The promise Bowman made McDavid and Draisaitl is about to come due
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl told Stan Bowman last summer to fix the Oilers, and the offseason they were promised has officially arrived.
David Pagnotta dropped the details on The Sheet over the weekend. Both stars met with Edmonton management last offseason and asked direct questions about the direction of the franchise.
The answer was honest. We hear you. There's no wiggle room right now. Give us this coming offseason.
That offseason just started. And it started with a first-round exit to the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games.
Edmonton finished 41-30-11 for 93 points, second in the division and 14th overall. The regular season was fine. The Round 1 result was anything but.
McDavid posted 48 goals and 138 points across 82 games at $12.5 million, with 13 power play goals and a +17 rating. The captain produced. His team didn't show up when it mattered.
His playoff line tells a different story. The 29-year-old went 1 goal, 6 points, and a -8 across 6 games against the Ducks. That's an ugly underlying number from any player, never mind the best one in the world.
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Why Bowman's offseason promise just got harder, not easier
Draisaitl carried more of the offensive load. The 30-year-old finished with 35 goals and 97 points in 65 games, and his playoff line read 3 goals, 10 points, and a -2 rating across 6 games.
That's a top-five player in the league averaging more than a point and a half per playoff game and still walking out in Round 1. The supporting cast didn't get there.
Evan Bouchard's $10.5 million contract eats more cap room. The blue line behind him gets thin in a hurry. The forward depth past the top six was the same conversation it has been for three years.
Bowman took over as GM in July of 2024. His first offseason had limited cap flexibility. His second one is supposed to be the runway, and he just inherited a roster bounced by an opponent two seeds lower.
Kris Knoblauch coached this group to a Cup Final two years ago. Falling in 6 to Anaheim is the kind of step backwards that turns conversations about adjustments into conversations about direction.
Here's the editorial line. McDavid is two years away from UFA territory. Every decision Edmonton makes this summer is a McDavid decision before it's anything else. The math doesn't allow for half-measures.
That's where the promise becomes a problem. Bowman told his stars to bear with him for one more cycle. The cycle ended in 6 games against a Cinderella. The patience tank is empty.
Buying out a contract is a little like ripping up a wall in a house you just bought. It hurts, it costs money, and it sometimes gets worse before it gets better. Edmonton may not have a choice this summer.
The next 8 weeks shape the rest of McDavid's prime. Bowman said this would be his offseason. The captain is now waiting to see what that actually looks like in print.
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MAY 3, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Devon Toews | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Cale Makar | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Malinski | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Nick Blankenburg | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Hartman | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dominic James | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mats Zuccarello | 1 | - | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||