McDavid Questions Team Strategy After Loss

[TBone]

Connor McDavid expresses frustration after Game 6 loss

David Suggs
June 17, 2025

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Yet, for all of McDavid's gifts, he still hasn't been able to land the most prestigious of trophies in the sports world: the Stanley Cup.

In each of the past two seasons, he got close. McDavid fell one win short of the title in 2023-24 then two wins away in 2024-25.

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McDavid was somber while assessing Edmonton's latest postseason exit, praising the Panthers for their depth, speed, and forecheck — traits that proved difficult for the Oilers to overcome.

"They tilted the rink, they were able to kinda stay on top of us all over the place," McDavid said. "[We were] never really able to generate any moment up the ice.

"We kept f— trying the same thing over and over again, just banging our heads against the wall."

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/new ... dd17e0a8ec

[TBone]

[George Zipp]

He's complaining about the depth and he's not wrong. And it's not going to get better anytime soon. Drai just signed the 112 million dollar contract. Nurse is almost at 10 million until 2030. Bouchard is going to get paid. And McDavid has one year left before he signs the largest contract in league history. The Leafs have shown that you can't have depth when you have four guys eating up 40ish % of your cap and that's exactly what's happening in Oil land.

Giving up the first next year for Jake Walman (snicker) was a (bleep) poor Stan Bowman standard move. And I'd imagine it sure would have been nice to have Broberg and Hollywood around. Thanks Stanley.

Imagine he took the high road and didn't have much if anything to say about the goaltending and the way his buddy coach handled the goaltending. It's a shithorrorshow and while I know they supposedly have a goalie in the pipeline they are really high on, unless they get creative it's going to be another year of the Skinner Pickard show.

[TheJackBurton]

They are going to lose important pieces due to Bouchard.

Either they let him walk because they don't want another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense, or they sign another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense. If they let him walk, they have to replace him and that might not be any less expensive, if they sign him they'll have to let even more of what little depth they have go.

Their major issue is they are Pittsburgh without the Cups, the Norris Candidate defenseman, and a goaler who gets hot in the playoffs.

The biggest one will be McDavid. You could potentially get a lot of depth for 15 million dollars and let Drai be the man, but how can you let one of the top 10 players in the history of the game leave?

At this point I guess you pay him the 15 million and just hope for the best.

[ManitobaBlues]

He's complaining about the depth and he's not wrong. And it's not going to get better anytime soon. Drai just signed the 112 million dollar contract. Nurse is almost at 10 million until 2030. Bouchard is going to get paid. And McDavid has one year left before he signs the largest contract in league history. The Leafs have shown that you can't have depth when you have four guys eating up 40ish % of your cap and that's exactly what's happening in Oil land.

Giving up the first next year for Jake Walman (snicker) was a (bleep) poor Stan Bowman standard move. And I'd imagine it sure would have been nice to have Broberg and Hollywood around. Thanks Stanley.

Imagine he took the high road and didn't have much if anything to say about the goaltending and the way his buddy coach handled the goaltending. It's a shithorrorshow and while I know they supposedly have a goalie in the pipeline they are really high on, unless they get creative it's going to be another year of the Skinner Pickard show.

I have to respectfully disagree. While Holloway and Broberg may have made minor contributions, the loss of Hyman was the most significant factor for the Oilers. In my view, it was a huge loss for them. That said, no team in the Western Conference would have been able to beat Florida in the Stanley Cup Final this year—regardless of any "what if" scenarios.

[bluetunehead]

He's complaining about the depth and he's not wrong. And it's not going to get better anytime soon. Drai just signed the 112 million dollar contract. Nurse is almost at 10 million until 2030. Bouchard is going to get paid. And McDavid has one year left before he signs the largest contract in league history. The Leafs have shown that you can't have depth when you have four guys eating up 40ish % of your cap and that's exactly what's happening in Oil land.

Giving up the first next year for Jake Walman (snicker) was a (bleep) poor Stan Bowman standard move. And I'd imagine it sure would have been nice to have Broberg and Hollywood around. Thanks Stanley.

Imagine he took the high road and didn't have much if anything to say about the goaltending and the way his buddy coach handled the goaltending. It's a shithorrorshow and while I know they supposedly have a goalie in the pipeline they are really high on, unless they get creative it's going to be another year of the Skinner Pickard show.

I have to respectfully disagree. While Holloway and Broberg may have made minor contributions, the loss of Hyman was the most significant factor for the Oilers. In my view, it was a huge loss for them. That said, no team in the Western Conference would have been able to beat Florida in the Stanley Cup Final this year—regardless of any "what if" scenarios.

