BY Mike Rifkin
Connor McDavid is without a doubt the best Hockey player on the planet. McDavid has led the Oilers to back to back Stanley Cup Final appearances, losing both to the Florida Panthers. When we judge athletes today, we usually judge them on the amount of championships they’ve won, not the individual accolades. McDavid has plenty of individual accolades including five Art Ross trophies (most points), Three Hart Trophies (League MVP), and the guy wan the Conn Smythe (Playoff MVP) in a losing effort. But McDavid knows his legacy is not complete without a Cup. Gretzky,Messier, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovechkin all great players but winning the Cup changed their legacies.
McDavid, who is eligible for a contract extension on July first, said at his end of season press conference he is in no rush to sign the extension with the Oilers. While the city of Edmonton went into panic over those comments, McDavid was sending a sign to the organization and in particular GM Stan Bowman. The message is improve this team or I could walk in free agency. So how should Bowman improve the Oilers?
The Oilers have about 12 million dollars in cap space entering the summer. We can expect a big chunk of their cap space to go to RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard. While Bouchard will get a big pay day the number one thing for the Oilers this summer has to be to find a legitimate number one goalie. Let’s not forget Stuart Skinner was pulled for Calvin Pickard in the first round, and if the Oilers stuck with Skinner who knows if they get back to the Final. I don’t care if it’s John Gibson of the Ducks, Tristan Jarry of the Penguins or someone else, Bowman’s top priority has to be goalie. The other priority has to be to get some balance on this team. McDavid had 100 points on the season, only trialing Leon Draisaitl, who had 106, the third leading scorer was Bouchard who had 67, but the third highest scoring forward was Ryan Nugent – Hopkins, who had 49 points. The Oilers need to find some balance to their lineup.
Here’s the thing even if the Oilers address their goaltending and balance it might not lead them to a third consecutive Final appearance. The West is a gauntlet, with teams like the Stars, Jets, Avalanche, Kings, etc… all in the fold the West will be fun, and maybe that impacts McDavid’s decision, but now that’s in the hands of Stan Bowman.
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