The Edmonton Oilers are going to win the 2023 Stanley Cup.
Granted, this might not be the best news for the Edmonton Oilers, as evidenced by the lack of a Stanley Cup parade for the New York Islanders last June. So, I reached out to Edmonton general manager Ken Holland to either congratulate him and/or warn him this proclamation was coming.
Me: “Hey Ken. I’m going to pick you guys to win the Stanley Cup in our predictions. Please tell me I’m correct.”
Ken Holland: “I sure hope you’re right lol!!”
That’s the spirit.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are generational talents on the same team. The gravitational pull of those stars will, eventually, ensnare a Stanley Cup for the franchise. As it did for Gretzky and Messier, for Mario and Jagr, for Sakic and Forsberg and for Crosby and Malkin. So why not now?
The duo carried the Oilers to the conference finals last season, where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. At that point, an injured Draisaitl was being held together by tape and prayers. He still managed to score four points in Game 4 against the Avs. The entire run was fueled by something one might more commonly find in the NBA: two superstars exerting their will on playoff opponents. McDavid played in 16 playoff games. He had multiple points in 12 of them. In contrast, Nathan MacKinnon played in 20 playoff games and had multiple points in four of them.
Draisaitl and McDavid return with an Oilers team that has more forward depth than any version in recent memory. Evander Kane is back on McDavid’s wing to score multitudes of goals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains an ideal complementary player on a contender. The Oilers have veterans and youngsters and scorers and role players surrounding their two megastars.
This prediction is made with the hope that defenseman Evan Bouchard, after learning from Duncan Keith last season, levels up significantly next to Brett Kulak. Darnell Nurse is a solid defenseman on the other primary pairing. Is it championship depth on paper? Not really. But it could be good enough, with room for improvement during the season.
Obviously the Oilers made a major change in goal, going from the roller coaster that was Mike Smith to … the roller coaster that is Jack Campbell. More on that later.
I think the Oilers did a lot of growing up last season. So does Holland. He cites their Game 6 victory on the road in Los Angeles while facing elimination as a formative moment for his team. The Oilers handled the emotional powder keg that…
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