Excellent comments and questions; and a little more clarity

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.

If your best player won't, who will?

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."

McDavid doesn't have to be an elite defensive center.

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.

Exactly why Jordan made Phil Jackson's job so easy. *

Let's call the Blackhawks situation "purgatory"

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.

That puts the Wings somewhere in one of the circles of hell. *

It’s called “Detroit” *

I'll admit that that made me laugh. Hoping Yzerman can turn

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

The Wings are doing fine

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.