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Better Lait Than Never: A long Oilers offseason, pressure on Stan Bowman, and the NHL draft lottery

Photo credit: Baggedmilk/Oilersnation
By baggedmilk
May 6, 2026, 22:00 EDTUpdated: May 6, 2026, 19:37 EDT
It’s been another wild week around here with the Oilers rollercoaster making another loop, and I’ve got a fresh episode of Better Lait Than Never ready to recap it all. On today’s podcast, I discussed the Oilers getting bumped from the playoffs, a long summer ahead, pressure on Stan Bowman, and more.
I kicked off this week’s episode with a quick recap of what’s been happening since the Oilers got knocked out in Round 1 of the NHL playoffs. With the exit interviews now behind us, the thing that stuck out to me the most was how honest the leadership group was with their assessment. Both Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid gave incredibly honest feedback on where the team is, their concerns, and the timelines Stan Bowman has to turn this thing around. Needless to say, the pressure on the Oilers’ management to get this right is as high today as it’s likely ever been.
Finally, I wrapped up this week’s episode of BLTN with a pair of guest Righteous Sack Beatings, then closed out the podcast with another round of voicemails. The voicemail was alive this week after the playoff exit, and I had a great time with everyone’s takes on whatever you wanted to talk about. The voicemail is my favourite way to wrap up the show and give everyone a chance to share their thoughts. Another hearty thank you to everyone who contributed to this week’s episode. Having all of you in the mix makes the show so much better.
Subscribe to Better Lait Than Never for FREE on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you get your podcasts from! Better Lait Than Never is proudly presented by Sports Interaction, and Trilogy Oilfield Rentals. Without them, this podcast would not be possible.
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