office was only ranked 28th in Draft and Develop (31st by the fan base), but the other four category rankings were between 12th and 18th position.
For a final bit of context, consider that this time last year the Oilers were ranked 20th among all 32 NHL front offices. As part of his take on it all, Luszczyszyn finished by saying: "It all just seemed like a misstep for a team that was already well-positioned to win it all next season. Why anger an entire fan base with that kind of hire?"
Overall, we appreciate that fans are a passionate bunch, with Oilers supporters being right near the top in this category among professional sports teams. However, they're also extremely loyal, so as long as the team continues to win consistently, the furore surrounding the Bowman hire will eventually die down.
Some general notes
The Florida Panthers were ranked first and the New York Islanders were ranked last. The Vancouver Canucks ranked best among all Canadian NHL teams at five, while the Toronto Maple Leafs were worst at 30.