For years, Edmonton has looked like the Canadian team most likely to end the country’s Stanley Cup drought. The Oilers got within one win in 2024, made it back to the Final the next season, and have spent much of the last decade getting closer than any other team north of the border since Vancouver in 2011.
That window still exists. It just may not stay open forever.
Montreal is moving fast, and not in the cautious, drawn-out way rebuilds usually go. After reaching the Eastern Conference Final last season, the Canadiens are past the point where anyone can reasonably call this a rebuild. They already have a good NHL team, and the age profile around that team suggests there’s more coming.
The Canadiens have drafted exceptionally well. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are already established stars.
Juraj Slafkovsky is 22, Ivan Demidov is 20, and Lane Hutson has already emerged as one of the league’s best young defencemen. Noah Dobson adds another high-end blueliner.
In goal, Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler give Montreal two young netminders who could be part of the organization for a long time.
Michael Hage is still at Michigan, and the Canadiens haven’t had to strip Laval bare to build the team that’s already winning playoff rounds. That’s a strong place to be after a conference final.
Edmonton’s roster is built differently. The Oilers have the superior talent at the top end - Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, to name a few - and Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard have added some much-needed younger pieces.
But most of the core is already formed. McDavid isn’t a prospect.
Draisaitl isn’t still climbing toward stardom. Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins are established veterans.
That’s the reality for a team that has been chasing the Cup for years. The Oilers are built to win now because they have to be.
Montreal, meanwhile, has the kind of flexibility contenders dream about. Demidov should be better in two years than he is now.
Slafkovsky should keep climbing. Fowler hasn’t hit his prime, Hage hasn’t reached the NHL, and there are still players in Laval who could eventually push into the lineup.
The Canadiens don’t need every young player to hit. They have enough volume that a few misses won’t wreck the plan. And if Kent Hughes decides Montreal needs a more established piece, he has the draft picks and prospects to go get one.
That’s where Edmonton’s edge has thinned. The Oilers have already spent a lot of their future to help the present, which is exactly what teams do when they’re chasing the Stanley Cup.
Eventually, though, that leaves less in the cupboard. Edmonton doesn’t have the kind of prospect pool in Bakersfield that Montreal has coming through Laval, and it doesn’t have the same stash of picks if another major player becomes available.
Stan Bowman can still improve the roster, but he doesn’t have the same room for error that Hughes does.
The contracts tell a similar story. Montreal has managed to keep its young core under control at numbers that remain manageable by league standards, and that gives Hughes room to keep adding as the group develops.
There’s also a coaching layer to this. Martin St.
Louis has been behind the bench through much of the rebuild and has grown alongside the players now turning Montreal into a contender. After getting a team this young to the conference final, it’s not hard to picture a Coach of the Year award in his future.
Hughes could have a GM of the Year case waiting for him, too.
Edmonton knows what playoff mileage looks like. McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins and Bouchard have already been through long runs together. They’ve played in Stanley Cup Finals, felt that pressure, and come as close as a team can come without actually finishing the job.
Montreal hasn’t been there yet. For now, though, Edmonton’s experience and top-end firepower keep it in the mix among Canadian contenders.
The Oilers don’t have to be younger than the Canadiens or have a better prospect pipeline to win four rounds this season. But they also can’t keep assuming there will always be another chance.
Montreal’s best years may still be ahead. Edmonton’s best shot may be the one right in front of it. And if the Oilers don’t cash in soon, the Canadiens may not give them much time left to try.
In Other News...
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Oilers Front Office Doubts Are Growing Around Connor McDavid's Window
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That backdrop helps explain why the front-office conversation has turned so sharp. In a recent Athletic fan-based ranking, Edmonton slid further down the list as doubts continued to build around the way the team is being run, and the reaction has had less to do with one single move than with a growing feeling that the plan has been hard to pin down. For a franchise trying to keep pace with its superstar's timeline, that kind of skepticism is starting to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers May Be Eyeing A Veteran Move That Reshapes The Bottom Six
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A move like that would not just be about one player, either. It could ripple through the rest of the roster, forcing the Oilers to make a choice on younger depth pieces while they sort out how they want their checking lines to look heading into the next stretch of the season. More Oilers talk is expected soon on Sports 1440 and YouTube, where this kind of roster wrinkle should get plenty of attention. [Read more 🡒]