For the second season in a row, Connor McDavid watched the Florida Panthers hoist the Stanley Cup. And he was probably left wondering for another season, “When will I finally have my moment?”
So many NHL greats have come and gone. The greatest players in league history, and many of them were fortunate enough to see their names engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup. But for McDavid, that won’t be the case, as his Oilers were sent packing tonight following two abysmal performances in Games 5 and 6.
In what looked like a series for the ages deflated quickly following Edmonton’s epic win in Game 4. It was almost like they peaked, and had nothing to give in Game 5 when they briefly took back home-ice advantage. And it set the stage for a Game 6 that looked as though the Oilers wanted to be anywhere but in Sunrise, Florida.
When will Connor McDavid finally win the Stanley Cup?
You couldn’t have asked for a much better team this season, with the Oilers picking up where they left off last year after a rough October. Leon Draisaitl made as good a case to win the Hart Trophy as you could ask, and McDavid, as usual, was busy being the best player in hockey, or close to. Again, Draisaitl looked unstoppable with 52 goals and 106 points.
That meant the best player in hockey wasn’t even the best player on his team this season. And no, that’s not a knock against McDavid; it’s a compliment for Draisaitl. Yet still, McDavid couldn’t get it done with a red-hot Draisaitl next to him, despite this being arguably the deepest Oilers team by the time the playoffs rolled around.
So, what’s it gonna take for this team to give McDavid the Cup that he’s deserved since he started leading the Oilers turnaround not long after they drafted him? More consistent goaltending? You tell me.
The Oilers need to have just one goal this offseason
It’s time to go all in and leave nothing to chance. For two seasons now, it looked like Connor McDavid was finally getting his moment. And for two seasons, the Oilers and everyone associated with them were wrong.
The buck stops here, and it’s time to bust into ‘whatever it takes’ mode and get this thing fixed. You can win in the regular season and you can make deep playoff runs. But if you can’t win the Cup with a team that good and with the best player in the league, you can’t call this a successful season.
And as I said in a previous article. Connor McDavid’s getting an asterisk next to his name if he can’t win a Cup. With this team giving him possibly the best chance to snag one, someone in the organization needs to come up with an answer for what exactly’s going wrong here.
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