The Edmonton Oilers have reached the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive seasons and, organizationally, there is still belief this team as structured can win it all. The math, however, is starting to get complicated.
It goes without saying any team with a two-headed monster of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is alive until they are officially dead. And in fairness to both the Oilers superstars and the organization broadly, Edmonton has shown itself to be a very resilient team.
The offensive firepower has been there, but the regular-season dominance hasn’t always been guaranteed. In fact, since the 2020-21 pandemic-shortened year, the Oilers are just 10th in goal differential (+69) – a strong number, but perhaps less than…