Bowman’s additions to the Oilers roster paying off in a big way

Much of the work to construct the roster that took to the ice Wednesday night for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final occurred well before Stan Bowman arrived in the city.

In fact, of the 26 players who have played at least one game in the playoffs for the team, 76 percent of them were acquired, drafted or signed by a general manager not named Bowman.

Steve Tambellini’s mark is still on the team from drafting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, while Craig MacTavish’s drafting of Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl has paid off dividends. Peter Chiarelli brought in Connor McDavid, Stuart Skinner and Evan Bouchard via the draft.

Jeff Jackson made a trio of signings last summer, including Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, and Josh Brown; however, the bulk of the work here belongs to Ken Holland, who is responsible for bringing in 40 percent of the players.

But while Bowman didn’t start until late July 2024, well after the window closed on the top free agents, that hasn’t stopped him from making an impact, acquiring six players over the course of the year who have played increasingly larger roles as the playoffs went along.

It has all culminated in the Oilers making it to the Stanley Cup Final, beating the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night 4-3 in overtime. It snapped a 31-0 run for the Cats under Paul Maurice when they held a lead at the end of the first or second period of a game in the playoffs.

Make no mistake, the Oilers answered the call, snapping their wildly impressive streak in an equally impressive way.

The Panthers had their chances all night — it is, after all the Stanley Cup Final — but the Oilers never broke. After a shaky opening shift, they quickly capitalized as a rebound from Bowman acquisition Kasperi Kapanen’s shot found Leon Draisaitl, who hesitated just enough to get himself into the perfect spot to score on a yawning cage.

Florida, controversially enough, had their push come back the other way. Sam Bennett’s stumbling into Stuart Skinner wasn’t enough to waive off a goal, though it likely should’ve, and with the Oilers on a subsequent power play, Darnell Nurse left Brad Marchand all alone as a gaping seam found him all alone. Bennett wasn’t done scoring, either, extending it to 3-1, faking Skinner to the backhand and roofing it on the forehand. A goal scorers goal, you can say.

Viktor Arvidsson made it a one-goal game with a rockstar slapshot from the top of the circle, assisted by great screen in front from Bowman acquisition Vasily Podkolzin, Florida dominated that second frame. But the Oilers, much like they have all playoffs, got better as the game went along. Mattias Ekholm would score and Draisaitl would ice it in overtime.

Kapanen’s impact may have been the largest of the Bowman acquisitions, ending the night with pairs of assists and shots, as well as five hits. He was in the mix all night long, using his speed on the forecheck and to get back defensively, also utilizing his skill to help set things up offensively.

But there were other performances that impressed mightily, too. Jake Walman and John Klingberg were nothing short of tremendous, showing off excellent puck moving all night long that helped stymie the frustratingly aggressive forecheck of the Florida Panthers forwards. Walman himself had an assist, taking five shots on goal and blocking four — including painful ones off his arm and the outside of the knee, gutting through them to not miss his next shift.

Podkolzin continued to be effective, laying the body all night long and helping generate offence from the Oilers’ fourth line — a trio that were all over the game offensively and defensively.

It’s felt like all six of Bowman’s acquisitions — Podkolzin, Kapanen, Walman, Klingberg, Emberson and Frederic — have impacted games along the way in their own ways, but the elevation in the game from the first four have been a huge reason why the Oilers are where they are.

Kapanen, for example, was a waiver claim in late November who struggled to seem to find his place during the regular season. He had his flashes, showing at times he could play up the lineup in a pinch, but there was a lack of consistency that never allowed him to stick with the big guns. While he was showing more ahead of the playoffs, he found himself a healthy scratch, only to arrive in a big way against the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring the only goal of Game 5 to clinch the series.

Now, on his fourth team in his 10th NHL season, he’s seemed to find a home on the second line alongside Evander Kane on the opposite wing, rotating centres in Leon Drasiaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins throughout the night. No matter the centre, the results were strong in Game 1.

With Draisaitl in 6:31 at five-on-five, they controlled 63.6 percent of the shot attempt share and 79.6 percent of the expected goal share, outscoring Florida 1-0. With Nugent-Hopkins in 8:15 at five-on-five, they held 60 percent of the shot attempt share and 58.8 percent of the expected goal share.

What’s clear more than ever after Game 1 is the fact the Oilers are here to hang with the Panthers. They did so last year, managing to force a Game 7 with their massive comeback, but that was something Edmonton had to dig in to get to.

Now, with a 1-0 series lead, they have a chance Friday to put the Panthers in a precarious spot.