How can you have two of the best players in the world and still be so inconsistent? The Edmonton Oilers have once again gotten off to an inconsistent start as despite having two of the best players in the world, they currently sit at .500 on the year.
A new year, but the same problems for the Edmonton Oilers. I’m tempted to just laugh at the whole situation, but seeing how much the Oilers fanbase has suffered since the destruction of the 80’s dynasty, it feel too bad to. So, instead, I’ll just look on in sadness as this Oilers team looks like they are going to underperform again with Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as the two leaders and superstars of this team.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I obviously believe that Draisaitl and McDavid are two of the best players in the league and would make any team they are on (except for Edmonton, obviously) better. Yet, it is getting to be hard to ignore the problems of having two generational talents begin paid generational talent salaries on an already bloated roster. Simply put, McDavid and Draisaitl are making too much money for this Oilers team to get the necessary supporting cast around them to win the Stanley Cup.
Again, don’t get me wrong and think that I believe these two don’t deserve the salaries they are on. They defientely do.
In fact, they should honestly get paid more for how great and productive these two have been during the last eight years these two have played with each other in Edmonton. Not only do they have a combined 1,379 points in that span, but they also have a combined 3 Hart trophy award wins (MVP voted by Hockey Writers’ Association), 4 Ted Lindsay (MVP voted by NHL players) award wins, and 5 Art Ross (Most points) awards.
In other words, these two have been the cream of the crop of the NHL in the last decade (or thereabouts), which is why they are more than deserving of their 12-year, $100M (McDavid) and 6-year, $68M (Draisaitl) salaries. But that still doesn’t discredit the fact that the Oilers won’t be able to win with them on this team.
With way the current Oilers roster is set-up by salary cap expenditure/player (which is to say horrifically), the Oilers can only line up 2-3 forward lines and 1-2 defensive pairing before they are forced to call up AHL and minor league players, who have no business playing in the NHL, to fill out the remaining open positions. The Oilers desperately need cap room to add some depth to this roster as that is the only way they will be able to contend with Colorado, Tampa Bay, Boston, and Vegas for the Stanley Cup.
Obviously, that mean that either McDavid or Draisaitl needs to be dealt.
Not only would a potential McDavid/Draisaitl trade bring in a huge haul of players and prospects that would undoubtedly fill up the vast majority of the Oilers roster and depth issues, but their monster salaries would also be off the books. Sure, it would be a little more difficult to rack up huge individual point tallies for whichever superstar remains, but that person would have a much deeper roster to win with than they would with their current partner-in-crime.
Just look at Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon is just as talented (or at least comparatively) to McDavid and Draisaitl, but he doesn’t have the 120 point-season stats that those two regularly achieve. Instead, he has a Stanely Cup ring and a 1st ballot Hall of Fame career on his hands.
Yes, MacKinnon has Rantanen and Landeskog to play with, but it’s not like the Oilers don’t have similarly talented players too. Kane, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hyman would still be on the roster, while they can easily bring in a few more similarly talented players from that trade or in the ensuing free agent market.
Nevertheless, I know the Oilers would never make such a trade, but it’s always fun to speculate. Sorry, Oilers fans, it seems like you are destined to be mediocre for a while longer.
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