Holloway vs signing Jeff Skinner and Broberg vs having to use a 1st for Walman. Those are obvious calls in hindsight.

I’m not saying they’d put the Oilers over the top. Florida is just a nasty, deep team. But Stan Bowman whiffed for sure.

[Tony Palazzolo]

He's complaining about the depth and he's not wrong. And it's not going to get better anytime soon. Drai just signed the 112 million dollar contract. Nurse is almost at 10 million until 2030. Bouchard is going to get paid. And McDavid has one year left before he signs the largest contract in league history. The Leafs have shown that you can't have depth when you have four guys eating up 40ish % of your cap and that's exactly what's happening in Oil land.

Giving up the first next year for Jake Walman (snicker) was a (bleep) poor Stan Bowman standard move. And I'd imagine it sure would have been nice to have Broberg and Hollywood around. Thanks Stanley.

Imagine he took the high road and didn't have much if anything to say about the goaltending and the way his buddy coach handled the goaltending. It's a shithorrorshow and while I know they supposedly have a goalie in the pipeline they are really high on, unless they get creative it's going to be another year of the Skinner Pickard show.

I have to respectfully disagree. While Holloway and Broberg may have made minor contributions, the loss of Hyman was the most significant factor for the Oilers. In my view, it was a huge loss for them. That said, no team in the Western Conference would have been able to beat Florida in the Stanley Cup Final this year—regardless of any "what if" scenarios.

Holloway and Broberg would offer them cheap talent on a top heavy team, not to mention tradable assets. I don't know if they're window is closing but the McDavid contract will push it a little closer.

[LGB73]

The Oilers are the Leafs of the West. Too much focus on top end offensive talent and not enough on depth, forecheck/defense and goaltending. That offense is great in the regular season when teams are not fully committed to playing suffocating defense and forechecking. Come playoff time you're going to face teams that have been built right and are capable of limiting the impact of an explosive player or two.

[callitwhatyouwant]

They are going to lose important pieces due to Bouchard.

Either they let him walk because they don't want another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense, or they sign another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense. If they let him walk, they have to replace him and that might not be any less expensive, if they sign him they'll have to let even more of what little depth they have go.

Their major issue is they are Pittsburgh without the Cups, the Norris Candidate defenseman, and a goaler who gets hot in the playoffs.

The biggest one will be McDavid. You could potentially get a lot of depth for 15 million dollars and let Drai be the man, but how can you let one of the top 10 players in the history of the game leave?

At this point I guess you pay him the 15 million and just hope for the best.

I was in the camp that they should have traded Draisitl but their cup run last year opened the door that this thing can work. The issue is you are going to need a phenom young goalie to do it for you. I don't know how they fix their defensive issues. They should have lost round 1 vs the Kings but the Kings got pie in their face and blew that game 4. That Byfield play if it doesn't happen probably seals that first round 4-1 or 4-2. The oilers then found some kind of groove that their defense and goalies don't do. It was a matter of time.

If they would have traded Draisitl, you save face and say you went all in on the best player in the world instead of one of the best 5 players in the world. Now you have to figure out your issue when you are just going to compound it. The Oilers are one of the few teams that the new cap isn't going to help, they are actually going to be in the same situation or worse after McDavid signs his contract.

McDavid should be signing somewhere this summer if they have the confidence they can pull it off. If he doesn't sign in the summer, that's a signal that he might be trade bait if things start going the wrong way, but also will be all leverage in McDavids camp. If McDavid doesn't sign now, and puts it off in the season, he has no reason to sign until next year and he might very well look for a better option and just walk away. Can the Oilers really get caught in a situation where they lose the best player in the world for free? Very interesting July 1st

[TheJackBurton]

They are going to lose important pieces due to Bouchard.

Either they let him walk because they don't want another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense, or they sign another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense. If they let him walk, they have to replace him and that might not be any less expensive, if they sign him they'll have to let even more of what little depth they have go.

Their major issue is they are Pittsburgh without the Cups, the Norris Candidate defenseman, and a goaler who gets hot in the playoffs.

The biggest one will be McDavid. You could potentially get a lot of depth for 15 million dollars and let Drai be the man, but how can you let one of the top 10 players in the history of the game leave?

At this point I guess you pay him the 15 million and just hope for the best.

I was in the camp that they should have traded Draisitl but their cup run last year opened the door that this thing can work. The issue is you are going to need a phenom young goalie to do it for you. I don't know how they fix their defensive issues. They should have lost round 1 vs the Kings but the Kings got pie in their face and blew that game 4. That Byfield play if it doesn't happen probably seals that first round 4-1 or 4-2. The oilers then found some kind of groove that their defense and goalies don't do. It was a matter of time.

