Playoff fever died out earlier than fans of the Edmonton Oilers really wanted it to this spring. After a couple of deep runs to the Stanley Cup Finals, it seemed obvious throughout the regular season that the holes left by departing players hadn't been adequately filled, and if the Oilers were going to find their way to a third straight Finals series, general manager Stan Bowman would have to find the pieces to get them there.
The thing about managing the Edmonton Oilers is that, in theory, the hardest part of the work is done:
- Superstar centre? Check
- Top six scoring and a dangerous powerplay? Check
- Norris quality defending in the top pairing? Check
Complementary pieces
The only big piece that wasn't there consistently was a goaltender. Stuart Skinner, throughout his time in Edmonton and in big games, was up and down. He's far from the first netminder to have similar struggles, and Bowman was hardly the only GM in the goalie market. His solution, the Tristan Jarry acquisition, was a question mark on its best day.
Admittedly, it wasn't his only move, but it was a headscratcher, and the numbers suggest that even if his other bet, Connor Ingram, played out better, he wasn't an upgrade on Skinner either. But goalies don't exist in a vacuum. The players and play in front of them have a lot to say about the saves they need to make, how many, and how magnificent.
An easy job?
The Oilers were a top scoring club. In a just world, Connor McDavid will get multiple awards. However, we cannot forget the Norris Trophy snub, Evan Bouchard who made a compelling case. When your top players are such elite talents, the only thing the rest of the team needs to do is fight to a draw. Depth scoring should be happening too on a true contender, but if the Oilers could have been around the league average in high danger chances and goals against, they would have won the Pacific Division, and I believe they would have dispatched the Anaheim Ducks in four or five games.
Bowman hasn't only made bad moves. He's added some good players to the roster, and nobody can fault the deadline acquisitions of Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy. But with the Oilers' Stanley Cup window beginning to close and the very real risk that yet another superstar leaves town, the Oilers GM needs to be at his best, just like the team he puts on the ice. That wasn't the case in 2025/26. Next year needs to be different.
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