Takeaways From Oilers’ End-of-Season Press Conference 

“When you don’t have success, I think you have to kind of evaluate everything, so that goes for my staff, the coaching staff, and the players,” Bowman stated. He continued: “Today’s not a day for making announcements like that or anything, whether it’s players or anything else. That’s going to come in time. I’m here to talk about our season and answer your questions, but I don’t have any announcements.”

Bowman seems to be willing to be patient as he evaluates the entire season, speaking with everyone in the organization, before he makes a decision on who the bench boss will be next season. With names like Bruce Cassidy available on the market as potential coaches, it’s hard not to consider what the team could achieve under someone with more experience.

McDavid Takes Responsibility, Draisaitl Calls Out Entire Organization

The two best players in the world, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, were both available for the press conference and had some things to say. Some clips on social media were taken out of context, but the two of them were clearly disappointed in the result this season.

Draisaitl mentioned that he believes the organization as a whole has taken a step back, to which McDavid followed up, agreeing with his teammate.

McDavid took the blame on himself, saying the step back starts with him.

Draisaitl had a pretty blunt comment as well, seemingly annoyed at the fact that the Oilers weren’t serious contenders, asking: “In what world do you have the best player in the world on your team and you’re not looking to win?”

Both of them made it clear that they were committed to winning with the Oilers, shutting down any clickbait reports that either one of them would consider asking for a trade after an early playoff exit.

Several Oilers Would Consider Re-Signing

The Oilers have to make some decisions with some of their pending free agents this offseason, and a few key members of the team seem interested in returning to the team next season.

Connor Ingram, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Murphy, and Jason Dickinson all have interest in returning next season.

Bowman stated he had an interest in bringing back Dickinson and Murphy, whom he acquired at the trade deadline in two separate deals, as well as Kapanen, but seemed to leave the door open on everyone else.

Goaltending Will Be Evaluated

Bowman stated that the Oilers will be looking for improvement with their goaltending. He defended Tristan Jarry’s struggles after his injury, claiming that they believed he played well when he first joined the Oilers, and it was tough to let him work through that injury when he returned.

Bowman also praised Ingram, but made it clear that they will have to look at every option before they make a decision on what their tandem looks like next season.

Bowman Says Frederic Has to Play Better

It was a blunt response from Bowman when he was asked about the struggles of Trent Frederic.

Bowman said, “Yeah, I don’t think Freddy had a good year. You’ve got to call it the way it is. I’ve talked to him about it, and we need him to play better. Part of that is on us, too. I don’t think we set him up well.”

Bowman took some responsibility, saying Frederic needed to be deployed better, but made it clear Frederic needed to improve.

No Concern About McDavid’s Commitment to Oilers

Bowman was asked if he was concerned about McDavid’s future in Edmonton, to which he defended the team’s vision and willingness to remain in contention right now, rather than building solely for the future.

“We’re going to continue to do what we can. Now is the time when we want our team to win. We’re not looking down the road,” Bowman said, noting as well how badly McDavid wants to win, and reiterating he feels the same way.

Oilers fans shouldn’t expect any major announcements about changes in the next few days, but as the postseason comes to an end, the direction of the team should become clearer. As well, the status of Knoblauch should be clarified at some point in the next few weeks.

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