NHL History: 30 best teams to not win the Stanley Cup

NHL History: 30 best teams to not win the Stanley Cup: 30. 2017 Oilers

In the offseason of 2017, many were picking the Edmonton Oilers to win the 2018 Stanley Cup. It was because of the insane growth the team showed in 2017.

Connor McDavid was (and still is) the best player in the world. A surprise Taylor Hall trade in the offseason seemed to give them the defenseman they needed (Adam Larsson). They signed Milan Lucic to a seven-year contract in the offseason. They finally cut their losses on former first-overall pick Nail Yakupov and Kris Russell brought another veteran defensive presence.

It looked like the Oilers, after years of being a laughing stock, were ready to make a move towards contention. They made the playoffs and finished second in the Western Conference with 103 points. The Anaheim Ducks beat them in the standings by a mere two points.

While that Oilers team might not be considered one of the best, think about everything that was going right for the franchise. They had the best player in the world finally moving towards his peak. Leon Draisaitl was quickly becoming a star. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle were nice complementary forwards. The defense had a decent combination of youth and experience. Then, the goalie situation was finally “fixed” with Cam Talbot in the net.

Talbot was huge for the Oilers. In his second year with the team, he led the league in wins. Unfortunately, the offense wasn’t able to keep up with him in the playoffs. They took on the Ducks in the second round of the playoffs and lost in seven games. Two of their losses came in overtime. After scoring seven goals in Game 6 to force a Game 7, they could only score one goal in the final game.

Since then, the Oilers are constantly disappointing the fanbase. They missed the playoffs the next two seasons, and then last year they were upset by the 12th seeded Chicago Blackhawks. They always have 2018, when they had one of the better teams in the NHL.