The Edmonton Oilers struck gold, winning the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Connor McDavid first overall. This is what the organization needed in hopes of ending the decade of darkness and once again becoming a respected and competitive team. The organization ended its playoff drought in 2017, advancing to the second round before missing the next two seasons. But the Oilers have made the playoffs every season following the pandemic, including back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and three trips to the Western Conference Final in the past four seasons.
Edmonton found some success, but still has nothing to show for it. It took until years nine and 10 of the McDavid era to finally appear in the Cup Final. The Oilers’ captain is 28 years old, turning 29 in January, and the clock is ticking. Those early years were wasted, and the team should’ve been more competitive back then. They weren’t, and management is the main reason why. The organization failed to build a good team around him. With that said, here are five reasons why the Oilers haven’t won the Stanley Cup in the McDavid era.
Poor Drafting, Developing & Draft Day Decisions
The Oilers have been notoriously poor at drafting and developing talent before and after McDavid entered the league. While the Oilers have made decent first-round selections, they’ve struggled to find NHL-quality players in the later rounds. Between 2016–2020, they drafted Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg, and Dylan Holloway in the first round. The Oilers developed these players, but unfortunately, only one of them is still on the team. That demonstrates just how bad their player development is and their inability to trust their younger talent.
Related: Edmonton Oilers’ Missed Draft Opportunities
Since 2016, Ryan McLeod has been the only non-first-round pick to play meaningful minutes for the organization, and he is no longer with the team. The only other second-round pick to suit up was Raphael Lavoie, but he didn’t pan out. They’ve also made some first-round blunders, most notably in 2021. They traded the 20th overall pick to the Minnesota Wild and moved down two spots to select Xavier Bourgault, 22nd overall. Edmonton desperately needed goaltending, and they had a quality goalie prospect available at 20th overall in Jesper Wallstedt, but passed on that opportunity. To make matters worse, they missed on their selection because…
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