Knoblauch: McDavid played with a fractured ankle

Saturday was one of revelation Edmonton Oilers of which Connor McDavid was in the center.

Oilers coach Chris Knoblauch revealed that McDavid played through foot and ankle fractures en route to the six-game losing streak. Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference quarterfinals. He also said ahead Jason Dickinson There was a similar injury.

“Obviously, it affected their game,” Knoblauch said while speaking to reporters at the team’s final media session. “However, (we) have a lot of praise for them for wanting to be there and contributing as much as they did during the playoffs.”

McDavid, who was a game-time decision heading into Game 5, also said during the Oilers’ year-end availability that “my advantage is my speed burst, you know the quick step. I just had none of that.”

Then fellow Oilers superstar forwards with McDavid Leon Drysaitl They spoke about how they believed the company had “taken big steps”.

Draisaitl spoke first and was asked if he was concerned about the direction the Oilers were taking.

“We didn’t do a good enough job of winning games the right way, and I don’t like to use the terminology of taking the regular season seriously because we do,” Drasaitl said. “We go into every game, and we try to do it the right way, we say the right things, but I think you’ve got to build on these moments in the regular season, you’ve got to be comfortable in these moments. We haven’t done that this year, and it showed here in the first round.

“But yes, I’m concerned because we’re not trending in the right direction. We’ve taken big steps backwards and we’ve got to grip it and get back in the right direction.”

Advancing to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals while reaching the postseason for the seventh straight year reinforced how the Oilers live in a championship window.

While losing to Duck, it also demonstrates how complex windows can be to navigate. It was the first time the Oilers failed to get out of the first round since the 2020-21 season.

McDavid said after Game 6 that the Oilers “have been an average team all year.”

What adds to the first-round series loss is that the Ducks have rebuilt over the past few years to create a homegrown core mixed with veterans to carve out a place for them and potentially challenge the power structure in an already crowded Western Conference landscape.

McDavid was informed of Draisaitl’s comments and asked if he felt the same way as his fellow Hart Trophy winner.

“Yeah, I feel the same way… I agree with Leon that the organization as a whole has taken a step back,” McDavid said. “I think it starts with me. It starts with me. It starts with Leon. We can all get better and we all have to get better.”

Having generational talent like Draisaitl and McDavid brought the expectation that the Oilers could one day win a title.

Not that there weren’t earlier questions about the Oilers’ path to the elusive title. But more and more of those questions are being asked this season, for a variety of reasons.

Most notably: How much time do the Oilers have left?

McDavid, who turns 30 in January, is in the final months of an eight-year contract worth $12.5 million annually. He signed a two-year extension in October worth $12.5 million annually to stay with the club through the end of the 2027-28 season.

His decision to stay with the Oilers for two more years exacerbates the need to win now or potentially risk losing him once he hits free agency as a 31-year-old.

“In what world do you have the best player in the world on your team and you’re not going to win,” said Draisaitl, who is in the first season of an eight-year deal worth $14 million annually. “I know we want to win, but we have to get better. We have to get better. There’s no way around it. We have to improve. He’s signed for two more years, and God knows where it goes.

“But we have two years here now. We have two years right now. We have to be significantly better.”

McDavid was asked if there was any reason to assume he would leave if the Oilers didn’t win the Stanley Cup or were close to winning the Stanley Cup by the time his extension expired.

“I want to win and I want to win here in Edmonton,” McDavid said. “That’s my focus.”

Edmonton enters another offseason where it looks like it will have to find a way to build a consistent supporting cast while striking a series of team-friendly deals.

Pakpedia projects that the Oilers, who have seven players on their current contracts over three years, have $16.49 million in cap space. Jack Campbell The buyout increased from $2.3 million against their cap in 2025-26 to $2.6 million in the 2026-27 season.

According to PuckPedia’s data, that’s close to the league average compared to the rest of the league.

But it also comes with the understanding that they must make decisions about their eight-player unrestricted free agent class. This is a team that includes goaltenders Connor Ingram and forward Jack Roslovicwho is coming off his third 20-goal season.

Oilers general manager Stan Bowman was asked how much of a proverbial compass the new McDavid extension is for the organization and whether it will influence every decision moving forward.

“We’re trying to win. We’re trying to find a way to win and that’s what we’re doing,” Bowman said. “These questions are more about what are Conor’s plans and what are his thoughts. We are on the same page as Conor; we want to win. All the steps we take are ready to try to win the Cup next year. We are not building for four years from now.

“I think it lines up on the same parallel path that Conor wants to win and we want to win. That’s how we see it.”