If you’re an Oilers fan old enough to remember the glory years, the present can feel like a long argument with the future. The McDavid-Draisaitl era will end someday, and when it does, the conversation around it will be unavoidable. For now, though, the focus stays on what this run has delivered - and what it still hasn’t.
The Oilers have been to the Final twice in this stretch, and the organization has had three traditional general managers who found success elsewhere. Along the way, there have been four Hart Memorial trophies, plenty of other hardware, a pile of memorable goals and a steady stream of series wins. What there hasn’t been is a Stanley Cup.
That reality is part of the larger problem in a league that looks nothing like the one the Oilers last conquered in 1990. Back then, the NHL had 21 teams, and only a small handful really had a realistic path to the championship. Today, the league is so much bigger that simply reaching the Final deserves its own kind of recognition.
Call it a pennant, if you want the baseball comparison. Since the 1967 expansion, the list of Final appearances tells its own story.
Montreal leads with 12, followed by Edmonton with nine. Philadelphia has eight.
Pittsburgh and Chicago have six apiece, as does Detroit. Dallas, New Jersey, the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay each have five.
Florida, the New York Rangers and St. Louis sit at four.
Carolina, Vegas, Calgary, Colorado, Los Angeles and Vancouver each have three. Anaheim, Buffalo and Washington have two.
Nashville, San Jose and Ottawa have one. Winnipeg, Columbus, Minnesota, Seattle, Utah and Toronto are still waiting.
For Edmonton, the tally now sits at 26-27 pennants.
In Other News...
Evan Bouchards Bet Could Leave The Oilers With A Brutal Bill
Evan Bouchards next contract conversation is already lurking in the background, even with his latest deal still fresh on the books. Last summer, he chose a shorter four-year, $42 million extension with Edmonton instead of locking in a longer commitment, a move that gave him more flexibility and kept him positioned to cash in again while the NHL salary market keeps climbing.
For the Oilers, it is the familiar tradeoff of paying for certainty now or risking a much steeper bill later. Bouchard will be back on the market at age 29, and the recent wave of high-end contracts around the league only adds to the sense that Edmonton may have bought time, not cost control, when it settled on the shorter term. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Fans May Be Facing A New Weeknight Puck Drop Problem
With Alberta set to make daylight saving time permanent, Oilers fans may need to get used to a small but meaningful shift in the rhythm of weeknight hockey. The change will alter how game times are listed and how they feel on the ground in Edmonton, where a puck drop that looks familiar on the schedule could land an hour later locally once the province stops changing the clocks.
League officials and team brass are already acknowledging the ripple effect, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman saying the league will deal with it and noting the issue could touch Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. For the Oilers, the concern is less about the calendar than the crowd, since later starts can make life harder for families, younger fans and anyone trying to follow along live, and the full scheduling impact is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Get Pulled Back Into Another Morgan Rielly Rumor
Morgan Rielly is back in the rumor mill after Chris Johnston reported that, even with public comments pointing toward the defenseman staying put in Toronto, general manager John Chayka is still looking at trade possibilities. For a player with a $7.5 million contract over the next four seasons, any serious discussion has to clear plenty of hurdles, and this one already has the feel of a deal that would take patience rather than urgency.
Anaheim and San Jose have been mentioned among the Western Conference possibilities, but both clubs are dealing with cap pressure and roster changes that make a move harder to line up. So while the idea has resurfaced, this is not shaping up as something that happens right away, which is exactly why the speculation around Rielly keeps lingering instead of going away. [Read more 🡒]