Edmonton Oilers enter the Olympic break looking for answers
The Oilers superstar was asked about his team’s play following Edmonton’s 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames, the team’s third in a row heading into the Olympic Break. Draisaitl called everything together and said it wasn’t good enough.
“Just conceding too many goals. Can’t defend. Penalty killing isn’t great. But there’s a lot of things that go with it. Just not good enough right now,” Draisaitl told the media. “You need everyone. It starts with coaches. Like everyone. Like, you’re never going to win if you have four or five guys and it starts at the top; we can be better. Our leaders can be better.”
His comments after the Feb. 5 game caused an uproar in Edmonton. Some believed those comments should have been handled behind closed doors. Throwing everyone under the bus like that could do more harm than good.
However, those who follow the Oilers closely understand that what Leon Draisaitl said about their play was 100 percent accurate. Not to mention what he said about the Oilers not being the same team they were when they played against each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.
“We’re a different team. We’re not the same team. Like, we’re not that good right now. We’re not even close. We have to understand that,” Draisaitl added.
He’s right. After seeing the Oilers play the Florida Panthers in the 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup Finals, this group isn’t even close to those teams. In fact, the Oilers depth isn’t as good as the team that lost to the Panthers by one goal in Game 7 of 2024.
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They have gotten worse in the middle and where it counts most, defensively. Just look at the players; Due to cap issues in Edmonton, the Oilers have lost the past two seasons: Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais, Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Ryan McLeod, Evander Kane, Corey Perry, John Klingberg, Connor Brown, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, and the list goes on.
These were key players in the run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025. Not to mention Paul Coffey, an assistant on Kris Knoblauch’s staff who helped the Oilers play better defense than they are today.
Defense has been a problem for the Edmonton Oilers for years. It was a big reason why Jack Campbell was sent to the minors and then bought out. There’s an argument that Jay Woodcroft got fired because of this. It’s the same thing a lot of people have been saying: the Edmonton Oilers need to play better defense to protect their goalies.
Goaltending was part of the problem, but it wasn’t the only reason why the Edmonton Oilers lost twice to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. Yes, they needed their goalie to stop a few pucks, but the failures that led to timely goals for the Panthers cost them. That also applied to this season.
They just give away too many goals. Whether it was Stuart Skinner (now with the Pittsburgh Penguins), Calvin Pickard, Connor Ingram or Tristan Jarry, goaltending has been leaking goals all season. Stuart Skinner wasn’t the problem. The trade for Jarry was just a lateral move. It didn’t make the Oilers any better.
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But Leon Draisaitl is right: it is a two-way street; they have to help their goalkeeper, who in turn helps the boys in front of the net.
“It goes hand in hand. We have to defend better, we have to make it easier for him, and then I’m sure he can be a little bit better too,” Leon Draisaitl added. “It’s a two-way street, but it starts with us in front of him, and then the game gets a little easier for him. But I think at some point our goalies have to make saves.”
The Edmonton Oilers need to get their act together very quickly coming out of the break. There’s no time for lollipopgagging anymore or they could be on the outside looking in with the Florida Panthers.
Leon Draisaitl had to vent some frustration, but he informed management that the window for this group is closing. It’s time they put together a better group. However, it’s also up to everyone else to do their part if the Edmonton Oilers want to succeed. This also applies to himself.
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