The dust has settled on the Edmonton Oilers’ season after another year where they don’t have a Stanley Cup to show for it. Of course, doom and gloom have shrouded the state of the organization because of it, but it’s time to put a pause on that noise.

Many have been quick to say their window is closed, fuelled by a fear-mongering buzz around the franchise that they won’t win the ultimate prize during Connor McDavid’s prime.

You can call it delusion, or ‘copium,’ as the kids like to say. But I do believe this window with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can be extended.

All anyone has wanted to talk about is the worst-case scenario, but I would prefer to look at the best-case scenario.

There are many ways the Oilers can extend this window as Draisaitl and McDavid enter their 30s, and changes will be needed. Fortunately, they already have pieces, including those who can take the next step, those who can take time to recharge, and those who can bring in a fresh voice.

Last season was rather turbulent for the Oilers results-wise. With how they sputtered along, one could say the writing was on the wall for an early post-season exit.

But we still saw growth from multiple players, not only in Edmonton but also in Bakersfield.

Matt Savoie became a regular in the Oilers lineup, and while the first half of the season wasn’t ideal for him minutes-wise, it was after the Olympic break that fans watched him turn into a player who can play with the big guns and contribute in a top-six role.

At 22 years old, the Oilers have a young forward with the skill, speed, and hockey IQ to become a coveted top-six winger for Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid — one they’ve been hunting for in the trade market or in free agency for years. With players like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman aging, it’s important that the Oilers have players like Savoie take the next step and potentially fill their shoes when the time comes.

Vasily Podkolzin was another player who grew and took a step forward. He matched Savoie’s 37 points, but he brings an edge of physicality and an unmatched work ethic. At 24 years old, he can definitely improve. Who knows how high his ceiling is, but his progression reminds me of Zach Hyman. While they’re different archetypes of players, Hyman didn’t pot 20-plus goals until he was 27, while Podkolzin was a goal shy of that mark this year.

Progression isn’t linear, of course. Players can have down years, but in 2025-26, we did see players grow with the chance of playing important roles in years to come. These are players you can depend on. Other names that come to mind are Josh Samanski, Ty Emberson, and Colton Dach. I’ll even add Kasperi Kapanen. While he’s not young and has had injuries hold him back, he has shown he will bring tenacity to the Oilers lineup when ready and can play in either the bottom-six or top-six.

Then you have players in Bakersfield like Quinn Hutson, Isaac Howard, and Viljami Marjala who are hungry to take that next step.

There’s no guarantee all three of them turn into NHL regulars with the Oilers, but they’ve certainly impressed with the Condors and taken strides in their game.

For Howard, Savoie’s growth is a great example of a young player who can make an impact on the Edmonton Oilers, and I’m sure he will want to prove many wrong and prove to himself why he belongs in the NHL.

The Oilers organization isn’t known for high-end prospects, but they’ve done a good job of identifying young players who can develop and transition to the main roster. Instead of constantly addressing needs through trades or free agency, they have players who can already fill roles internally, players who can take that next step. And you need that if you want to continue to compete for the Stanley Cup.

On paper, the Oilers did not have a terrible lineup. But injuries to key players put them in an awkward position, ultimately costing them in the playoffs.

To start the season, they were without Jake Walman and Zach Hyman for extended periods. Walman only logged 53 games. Hyman, on the other hand, didn’t make his season debut until Nov. 15.

Fast forward to March and April. They lost Leon Draisaitl while they were in the midst of battling for the Pacific Division. If he’s healthy, do they secure the top spot and face Utah in the first round? Connor McDavid then gets hurt, putting him in a position where he can’t play to the peak of his powers. Jason Dickinson was showing signs of being a quality defensive 3C, but an injury set him back, too.

Yes, players have played through injuries before, but key Oilers forwards were battling through wounds that limited their abilities.

Fatigue is real, and this Oilers team showed signs of it, as they were physically and mentally worn out. Playing hockey became monotonous for them, repetitive in a sense, and as Leon Draisaitl mentioned in his end-of-season availability, they lost a little bit of that fire. They are human after all, and what we saw were the effects of burnout.

Give them a couple of extra months off, and that fire can be reignited, sprinkled with the newer acquisitions who didn’t make it that far in 2024 or 2025 but had a taste for defeat.

The way this season finished can fire up players and make them want more.

They started the year injured and finished it that way, and now, with all this recovery time, they have a chance to hit next season much stronger.

