When Connor McDavid broke into the NHL, we sold hats that said Pray For Playoffs.
The Edmonton Oilers selected the sensation from the Erie Otters with the first pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, marking the fourth time in six years that Edmonton held the top choice.
After a surprise run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, the Oilers fell into oblivion. They had a retool that turned into an Oil Change, and then they had to start rebuilding that rebuild. The team missed the playoffs for ten consecutive seasons during a time we know around here as The Decade of Darkness.
That’s why everyone threw their Pray For Playoffs hats in the air in joy when McDavid scored 100 points in his sophomore season and the Oilers clinched a spot at the dance. After the excitement of taking down the veteran San Jose Sharks in the first round, unceremoniously blowing a 2-0 series lead against the Anaheim Ducks in the second round didn’t feel like much of a problem.
This was a young team knocking on the doorstep, just like Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins a few years earlier. The Oilers just needed a loss against the Ducks to teach them the lessons they needed to learn.
But instead of flying into a window of contention, the Oilers fell into purgatory, missing the playoffs in back-to-back years. It took until 2022 for the team to win another playoff series, five years after their first against San Jose.
The Oilers edged out the L.A. Kings in seven games that year and then hammered the Calgary Flames in the first playoff Battle of Alberta since 1991 before getting swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final. It was a ride that put Edmonton on the map as a serious contender rather than a team that was just happy to be there.
The Avs went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2022, as did the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 after beating the Oilers in the second round. The Florida Panthers became the third team in a row to beat Edmonton before winning the Stanley Cup in 2024.
It’s been a long road for McDavid, who has 712 regular-season and 90 playoff games in the NHL to his name. The captain of the Oilers has already put together a Hall of Fame career, with 361 goals, 1082 points, five Art Ross Trophies, and three Hart Trophies on his resume.
“All the core guys have been at this together for a long time. I think it has to be that way,” McDavid said during Media Day ahead of the Stanley Cup Final. “We’ve shown a great deal of commitment to each other, to the organization, to the city, and it’s brought us to this point again. Just another kick at the can. We’re obviously excited about that. It’s great to be doing that with your brothers, the guys that you’ve been with all along.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was the second of four first-overall picks by the Oilers, has been around the longest, having played 959 games over 14 seasons. Leon Draisaitl was drafted in 2014 and made his NHL debut the following season with an Edmonton team that might not have been a slam-dunk for the Calder Cup. Darnell Nurse, selected in the 2013 draft, was a rookie in 2015-16 alongside McDavid after the two won gold with Team Canada at the 2015 World Juniors.
All four of those players were with the Oilers when they beat the Sharks and lost to the Ducks. They were there when the team fell back out of the playoffs. They were there for the losses with no fans in the stands against the Blackhawks and Jets. They were there for the long battles with the Kings, the elimination games against the Canucks, and the losses to the eventual champions.
This is a group that’s seen everything there is to see in the NHL. All that’s left is to be the last team standing. For McDavid and the other lifers, the Oilers are well past the point where it’s about being in the playoffs.
“There’s steps to everything,” McDavid said. “When you’re a kid, you want to just play in the NHL. Then you want to be successful and do all these great things. Then there comes a point where it’s only about winning. I think this group hit that point years and years ago. I it a lifelong thing? I don’t know about that, but it’s for sure been a few years here with this core, and we’re looking to finish the job.”