The Edmonton Oilers Are Winning The Stanley Cup

Heading into the NHL playoffs this spring, almost everyone was seemingly counting out the Edmonton Oilers. After being just one win short of the Stanley Cup last season, the Oilers had a fairly inconsistent regular season filled with injuries and their top stars in and out of the lineup. Many people believed this was the year the Los Angeles Kings would finally knock out the Oilers in round one of the playoffs in their fourth straight first-round matchup, which Edmonton had won in their three previous meetings.

After losing the first two games of the series, pundits appeared to be right; the Oilers seemed down and out, but after an awful challenge by Kings coach Jim Hiller in game three that went Edmonton's way, the Oilers came back to win the next four games in that series, dispatching the Kings in six, and now up against the Vegas Golden Knights in round two, the Oilers stole both games in Sin City to take a 2-0 series lead, and I think are now in pole position to not only win the series but win the Stanley Cup.

Why do I think the Oilers are going to win the Lord Stanley? Well, let's start with the obvious. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are playing like the beasts they are, with McDavid at 14 points and Draisaitl at 13 points through the Oilers' first eight playoff games. We have become so accustomed to McDavid and Draisaitl leading the group that we have become numb to their consistent great play. For years, people have said the Oilers will never be able to win a cup without a proper supporting cast for the two, and thus far they have been right, but that's what leads me to think this is the best team in the NHL; for once, they actually have depth surrounding them.

The Oilers' depth scoring and goaltending have been unreal this playoff season. Calvin Pickard, since filling in for Stuart Skinner, who was brutal for the first two games of the Kings, has been great, and unsung heroes like Connor Brown and Corey Perry have been shockingly good, while I have also grown to absolutely love the line of Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman. Every time I watch an Oilers game, I swear this line has a grade A scoring chance every shift. Having this depth up front, which can create its own opportunities, also allows Coach Kris Knoblauch to do what his opponents fear most, which is have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play on the same line for an extended period of time, which other teams simply cannot stop, and we saw the overtime winner in game two against the Golden Knights, where the two stars connected for the game-winner.

Past playoff scares have helped build this group's character and resilience. They lost to these same Golden Knights in 2023. Last year, after almost pulling off an epic comeback in the cup final, they suffered the ultimate heartbreak and now seem hungrier than ever. Edmonton has also made history throughout this postseason with six straight wins, all of which they have trailed in. That shows this team is never really out of it, and almost seem inevitable.

Lastly, I think they may just have destiny or faith on their side. Past stars like Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby, who McDavid can compare to talent-wise, lost in the Final before, a year before avenging that defeat to win their first Cup. Gretzky's Oilers lost to the New York Islanders in 1983 before beating them in 1984, and Crosby's Penguins lost to the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 before defeating them in 2009. With the Florida Panthers down but not out (trailing the series 0-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs), the team that beat McDavid's Oilers a year ago. Could we get a rematch where McDavid gets his revenge on the team that beat him a year before capturing his first title, like Gretzky and Crosby did?

While the job is nowhere close to done and the road ahead will be tough as hell, I think McDavid is ready to follow in the steps of legends before him by cementing himself as an all-time great.

If you made me pick a champion right now, I think the Oilers will bring the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton for the first time since 1990 and back to Canada for the first time since 1993.