The Edmonton Oilers are in the middle of a season that probably feels more familiar to their fans than making the playoffs, but one thing makes this season feel much worse.
We can basically explain that thing with two words: Connor McDavid.
However, with context (Sorry about this Oilers fans), it seems a little worse. A lot of fans have discussed the Oilers’ inability to surround McDavid with a competitive team during the time that he was on an entry-level contract. With their captain’s 12.5 million dollar contract kicking in next season, things will get a little more difficult and this stat makes this all feel a little wasteful.
In basically every stat you can find, the Oilers are a force with McDavid on the ice and… something else without him.
The good news for Oilers fans is that 2/3 of those teams were able to turn things around pretty quickly. Both the Penguins and Capitals have been Stanley Cup contenders basically every year since those days. Even the Penguins had difficulty building a surround cast for Crosby in between his first and second cup, so there’s still hope yet.
Their job isn’t made easier with that big contract, but we’re pretty sure given the opportunity any fan base or GM would move mountains to have a problem like that.
