The Oilers Picked a Direction. Now They Have to Live With It

Eight weeks ago, there was a pretty simple question hanging over the Edmonton Oilers. What exactly was the plan? They had just finished a 93-point season, good for second in the Pacific Division, only to get bounced by Anaheim in six games in the first round. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were still doing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl things, but the goaltending was shaky, and the defence seemed to tighten up about the time the playoffs arrived.

That was the problem. Not talent. Not scoring. Not even necessarily the regular season. It was that familiar feeling of being almost good enough.

Well, eight weeks later, Edmonton has answered the question. And they've answered it pretty loudly.

Edmonton Is Going All In.

Kris Knoblauch is out, and Mike Babcock is in. Darnell Nurse's contract is no longer Edmonton's problem after the trade to San Jose, with Shakir Mukhamadullin coming back the other way. The Oilers also brought in Ryan Shea, Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi, while adding Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson earlier.

That's not a team quietly preparing for the future. That's a team looking at McDavid, now 29, and Draisaitl, 30, and deciding the window is open right now. And that makes sense. There’s little point in pretending Edmonton should take the patient, five-year rebuild approach. You don't have two of the best players in the world and tell them you're going to wait for the next wave of prospects to arrive.

You also don't blow everything up and trade one of those stars. There is a middle ground, and that's what the Oilers have chosen. Fix the goaltending. Change the look of the defence. Add some dependable players. Get harder to play against. Simple enough.

Now Comes the Hard Part for the Oilers.

The interesting part is that Edmonton has spent a lot of its available room to get here. The cap space is getting pretty tight, and there isn't going to be much room left for suddenly discovering that another major piece is needed. That's why this season matters.

The Oilers have essentially made their choice. They're not just hoping McDavid and Draisaitl can drag everybody over the finish line one more time. They're betting that a better supporting cast, a different coach and a more reliable situation in the crease can finally turn all that talent into another long playoff run. That's a reasonable bet. But it's still a bet.

Because we've seen this movie before. The Oilers can score. Nobody doubts that. The question is whether they can keep the puck out when the games get tight, and the opponent has figured out how to take away the easy stuff.

Here’s Where the Oilers’ Season Gets Interesting.

Edmonton isn't really trying to prove it can make the playoffs. It should. It's trying to prove that all these changes can finally make the team good enough when the playoffs become a different kind of hockey. And that, more than anything, is what makes this season worth watching.

The Oilers finally picked a direction. Now they have to live with it. And if it doesn't work, there won't be much mystery about what they were trying to do. They went for it. Now let's see if they finally get it.