Quoting: coga16
The point is do you really think McDavid is going to want to wait another 2-3 years for those good assets to become impact pieces on the oilers. Reastically they have to show that they arent far off this year to show him a sign of a good faith to stay with the Org. That is my point of if they wanted to take 1 step back to take 2 steps foward, they should have done it this offseason, not going into the season and in season. That doesnt help McDavid, waste another season bc you didnt want to do your soft rebuild but wait 4 months for no good reason
And its not my opinion, its what even what the most credible of hockey writers and insiders are saying about the Oilers...example when Friedman mentioned on his 31 throughts podcast that when Oilers were interviewing candidates, many said it would take 2 seasons to fix the roster, and bob nicholson wasnt interested in anyone who had a 2 year plan bc they cant afford that...which means cant afford to let McDavid spin his tires for 2 seasons
Those credible hockey writers are idiots then, there is no quick fix here. At least 6 better forwards are needed as well as a top pair on defence and two goalies. You can't buy your way out of that, all that will do is make the team older, slower and in worse cap position than they already are in. They have literally tried this plan for years and it has never worked. McDavid isn't an idiot, he should know looking at this roster that its not a contender. Its him, Drai, RNH, Klefbom, Nurse and a bunch of scrubs or young players who've been asked to do way too much. A proper game plan could help them out from under this but trying to fix what is broken isn't going to work.
If they are trying to show improvement right now, they'll fail, teams have gotten better while at best the Oilers are even with what they were last season. No playoffs again is the likelihood. The absolute worst case scenario and its the one that I think will get the most traction with the fans, ownership and the old boys club that is still clearly in control in Edmonton, is they will be close to a playoff spot come the deadline or in a wildcard spot and then trade futures for tired vets to make a run. It would end with them either missing the playoffs or getting bounced early because the team just isn't good enough and the future would look even more bleak than it does now.
Don't patch this mess, fix it. Or kiss McDavid goodbye for much less than you hope for.