The Edmonton Oilers lost in the first round to the Anaheim Ducks, finished with their worst points percentage since 2018-19, all while Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both publicly stated that they were worried about the direction this franchise is headed.
It's fair to ask whether Stan Bowman should be the one to fix it.
To his credit, not everything he's touched has gone sideways. Trading a fourth-round pick for Vasily Podkolzin was a steal, and the three-year extension he signed him to looks like a bargain.
Disappointing 2025-26 Season Takes One McDavid Contract Option Off the Table
Disappointing 2025-26 Season Takes One McDavid Contract Option Off the Table Squandered cap space and questionable roster moves have pushed the Oilers into a corner. With championship hopes fading, Edmonton no longer has the option to push for a Stanley Cup during the entire duration of Connor McDavid's contract.
Acquiring Jake Walman at the deadline a year ago was a reasonable move. Walman was one of Edmonton's best defencemen in the 2025 playoffs, and at the time, it looked like a good deal.
But the execution kept letting him down.
Walman's seven-year, $49 million extension was a bit much given Edmonton's cap situation, and he averaged less than 19 minutes per game through the regular season. Trent Frederic's eight-year deal was just horrible. He averaged four goals and seven points in 74 games. He was healthy scratched on more occasions than one.
Oilers UFAs Explain Their Wants
Oilers UFAs Explain Their Wants The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers">Edmonton Oilers</a> playoff run might have ended earlier than anyone in Edmonton wanted, but if you listen to the guys walking out the door, temporarily, they'd each tell you, the mood isn't exactly bitter.
Then came December. Bowman sent Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick to Pittsburgh for Tristan Jarry and AHL forward Samuel Poulin. And you know what? The logic was understandable. Jarry was a known commodity with term on his deal, and the goaltending needed addressing.
But Jarry had an .858 save percentage, lost the starting job to Connor Ingram, and carries a $5.375 million cap hit through 2027-28. Skinner and Calvin Pickard are both UFAs come July 1. The Oilers could have walked away clean by now. No dollars wasted.
What was supposed to solve the problem became a new one.
Oilers Take Shot At PWHA Over Awards Snub
Oilers Take Shot At PWHA Over Awards Snub After Evan Bouchard’s historic 95-point season failed to net a Norris nomination, the Oilers fired back at voters with a pointed social media tribute to their star defenseman.
By the end of the season, Bowman's relationship with Kris Knoblauch had frayed publicly, adding another layer of uncertainty to an organization that needed the opposite.
The case for keeping him is that continuity matters, and the problems he inherited were troublesome. The cap constraints were baked in before he arrived, and aided significantly in losing Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets a couple of months after he got the job.
Oilers Sending Five Players to World Championships
Oilers Sending Five Players to World Championships Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse lead a group of five Edmonton stars headed to Switzerland, joining forces for Team Canada while teammates Mattias Ekholm and Josh Samanski chase gold.
But the Oilers are not a team with the luxury of a learning curve. McDavid's window is measured in months, not years. The moves that were supposed to push this team over the top made it harder to get there, and heading into what might be the most consequential offseason in franchise history, that's a hard thing to look past.
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