remains the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.

North Carolina and Texas have one each.

As a couple of posters have questioned/noted, "blowing up" can mean a number of things.

I definitely did not mean trade both McDavid and Draisaitl (and anyone else of value) and tank.

But I do think that this team is extremely unlikely to win a Stanley Cup, as currently comprised. I don't watch a lot of Oiler games, but particularly in the playoffs, McDavid seems pretty disinterested in playing a 200-foot game. And if your best player won't, who will (especially if he's your #1 center)?

I don't disagree that Trotz or Cassidy could squeeze another few games out of this current iteration, but this series proved to me that it would take a hell of a lot more than that.

I certainly recognize their predicament. But to me, simple logic and organizational management/leadership dictates that if your current operation cannot (as much as something like that can be known) produce what you created it to produce, you have to move on, or at least make changes substantial enough to give you a new approach and a legitimate chance to get where the last iteration couldn't get you.

Maybe it's not possible or practical to trade one of McDavid or Draisaitl. But if not, I think they are consigned to hockey hell. It's like the Blackhawks hell, only at a higher plane and much more entertaining to watch.

But either way, there's no way out.

Of course the answer is nobody. Note: best doesn't always mean most talented, Toews vs Kane for may years as an example.

Job #1 for a hear coach is to motivate the best player if he isn't a self-motivator. The coach must be able to point to the "best" player and say, "If he can play a complete game and go full throttle when he's on the ice, I expect the rest of you to do it too."

And he's improved significantly in his own end over the last three seasons. If he continues to improve even a large amount there and continues to produce points at a higher rate than everyone else in the NHL, it won't increase Edmonton's shot at a Cup one bit.

Ovechkin is legitimately bad in his own end and he has a Cup. Mackinnon played an awful two-way game this season after an outlier of a season last year where he played well defensively. Ovie has a Cup and the Av's are the favorite in the Finals this year.

The Oilers' problem is their team is horribly constructed. They've made bad trades, bad signings, not great drafting and development outside of their top guys, poor coaching, etc. Also he plays in fucking Edmonton. How many big free agents are going to sign there v. New York, Philly, LA, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, and so on? Those issues are going to be McDavid's biggest obstacles to a Cup in Edmonton, not that he's mediocre in his own end.

If Edmonton misses the playoffs while he's still on this contract he should demand a trade. Otherwise he needs to be on the first flight out of there when he's a UFA. They will not win a Cup unless Holland makes some massive moves to address the dumptruck sized holes on that roster.

since, after all, you got three Stanley Cups out of the Toews/Kane/Keith core.

After reflecting on this some more, the Oilers should just go all-in, right now, during the McDavid-Draisaitl window. They made the conference final, which isn't nothing. They *need* to somehow upgrade their goaltending, and with a slim UFA pool this is probably via trade. Package whatever draft picks and prospects you can to upgrade where you can for the next three seasons.

They've got 8 forward signed, with three RFAs, so they need a few more. Their cap situation is not particularly good, especially with Lucic, Neal and Sekera on the books for $4m+. Maybe get the Habs to eat some salary and take on Drouin (or some other misfit) and hope for a turnaround. Find a couple defensively competent grinders to help the PK.

I don't think they're hopeless. And they're not going to stumble into another McDavid/Draisaitl pair if they dismantle. Just mortgage the future and try to make it happen.

them around. Admittedly have not followed as closely as I used to.

I like the new coach, the prospect pool is finally stacked, and the last of Holland’s stinkers are rolling off the books. This year we will be a fringe playoff contender and we’ll be in in 2023-24 and for a long time thereafter.

Edmonton seems to be an ascending team within a narrow window to win it all. They'll never get there if there style of play is being satisfied with 6-5 games. They're right now willing to try to outscore other teams, and that leaves them exposed defensively. It's especially bad when their goaltending is below average. Tampa and the Rangers steal goals with sterling net minding whereas the Oilers let in soft goals.

To get back to my question. You break apart teams when:

1. They're on a downhill slide, especially with players past their prime. The Hawks and perhaps Penguins fit that category.

2. Related that you're getting too old or your salary structure is higher than the value of the players themselves

3. Alleviate team chemistry problems

I don't think the Oilers will be able to change enough to win the Cup, especially with current teams at the top or those rising quickly. However, there is little value in going back to the drawing board - especially since hitting a Gretzky, McDavid, and someone comparable trifecta is small.

He shouldn't sniff a starting job, let alone on a contender. My guess is the Darnell Nurse contract won't age well and it's a huge chunk of the cap hit. They have a lot of expired contracts on offense. Holloway might be ready but probably not Borgault. Puljujarvi's an enigma.

I dunno if they blow it up. They need quality depth, a new defensive system and a living, breathing goaltender. They've got three more years of McDavid-Draisaitl before someone gives the latter a zillion dollar contract. At the very least they have a window of opportunity right now, however flawed it is. And we're talking about Ken Holland, so a slow, continued run of mediocrity seems a likely outcome.

trading McDavid, Draisitl, and Nurse for futures and going back into tank mode. Anything short of that is probably along the lines of a "retooling". Also McDavid and Nurse have full NMCs. They're not going anywhere but to a contender, and any smart contender isn't going to blow up their own roster for either of them (especially for Nurse).

I'm trying to picture what a hypothetical McDavid trade to a contender would even look like and there's absolutely no way Edmonton would get the better end of that deal in the short and long term given his NMC. If McDavid didn't have the NMC it'd be a different story, but trading him would be an absolutely massive gamble no matter what.

I think a competent GM (i.e. not Ken Holland) could turn them into a legitimate contender this offseason, especially if Letang makes it to free agency. You're right, though, that as long as Holland is there they'll mostly get by on how much better McDavid and Draisitl are than 99% of the league.

I think there are coaches on the market that could squeeze a lot out of a Ken Holland Oilers team. Trotz and Cassidy, in particular, would be good hires. I'm assuming they'll just make Woodcroft the full time coach, though.

The people of Edmonton would burn down Holland's house if he traded McDavid and went into a rebuild.

Trotz would be a great hire there. My Islander friends are pissed that he got the axe.

At least they had four Cups with Gretzky and a fifth after he was traded. Edmonton hasn't won anything with McDavid and they'd be in for at least another five years of lottery finishes without him - and that's assuming they have a Rangers-esque rebuild. How often does that happen? Holland wouldn't be able to show his face in public in Edmonton.

I tried looking through a few rosters to see if a viable trade for McDavid to a contender is even out there and it's pretty much impossible due to all the NMCs in the league. Every contender would have to shed a lot of salary to get him and those high salary guys pretty much universally have some form of NMC or NTC. I doubt any would waive to go to a McDavid-less Edmonton.

Yeah the Trotz firing was dumb, especially if Lou legitimately did not talk to anyone about it. Oh well, they're one of the oldest teams in the league and are unlikely to get better next season.