EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Saying Saturday was not a day for big decisions or announcements, Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman did concede that next season’s team will “not be the same group as today.”
Two days after the Oilers were eliminated in six games in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Bowman told reporters there are positives in young players like Matt Savoie, Josh Samanski and Vasily Podkolzin, but changes to the roster are definitely needed.
“We do need some new players. I don’t know if we’re going to have a dramatically different roster next year,” Bowman said. “We don’t need to rewrite everything, but we do need adjustments.”
He did agree that some major decisions he made in adding players this season “did not work out,” pointing to goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Andrew Mangiapane.
Bowman is facing hard choices this summer. He has to deal with a number of free agents while figuring out how to revamp the roster to improve its goaltending and address glaring defensive deficiencies.
Asked his thoughts on how to improve the team defensively, coach Kris Knoblauch said the issue was mainly “the mentality of wanting to play good defensive hockey.”
“I thought we were trending in the right direction,” he said. “You look at how we played the last few weeks of the regular season, it looked like we had bought in and were determined to play a good, defensive game. In the playoffs we got away from the way we played the last few weeks and played more like we did most of the season.”
Both Bowman and Knoblauch agreed that captain Connor McDavid was correct when he said the Oilers were an “average team” this season.
“That was an accurate portrayal of our season … we were not able to get any momentum during the season,” Bowman said.
He said injuries that plagued the team all year played a significant role in that but added it would be “hard to handicap” if the team was declining.
Bowman and Knoblauch both pointed to injuries being a factor in the playoffs, noting that McDavid and Jason Dickinson played with fractures in their foot and ankle areas.
The Oilers went from a team that was one goal away from a Stanley Cup win in 2024 to losing the final in six games in 2025 to not getting past the opening round this year. And the Oilers, who lost to an Anaheim team that was younger and faster, are not getting any younger. Leon Draisaitl just completed his 12th season and will be 31 early next season while McDavid is 29 and has played 11 seasons.
Knoblauch said McDavid’s assessment after the team was eliminated by Anaheim Ducks was “a very fair comment … we were not an elite team … we struggled to find our identity.”
Addressing McDavid’s frustration and his stated commitment to winning in Edmonton, Bowman said he is on the same page as his star player, whose two-year contract extension kicks in next season.
“We’re pushing hard … it’s not like we’re building for five years from now. Now is the time we want our team to win, we’re not looking down the road,” Bowman said.
“Regardless of Connor’s contract, the clock is ticking,” Knoblauch said. “You see how long windows last … right now it is win now. It’s highlighted a little more with Connor’s situation.”
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