It’s time to dig into this week’s Letters to the Editor. Want to join in the fun? Details about how to reach out are at the bottom of the article.

It has occurred to me that the team and fans are overreacting to last season’s failure. Head coach Kris Knoblauch had to go, as it was obvious he lost the room. But in terms of this summer’s UFA situation, there’s no need to panic. Extending Dickinson, Murphy, Ingram, and Kapanen are the main priorities. The Oilers have one or two prospects graduating to the NHL in 2026-27: Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson. With Dach extended, this gives the Oilers 12 forwards already. 13 if you count Janmark, although it’s in everyone’s best interest if Janmark is traded, buried, or bought out.

With defence, adding Murphy and extending Stastney gives the Oilers seven defencemen. The biggest piece of business, as I see it, is to move or bury Tristan Jarry, which allows the Oilers to acquire a goalie like Cossa in Detroit, or give a chance to prospects Ungar or Jonsson. There are a number of prospects the Oilers need to add this summer, including Berezkin and Oswald. Berezkin is a big right winger who is NHL-ready. With roughly $16 million in cap room to work with, I would prefer Oilers management give the new coach this roster. Keep room available for the NHL trade deadline.

Savoie – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Driaisaitl – Kapanen
Nuge – Dickinson – Howard
Dach – Samanski – Berezkin
Frederic – Hutson

Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Murphy
Walman – Emberson
Stastney

Ingram
Ungar or Jonsson or Cossa

My two cents.

Richard Cloutier

Time for the Oilers to move on from Cassidy and get the next guy on the list. Love them or hate them, Vegas is shrewdly winning the NHL game of chess, and it’s time to accept Cassidy is going to coach somewhere else.

Laviolette should probably be approached at this point.

David Gibbons
Red Deer

I’ve always said we can never win with Connor and Leon because there is no coach on the planet that has the balls to actually coach them.

I said, only three days before Vegas hired him, that the Oilers needed to hire Torts! Then what happened? Vegas makes the move, and the rest is history. Torts is the only coach that would tell Connor and Leon they need to be way better leaders. He would tell them they lead by never quitting on a play. If you lose the puck, you have to stop and try to get it back because your teammates see you skating off pouting every time you lose it! He would tell them you can’t possibly have any energy left in you after 40 seconds on the ice if you are working your asses off, but you guys still seem to have energy after a 1:40. It’s deflating to the guys that are working their asses off for 40 seconds and then getting off because there’s no reward for it: the two best guys on the team hardly work but get tons of ice time. He would tell them they have to stop throwing half their passes in hope they hit the target, that that number needs to be 10-20% because hope isn’t working, just like pouting isn’t working!

Leaders first and foremost are hard workers BOTH WAYS, a player who gets 138 points and is only +25 means that he was on the ice for 113 goals against, that’s not leading, that’s just a talented player putting up big offensive numbers and bad defensive numbers.

So what I’m saying is the same thing I’ve been telling Gregor (and every year proven correct) for years: we can not win, especially with Leon but Connor as well unless a coach or you the media point out to Connor and Leon that talent doesn’t win cups leadership wins cups and leadership is not playing 2 min shifts, is not pouting, and giving up on plays when you loose the puck, it is skating your asses off for 40 seconds then getting off like every other player on the TEAM. It is backchecking, forechecking and diving to stop a guy if you have to. THAT’S LEADERSHIP, and the Oilers are getting that from 2 guys but their names are Hyman and Podkolzin, not Connor and Leon.

Gary Clegg
Grande Prairie, Alta.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.