Edmonton Oilers: It’s Time For Ken Holland To Make A Trade
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers played the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 1st, 2021, they won their game 5-2 and improved their record to 16-5-0. They were one of the top teams in the league and were looking to avenge their postseason failure in 2021 at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets.
A little over a month later the team has won just two games since December 1st and they have lost 12 during that time. Their record now sits at 18-15-2 and everyone’s eyes are on Ken Holland to fix the roster from the management side of things.
The Edmonton Oilers need to make a change sooner rather than later.
Edmonton lost to the Ottawa Senators this past Saturday and since then a lot of people were expecting some kind of change to get the team back on track. The Oilers have the two best players in the world in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, at least they have them right now.
If the Oilers do not start winning there is going to come a point in the future when their star players are going to ask for trades and demand a fresh start with a new team, and who can blame them!
The Oilers have the two best players around and have built a lackluster roster to support those stars and compete on the ice. The dynasty in Pittsburgh was in part great because it wasn’t just Crosby and Malkin, the team had Kunitz and Kessel and so many other pieces during their wins. Same thing in Chicago with Toews and Kane. It wasn’t just Toews and Kane it was Keith, Hossa, Sharp, and so many more players who were stars in their own right.
The Oilers have a pretty good roster because of their two-star players, and a few trades might be able to save this season and get this team back on track. The Oilers are not a team that can afford to push off their success in the hopes of keeping some assets for the future. No prospect or draft pick should be off the table, especially with McDavid and Draisaitl burning through years under contract with this group to have little success to show for it in the postseason.
Edmonton does not have a lot of time. If things don’t change making the postseason and competing this year is going to be all but impossible. The past month of struggles has shown that this isn’t just some normal slump a good team goes through, bringing in a goalie or bringing in more top nine players is the only way this team is going to get out of this slump.