3 reasons the Edmonton Oilers didn't win the Stanley Cup
The Edmonton Oilers won't be winning the Stanley Cup this season. These are the three biggest reasons why.
It is over. The 2023-24 NHL season ended with a Stanley Cup championship for the Florida Panthers. They won it for the first time in franchise history with their 2-1 victory in game seven.
That means another year without the Stanley Cup for the Edmonton Oilers. They were so close to ending the 30+ year drought for Canadian-based teams but they fell just short.
It was a brilliant year for the Edmonton Oilers. They battled through a lot of adversity and still found a way to appear in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final.
Still, they didn't get it done. These are the three biggest reasons that the Edmonton Oilers aren't Stanley Cup champions in 2024:
The Edmonton Oilers went down 3-0 in the series which set them back
Only one team in NHL history has ever erased a 3-0 series deficit in the Stanley Cup Final and there were only six teams in the league at the time.
It is almost impossible to get it done when you dig a hole like that. Edmonton came close but they were just short. If they won one of those three games to open the series, they'd be Stanley Cup champions right now instead of the Panthers.
Coming into next season, all they will care about is getting back to the final. You can bet that they will be much better early in any given playoff series than they were in this final.
Sergei Bobrovsky and Florida's great defense had a lot to do with it as well. Edmonton was snake bitten early on and that was one of the big detriments to their chances of winning.
Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet in the final two games
Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs. It is very rare that a member of the losing team wins the award.
However, it was a questionable decision based on the final two games. McDavid's 41 points were the fourth most in a single postseason which is incredible but he didn't get a single point in the final two games.
That is not going to be good enough for McDavid. The expectation is that he provides a ton of offense. That is the whole reason that the Edmonton Oilers were where they were.
If he comes up with a big goal or assist in the final game of the series, there is a good chance that the Oilers are the Stanley Cup champions instead.
It was an all-time great performance from McDavid but he ran out of gas in the final game. It is a reason they are the runner-up instead of the winner.
Leon Draisaitl didn't score a single goal in the Stanley Cup Final
The Edmonton Oilers rely on Connor McDavid the most. He is the best player in the world and has shown why year after year.
With that said, they also rely on Leon Draisaitl a whole lot. He has an argument for being the second-best player in the NHL. He certainly fits right into the top five regardless of the order.
He was also incredible in the postseason. Until the Stanley Cup Final, he was right near the top of playoff scoring with McDavid.
Unfortunately, he fell off during the final. He didn't score a single goal in the final series of the season. It also felt like he didn't have that same pep in his step that he normally does.
It is unclear if Draisaitl is dealing with something injury-related. He likely is because he is normally one of the best players in the world.
If he was a tad bit more productive during this series, the Oilers would likely be the champions. You know that he (and McDavid) are going to come into 2024-25 as hungry as he's ever been because of how things ended.
When you critique the Stanley Cup runner-up, you are nitpicking. The Edmonton Oilers were the second best team this season and they deserved to be that close. Expect big things from them again next year.
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