If they would have traded Draisitl, you save face and say you went all in on the best player in the world instead of one of the best 5 players in the world. Now you have to figure out your issue when you are just going to compound it. The Oilers are one of the few teams that the new cap isn't going to help, they are actually going to be in the same situation or worse after McDavid signs his contract.

McDavid should be signing somewhere this summer if they have the confidence they can pull it off. If he doesn't sign in the summer, that's a signal that he might be trade bait if things start going the wrong way, but also will be all leverage in McDavids camp. If McDavid doesn't sign now, and puts it off in the season, he has no reason to sign until next year and he might very well look for a better option and just walk away. Can the Oilers really get caught in a situation where they lose the best player in the world for free? Very interesting July 1st

The worst thing Edmonton can do is go into the season without an extended McDavid.

If you are going to trade it has to be this offseason when you essentially have 31 teams competing. If you go into the season and he isn't extended, there's no way you can get anything close to his value at the TDL. If they feel like they are going to make another run they certainly can't trade him.

Imagine losing Conner McDavid to UFA. Man that will hurt, and hurt a lot.

[Army's Mom]

They are going to lose important pieces due to Bouchard.

Either they let him walk because they don't want another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense, or they sign another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense. If they let him walk, they have to replace him and that might not be any less expensive, if they sign him they'll have to let even more of what little depth they have go.

Their major issue is they are Pittsburgh without the Cups, the Norris Candidate defenseman, and a goaler who gets hot in the playoffs.

The biggest one will be McDavid. You could potentially get a lot of depth for 15 million dollars and let Drai be the man, but how can you let one of the top 10 players in the history of the game leave?

At this point I guess you pay him the 15 million and just hope for the best.

I was in the camp that they should have traded Draisitl but their cup run last year opened the door that this thing can work. The issue is you are going to need a phenom young goalie to do it for you. I don't know how they fix their defensive issues. They should have lost round 1 vs the Kings but the Kings got pie in their face and blew that game 4. That Byfield play if it doesn't happen probably seals that first round 4-1 or 4-2. The oilers then found some kind of groove that their defense and goalies don't do. It was a matter of time.

If they would have traded Draisitl, you save face and say you went all in on the best player in the world instead of one of the best 5 players in the world. Now you have to figure out your issue when you are just going to compound it. The Oilers are one of the few teams that the new cap isn't going to help, they are actually going to be in the same situation or worse after McDavid signs his contract.

McDavid should be signing somewhere this summer if they have the confidence they can pull it off. If he doesn't sign in the summer, that's a signal that he might be trade bait if things start going the wrong way, but also will be all leverage in McDavids camp. If McDavid doesn't sign now, and puts it off in the season, he has no reason to sign until next year and he might very well look for a better option and just walk away. Can the Oilers really get caught in a situation where they lose the best player in the world for free? Very interesting July 1st

McDavid need only look in the mirror for why his team can never get better. Yeah, the Drai contract and the pending Bouchard contract also hurt, as did the unforced error of buying during the UFA frenzy only to watch Broberg and Holloway walk. But it starts with McDavid. Imagine how much easier it'd be to get 10% better if the best player in the game came out today and said he was signing for 2-3M less than he could command, conceding the "highest paid" crown to Drai.

The PA would never be cool with that, but he could do it. Imagine "settling" for a greater annual payday than all of us forum denizens put together will likely ever see? Imagine the compounding effect if he signed for 3M less, and got Bouchard to take 1M less?

He can cry publicly all he wants about their failure to adjust tactics, or privately about their lack of depth or goaltending, but he wields as much power to fix things as any other single person there - ownership included. How many times didn't we see Boston players take less than top dollar to keep their window open - I mean it was front page material when Pasta *didn't* take the Boston discount. Meanwhile, watch while at least one of FLA's UFAs extends for far less than expected...

We'll see how much McDavid cares when his next contract demands get leaked...

[TheJackBurton]

They are going to lose important pieces due to Bouchard.

Either they let him walk because they don't want another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense, or they sign another 9 million dollar defenseman who doesn't play defense. If they let him walk, they have to replace him and that might not be any less expensive, if they sign him they'll have to let even more of what little depth they have go.

Their major issue is they are Pittsburgh without the Cups, the Norris Candidate defenseman, and a goaler who gets hot in the playoffs.

