EDMONTON — For the Edmonton Oilers, the hope is that they can repeat what the Florida Panthers did last season — win it all the year after losing the Stanley Cup final.
The Oilers lost to the Panthers by one goal in Game 7 of the Cup final, leading to a long summer of what-ifs.
As the team opened training camp Wednesday, they begin the campaign as one of the favourites to win it all this season. But there will be questions about the hangover that comes with losing a Cup final that will go down as an all-time classic.
“You use that loss,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner. “We got to experience a tough loss, a loss we’ve been thinking about for the whole summer.
“Just being able to experience that, of going through Game 7, with all that energy, and all that noise, just the whole deal of it, it’s pretty amazing. Now, if we get to experience that again, we’re hoping to experience that again this year, if we do, we already know how it feels. Taking a nap before Game 7, you’re not going to be as wound up as you were this past year.”
But, with the Cup final going well into June, it’s been an awfully short off-season. And only three times have lost in the Cup final only to win the next season over the last half-century.
In fact, it’s far more common for the team that lost the Cup final to miss the playoffs the next season.
“You can't look back at last year and expect that to happen again this year,” said Skinner. “Obviously, we have expectations of how we want to perform. That was last year. This year is a completely different year. We have a different team. Every team in the NHL is a different team.
“Obviously, we want to do a little bit better than we did last year.”
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid will be looked to provide 100-plus points again this season. The Oilers vaunted power play will be expected to click at a rate higher than 30 per cent. And the hope is that Zach Hyman will be 50-goal player again.
And there have been changes. The addition of veteran forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner should help provide more offensive punch, especially with forward Evander Kane expected to miss at least the early portion of the 2024-25 season. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman confirmed Wednesday that Kane will need surgery.
“He is going be out for a while, but I can’t speculate on that,” said Bowman.
A short-term answer for the Kane absence could be Mike Hoffman, who will join the Oilers on a tryout contract. Hoffman had just 10 goals last season for the cellar-dwelling San Jose Sharks, but has 487 career points in 745 NHL games.
“He’s had a great career, so far,” said Bowman. “We think he’d be a nice addition to the camp. It’s a competitive environment and he’s a veteran. He’s been a pretty consistent offensive player throughout his career. We’re going to take a look at him and see how he fits in with our mix.”
Defenceman Darnell Nurse is being held out of the early portion of camp as he works to recover from nagging injuries.
“If anything, we want to be cautious with it,” said Bowman. “He’s a very important player for us, he plays a lot of minutes. Training camp is important, but, clearly, being ready for the season is the most important thing.”
The Oilers acquired Ty Emberson from San Jose, and have Troy Stecher as a depth defenceman. But, after losing Vincent Desharnais to free agency (Vancouver) and Philip Broberg to St. Louis on an offer sheet, the third defensive pairing is very much on flux.
“We are under the cap right now,” said Bowmam “We want to remain that way.”
There still are free-agent defenders out there, but the idea is to build up cap space during the season, so a deal can be made later in the year. So, while the Oilers will “evaluate options” both internal and external, chances are Emberson and Stecher will be given every chance to prove themselves.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press