Are the 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers one-hit wonders?
The 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers were quite a wild ride. They looked pretty special in upsetting the Calgary Flames, then got shoved aside easily by the Colorado Avalanche.
So did this team create real momentum? Can the Oilers build on their success and contend for a Stanley Cup next season? Or is there any danger that they are…gulp… this year version of the Montreal Canadiens, who reached the Stanley Cup final a year ago and ended up last overall this season?
Roundtable members: are the 2021-22 Oilers a one-hit wonder? Or can they contend again next season?
SCOTT BURNSIDE: The Oilers are a tough suitcase to unpack. I was asked on our Daily Faceoff Show this week for one word to describe Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s performance this playoff year and I chose ‘inspiring.’ Led by those two dynamic players, the core of a Cup champion is there. Zach Hyman is a critical piece. Evander Kane, if he can be re-upped, is a nice fit even though I was skeptical when he was first signed out of desperation that it would work out and he did crush the team’s chances of making a series of the Western Conference final with his selfish hit on Nazem Kadri. Darnell Nurse when healthy is a cornerstone top-four defender and Evan Bouchard will learn and grow from his sometimes-frustrating experiences this spring and I believe can become the power play quarterback all championship teams possess. But…and you knew this was coming, didn’t you? This is still a team with critical flaws. The blueline is not championship caliber. There are still too many players who can’t be counted on to understand the gravity of the situation and control their emotions. Kane is one of those players, Zack Kassian another. There were promising signs of true offensive depth but they aren’t there yet. And of course the elephant in the Oiler room is: what is going to happen in goal? The same questions asked a year ago are being asked now even though the team made it to a final four. That’s not progress. That’s failure to address. Hey, finding an elite starting goalie isn’t easy. But the goaltending isn’t good enough and it’s going to take some real cap/personnel gymnastics for GM Ken Holland to fix the problem. If he can’t, it’ll be a minor miracle if the Oilers get out of the first round next spring. If they get there at all.
MATT LARKIN: Even though I’m the one driving the bus on these topics, I’ve stumped myself this time. I don’t know what to make of the Oilers. I never do. I didn’t expect them to give the Flames much of a fight, and they went out and beat them in five games. To me, the magic of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl clouds my ability to evaluate what this team really is. Those two can singlehandedly make Edmonton look like a contending team on any given night. The good news is that, as long as 97 and 29 remain with the team, they can keep elevating it year after year. The bad news is that they mask what continue to be glaring depth problems up and down the lineup. Even if we set aside Darnell Nurse’s injury, the rest of that D-corps was cobbled together with scotch tape and glue. Duncan Keith’s career is winding down. Cody Ceci isn’t meant to be a top-four defenseman. And given the Oilers have more than $75 million committed in salary already for next season, the battle for GM Ken Holland won’t even be to improve over this year’s gains – it will be to sustain them. Evander Kane alone would eat up most or all the remaining cap space if he returns, and the Oilers still have RFAs Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto to re-sign (or trade). Things look messy to me in Edmonton. I feel like a step back is possible if not probable unless Holland pulls off some wizardry this offseason.
CHRIS GEAR: Any team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl has a chance to be in the thick of things every year. They are a 1-2 punch that is just that dominant. However, as the quick series with Colorado demonstrated, the team needs more pieces before they can be considered a real threat to win the Cup. At this point, it will be tough enough for the Oilers to keep the pieces they have, let alone adding the pieces that could get them over the top. Assuming Oscar Klefbom continues to be unavailable next season and the Oilers can replace him in LTIR, the team probably has close to $12 million to work with. Evander Kane has to be one priority given the chemistry he found with McDavid and Draisaitl. The other priority is a goalie. Mike Smith had his moments, but you simply can’t rely on a 40-plus goaltender to be your starter. They will have to spend more than the $2.2 million cap hit allocated to Smith to get a proper starter, so even if Smith retires early and they get that cap space back, it will take more. In addition, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto are good building blocks that need to be re-upped. Luckily, those should come at reasonably low prices. The Oilers’ success will hinge on whether they can shed some higher-cost contracts and turn those into more efficient use of the spending. $13 million for Duncan Keith, Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci is too much for what those three players are expected to contribute at this point in their careers, just as $6 million for Zack Kassian and Warren Foegele is too much given their roles. If the Oilers can minimize some of those expenses through trades this off-season, and find some cheaper value that allows them to spend bigger on Kane and a bona fide starting goalie, I think the Oilers can find themselves playing into the month of June again next year.
MIKE MCKENNA: No chance the Edmonton Oilers are next season’s Montreal Canadiens. I don’t see any way a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl ends up finishing last in the NHL. I think that – at worst – Edmonton might once again be a playoff bubble team. But I’m much more optimistic than that. I’ve talked to quite a few players that have been coached by Jay Woodcroft and there’s a real sense of belief in what he does behind the bench. And I think that extends through the staff with Glen Gulutzan and Dave Manson. Ken Holland doesn’t have an easy summer ahead. He needs to find a goaltender to either pair with Mike Smith or take over the crease. No doubt he’ll be looking for someone under the age of 30 that can guide the Oilers’ ship for some time. What happens with Stuart Skinner is also interesting. He showed well in limited appearances this past season but is he ready for prime time? He’ll have to clear waivers. Edmonton hasn’t drafted and developed a full-time NHL goaltender since Devan Dubnyk way back in 2004. That’s a complete dereliction of duty over several regimes. It’s actually impressive how poorly they’ve handled the most important position in hockey. And the Oilers haven’t drafted a goalie since 2019. Mind-boggling. But to get off my goaltending soapbox, I think the pieces are there for Edmonton to be strong again. They could use some depth scoring. And I really think the Oilers need to speed up their defense, which struggled to keep pace with the Avalanche during the conference final. But thankfully for Edmonton, the Pacific Division isn’t very strong. And I think a full season under Woodcroft could bring strong results. I just don’t know if the Oilers can make it to the final four again unless Ken Holland hits several home runs this offseason.
FRANK SERAVALLI: I agree with Mike, there is ZERO chance the Oilers are a one-hit wonder. I think they’ve now broken through a sort of magical threshold where they’re going to be in contention now for the foreseeable future with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl leading the way. Part of it was the maturity they showed in the playoffs, their moxie and their ability to bounce back. They had the feel of a team that will eventually be on that championship track. Their goaltending has been in flux and it feels like they now have a logical window and opportunity to find a netminder of consequence – whether it’s through the trade market or free agency. The work done by Ken Holland at the trade deadline should give some confidence, based on the playoff success, that he can find the complementary pieces to help this team continue to contend. There will be some new faces, there will be some salary cap space created, but with supporting pieces like Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the continued development of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, they have a foundation in place to build upon. I don’t see the Oilers going anywhere but up.
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