The biggest one will be McDavid. You could potentially get a lot of depth for 15 million dollars and let Drai be the man, but how can you let one of the top 10 players in the history of the game leave?

At this point I guess you pay him the 15 million and just hope for the best.

I was in the camp that they should have traded Draisitl but their cup run last year opened the door that this thing can work. The issue is you are going to need a phenom young goalie to do it for you. I don't know how they fix their defensive issues. They should have lost round 1 vs the Kings but the Kings got pie in their face and blew that game 4. That Byfield play if it doesn't happen probably seals that first round 4-1 or 4-2. The oilers then found some kind of groove that their defense and goalies don't do. It was a matter of time.

If they would have traded Draisitl, you save face and say you went all in on the best player in the world instead of one of the best 5 players in the world. Now you have to figure out your issue when you are just going to compound it. The Oilers are one of the few teams that the new cap isn't going to help, they are actually going to be in the same situation or worse after McDavid signs his contract.

McDavid should be signing somewhere this summer if they have the confidence they can pull it off. If he doesn't sign in the summer, that's a signal that he might be trade bait if things start going the wrong way, but also will be all leverage in McDavids camp. If McDavid doesn't sign now, and puts it off in the season, he has no reason to sign until next year and he might very well look for a better option and just walk away. Can the Oilers really get caught in a situation where they lose the best player in the world for free? Very interesting July 1st

McDavid need only look in the mirror for why his team can never get better. Yeah, the Drai contract and the pending Bouchard contract also hurt, as did the unforced error of buying during the UFA frenzy only to watch Broberg and Holloway walk. But it starts with McDavid. Imagine how much easier it'd be to get 10% better if the best player in the game came out today and said he was signing for 2-3M less than he could command, conceding the "highest paid" crown to Drai.

The PA would never be cool with that, but he could do it. Imagine "settling" for a greater annual payday than all of us forum denizens put together will likely ever see? Imagine the compounding effect if he signed for 3M less, and got Bouchard to take 1M less?

He can cry publicly all he wants about their failure to adjust tactics, or privately about their lack of depth or goaltending, but he wields as much power to fix things as any other single person there - ownership included. How many times didn't we see Boston players take less than top dollar to keep their window open - I mean it was front page material when Pasta *didn't* take the Boston discount. Meanwhile, watch while at least one of FLA's UFAs extends for far less than expected...

We'll see how much McDavid cares when his next contract demands get leaked...

There's not doubting wanting to stay with a winner, but being in a non-tax state helps take "less than expected"

[John Cocktoastin]

Let's face it, the Panthers are freaking good. It's almost unfair they added Marchand.

Edmonton sites saying they would have won 2 years in a row now if it weren't for the Panthers. Not sure anybody could have beat these guys. One thing's for sure, and mentioned above, you have to be built for the playoffs. Roll 4 lines, complete offensive and defensive effort, a hot goalie, a good coach behind the bench, strong leadership. Heck, a theme song (Gloria) doesn't hurt either. The Oilers are just so far behind the Panthers.

Who would bet against the Panthers next year? I wouldn't.

[skilles]

People just looking for drama IMO, I don't think he complained at all and thought he took it like a man.

[sdaltons]

I hope he didn't have a p with the strategy put in place by the coach he wanted!!

[Army's Mom]

Let's face it, the Panthers are freaking good. It's almost unfair they added Marchand.

Edmonton sites saying they would have won 2 years in a row now if it weren't for the Panthers. Not sure anybody could have beat these guys. One thing's for sure, and mentioned above, you have to be built for the playoffs. Roll 4 lines, complete offensive and defensive effort, a hot goalie, a good coach behind the bench, strong leadership. Heck, a theme song (Gloria) doesn't hurt either. The Oilers are just so far behind the Panthers.

Who would bet against the Panthers next year? I wouldn't.

Almost unfair, but not. I mean, 31 other teams could have traded for him. FLA knew how to build a team and didn't blow 7M on perimeter players like Arvidson and Skinner. They outbid every other team (including Army) for Tkachuk. Hell, they turned Chicago's mistake into gold. But that doesn't make them unbeatable. I think the 2019 Berube Blues would actually fare pretty well against them - another HARD forechecking team that doesn't need to rely on the rush to score but has enough rush game to capitalize on turnovers, with a gamer in net.

I'll bet against them next year only to be a contrarian, and because I'm skeptical we will ever see another 3-peat in this cap era. They'll lose pieces, Bob will be another year older, and they have no heir apparent. Meanwhile, more teams will try to emulate their smothering style - which is ultimately how they'll lose. JMO.