The Edmonton Oilers are a mess. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, they’ve lost seven out of 10 games, including six out of seven on the road. They look unmotivated, and their effort level is nonexistent. Their goaltending is lacklustre and outside of Leon Draisaitl, the offensive is unproductive. Edmonton is the oldest team in the league and look like it, have many holes in their roster, and didn’t do enough to fill them.
Management has been the franchise’s Achilles’ heel for most of the 21st century. They’ve drafted poorly, signed terrible contracts, and mishandled their assets. The organization has had the same issues for the entirety of the Draisaitl and Connor McDavid era. Goaltending and secondary scoring have been this team’s downfall for more than a decade, and management has failed to address these needs. The two best players don’t have support, and this team wouldn’t be in the playoff picture without Draisaitl’s dominant season.
Related: 6 Reasons the Edmonton Oilers Will Not Win the 2025 Stanley Cup
The last three general managers (GMs) have set this team back. Peter Chiarelli made some dreadful decisions, including signing Milan Lucic, trading Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, and acquiring Griffin Reinhart for two quality assets. Then, Ken Holland came in and made some poor signings, including the Jack Campbell contract and the Darnell Nurse extension, which the organization is still paying for. Finally, Jeff Jackson came in and made things worse, before eventually hiring Stan Bowman as the Oilers’ new GM. Management continues to hinder this team and their poor decisions will be why Edmonton won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024-25.
Oilers Demonstrate Poor Asset Management With Broberg & Holloway
This summer, the Oilers lost restricted free agents (RFAs) Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues via offer sheets and acquired a second and third-round pick as compensation. However, it shouldn’t have gotten to that point. These young, homegrown talents should’ve been signed long before that, dating back to the Holland regime. During free agency, the Oilers re-signed Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, and Corey Perry. Then, they added Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, before re-signing their pending RFs. They also lost Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele. As a result, Edmonton became older, slower and worse. They were one win away from the Stanley Cup, but there was too much roster turnover and that’s on the front office.
Edmonton should’ve at least matched Holloway, who was starting to find his stride in Oil Country and would’ve been an impactful piece. He signed a two-year deal for under $2.3 million and has 21 goals with the Blues. Instead, Edmonton signed Skinner and Arvidsson for a combined $7 million, but they only have 19 goals to show for it. Management got their priorities wrong and they are paying for it.
Oilers With Poor Contract Negotiations
Management hindered their flexibility and prevented them from making moves due to the contracts they handed out this offseason. Nine of the 15 forwards on the roster have trade protection, according to PuckPedia. This team needed a top-six upgrade and had to shed some salary. Unfortunately, they couldn’t move Arvidsson or Skinner at the 2025 Trade Deadline due to the no-movement clauses both players were given. They have severely underperformed this season, and Edmonton needed to move on from one of them to improve the forward group. Bowman did what he could with what he was given, but that wasn’t enough.
Management Failed to Address the Goalie Position
Goaltending has been a concern for the organization for many years. Despite making it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, goaltending was a problem during the playoffs. Stuart Skinner has been inconsistent throughout his career and was pulled during last season’s playoff run. If Calvin Pickard hadn’t come in to save the series against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton would’ve lost in the second round.
This season, Skinner has an underwhelming .896 save percentage and is often the second-best goalie on the ice. People sometimes forget that Skinner shouldn’t be the starter, but was thrown into this role because of the failed Campbell experiment. That’s another management blunder. They’ve failed to bring in a goaltender who can push Skinner and provide stability; the organization could’ve made a deal in the offseason but didn’t think one was necessary. With every game that passes, they are proven wrong — this team needs an upgrade between the pipes because the Skinner and Pickard tandem isn’t good enough.
The organization still has the same issues in year 10 of the McDavid era. Until they address them, the Oilers won’t win the Stanley Cup.
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