One area within the Oilers organization that came under fire this past year was the coaching position. Kris Knoblauch has had a lot of success results-wise behind the bench, but in 2025-26, we saw a few cracks in how he managed the lineup, which created much displeasure among the fanbase.

Now, it’s not confirmed at the time of writing this article whether he will be back, but now could be the time to bring a fresh voice with new ideas into the locker room. Someone who’s lifted the Stanley Cup in the past five years as a head coach.

Bruce Cassidy can be the fresh voice. An experienced coach who’s been to the Stanley Cup Final twice, once with the Boston Bruins in 2019 and again in 2023, where he lifted Lord Stanley’s Mug with the Golden Knights.

Every coach has their flaws, but in 2025-26, it felt like the Oilers became stagnant as a team. Always running back to the well of pairing Draisaitl and McDavid together, the moment things went south.

A lack of trust in younger players, limiting minutes for call-ups from the Bakersfield Condors, and over-reliance on veteran players like Adam Henrique and Mattias Janmark. While understandable in certain situations, you’d hope a coach could get more offensive production from a forward like Janmark than seven goals in his past 194 regular-season games.

Especially when it comes to the bottom-six, while it’s harder to spread out minutes when you have world-class talents like Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, you’d hope a coaching staff can get more out of their role players.

Under Knoblauch, we saw a decline in depth scoring. As NHL_Sid noted in a recent article, the team’s net goal share with McDavid and Draisaitl off the ice at five-on-five was at its lowest, 39 per cent, since Dave Tippett was head coach, who was inevitably fired in 2021-22. While that number has fluctuated over the years, partly due to roster construction. I highly recommend reading Sid’s article, as he goes in depth on forward deployment and usage, but it’s clear that the Oilers could use a fresh voice and new ideas behind the bench. Bruce Cassidy will be a wanted man; he’s had success in the NHL and could be the person who helps extend the Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid window.

Another caveat about Knoblauch is that the Oilers would sign free agents, such as Viktor Arvidsson, and Knoblauch wouldn’t know how to utilize them. Arvidsson has been a consistent 20-goal scorer in the NHL, but he struggled to find any production with the Edmonton Oilers. He was traded to the Bruins and had one of the best seasons of his career this year, scoring 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games.

Even Connor Brown posted better numbers this past season with the New Jersey Devils after leaving the Edmonton Oilers.

Now, not all the problems plaguing the Oilers are on Kris Knoblauch’s shoulders. He can’t prevent injuries, and he doesn’t make the acquisitions, although he may have a say in them. He did, however, have a say in his coaching staff this past year. Originally, Paul Coffey wasn’t supposed to be on the bench with him, but it got to the point where they needed to bring him back to stabilize the defence.

It does say something that the team had to lean on one man to fix the mess they were in, even though he wasn’t initially part of the plan.

This season was his first taste of failure as a head coach, because a team is still considered successful when it reaches the Stanley Cup Final. No other coach with the Oilers has come close that close to winning it all since 2006. But that’s three seasons under Kris Knoblauch without the Stanley Cup, and it might be time to give the reins to a man who’s gotten the job done without two of the best players in the NHL.

To wrap it up, the Oilers have the players within their organization to extend their Stanley Cup window for a few more years.

Not only did young players grow, but core players as well, Evan Bouchard, for example, who was in the conversation to be in the Norris Trophy.

Some extra time away from the rink may benefit a few players as they rest, recover, and prepare for next season with a clearer mind and a stronger desire to win.

Changing the coach shouldn’t always be the solution, but in some cases it can work, as we’ve seen in the past, not only with the Edmonton Oilers but also in organizations around the NHL like the Vegas Golden Knights, who recently hired John Tortorella, helping turn them around when things were looking down. A fresh, experienced voice can go a long way.

Lastly, work will still be needed this summer. Stan Bowman can’t remain passive as teams in the Pacific Division continue to improve. Some positions need attention, and contracts need to be moved to clear cap space. While the players are recharging, this is the moment for management to make tough decisions and put the Edmonton Oilers in a better position to succeed.

The next month and a half should give Bowman and staff ample time to focus on and prioritize the needs of this franchise and put the Oilers in a best-case scenario to be a Stanley Cup contender next season and the season after.

This window is far from closed, and wins throughout the off-season and into next year on the ice can help extend it and put an end to the doom and gloom.