EDMONTON – Saying Saturday was not a day for big decisions or announcements, Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman did concede next season’s team will “not be the same group as today.”
Two days after the Oilers were eliminated in six games in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Bowman told a media session there are positives in young players like Matt Savoie, Josh Samanski and Vasily Podkolzin, but changes to the roster are definitely needed.
“We do need some new players. I don’t know if we’re going to have a dramatically different roster next year,” Bowman said. “We don’t need to rewrite everything but we do need adjustments.”
He did agree that some major decisions he made in adding players this season “did not work out,” pointing to goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Andrew Mangiapane.
Bowman is facing hard choices this summer. He has to deal with a number of free agents while figuring out how to revamp the roster to improve its goaltending and address glaring defensive deficiencies.
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Asked his thoughts on how to improve the team defensively, head coach Kris Knoblauch said the issue was mainly “the mentality of wanting to play good defensive hockey.”
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“I thought we were trending in the right direction,” he said. “You look at how we played the last few weeks of the regular season, it looked like we had bought in and were determined to play a good, defensive game. In the playoffs we got away from the way we played the last few weeks and played more like we did most of the season.”
Both Bowman and Knoblauch agreed that captain Connor McDavid was totally correct when he said the Oilers were an “average team” this season.
“That was an accurate portrayal of our season … we were not able to get any momentum during the season,” said Bowman. He said injuries that plagued the team all year played a significant role in that but added it would be “hard to handicap” if the team was declining.
Bowman and Knoblauch both pointed to injuries being a factor in the playoffs, noting that both McDavid and Jason Dickinson played with fractures in their foot/ankle areas.
The Oilers went from a team that was one goal away from a Stanley Cup win in 2024 to losing the final in six games in 2025 to not getting past the opening round this year. And the Oilers, who lost to an Anaheim team that was younger and faster, are not getting any younger. Leon Draisaitl just completed his 12th season and will be 31 early next season while McDavid is 29 and has played 11 seasons.
Knoblauch said McDavid’s assessment after the team was eliminated by Anaheim Ducks was “a very fair comment … we were not an elite team … we struggled to find our identity.”
Addressing McDavid’s frustration and his stated commitment to winning in Edmonton, Bowman said he is on the same page as his star player whose two-year contact extension kicks in next season.
“We’re pushing hard … it’s not like we’re building for five years from now. Now is the time we want our team to win, we’re not looking down the road,” said Bowman.
“Regardless of Connor’s contract, the clock is ticking,” said Knoblauch. “You see how long windows last … right now it is win now. It’s highlighted a little more with Connor’s situation.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2026.
Calvin Pickard is better than both those yahoos. At least when you put him in the net he tried. Ant the hockey players played better with him in net. He was positive for the oilers
Maybe you should let Bowman go. He’s been around long so he should know what he’s doing. But he somehow doesn’t. For sure I would not keep Tristan Jerry not mr bowman. Hes not a good hm
Get rid of mcdavid!
The team has been in a win now situation for the last three years. Management can only spit out the same lines so many times.
Hopefully he will not feature in it
With even middle of the road GMing, the Oilers would have 2 cups.
If bowman has his way there will be five forwards and no defense or goalkeeper. He has an unhealthy mindset that fowards win games.
Bowman should be the first to go. Way to many bad trades and bad signings. Anyone else in that position regardless of the company would have been fired long ago with that track record
Yes, a new jersey that is. That will fix all the issues.
Why not replace Nurse with someone who knows how to play DEFENSE! Same with Bouchard!
Didn’t read the article, listening to his avoidance and deflecting this morning is enough for me to solidify my opinion of him needing to be fired. Not a single thing he do for the team worked. That tells me he is unable to adapt his style to his players. Not a recipe for a successful GM.
Couple this with the obvious nature in which we were out coached in R1, rather than S*** rolling downhill, let’s start at the top.