'Worst feeling in the world': Have Edmonton Oilers run out of key ingredient to chase Stanley Cup?

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Do the Edmonton Oilers have the juice, the motivation, the burning desire to fight through and win the Stanley Cup in 2026?

I wonder. I have some doubts. Do you share them? More to the point, do the Oilers themselves doubt?

In a 32-team National Hockey League, it takes a lot going right for any one team to win the Stanley Cup, especially with a salary cap in place. For example, the Florida Panthers were given a huge boost when Matthew Tkachuk suffered a major injury in the Four Nations tournament, one that sidelined him for the rest of the regular season and gave them the cap space to bring in Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. Without that injury, and without Tkachuk coming back to the line-up, would Florida have had the juice for a second Cup run? I doubt it.

The Edmonton Oilers have come close two years running, going to Game Seven against Florida two years ago and to Game Six this past June. It’s been a monumental achievement for Edmonton, but to get back there a third time, and this time winning against Florida olr whichever other teams gets there seems like a brutal ask to make of the Oilers.

They almost came back in miraculous fashion in the 2024 playoffs, which evidently filled the Oilers with hope and fighting spirit for the 2025 playoff campaign. The Oil looked like world-beaters in dispatching excellent Vegas and Dallas teams. But their Stanley Cup Final against Florida was a disaster. They lost their cool in the face of erratic refereeing. They failed to impose their speed on Florida, who got stronger as the series went along. The Oilers essentially caved in for the final two games. It was a dispiriting, discouraging, embittering loss. It has me and others wondering if the Oil have it in themselves now for a successful run Cup in 2026.

Los Angeles podcaster Dan Powers recently addressed this same issue on his Empty Netters podcast, harkening back to the famous clip from the Oilers dressing room after the team lost in 2024 to Florida, the one where Zach Hyman promised the team they’d get back to the Final in 2025.

“There’s that clip,” Powers said. “I don’t know if you’ve seen it. They kept playing it this year of Hyman in the locker room after the last year where he’s like, ‘Boys, this is the worst feeling in the world. I’m telling you, we’re going to be right back here.’ And they did get back to the Cup. And they lost in one less game.”

Powers  wondered where the Oilers would now find the motivation to fight their way back. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, we were right back here.’ And you wonder if you’re that team, how do you sit there right now and go, ‘We’re going to be right back here.'”

Former NHLer James Wisniewski agreed with Powers, noting the Oilers must be physically drained with so much hockey the past two ywears. “We’re talking about rest, too. Like, don’t forget, like, these guys played the f*cking balls out until June something. And then (they’re) not riding in the high. The Florida Panthers are (getting) $500,000 (bar) tabs picked up. These guys are like, ‘Oh no. Lost again.'”

My Cult colleague Kurt Leavins has also been thinking of this same matter, writing last week: “After the loss in the final two years ago, I was convinced that the bitter taste in their mouths would be a real motivator. But losing in the final two years in a row? There is a delicate balance between motivation and morose. Overcoming the disappointment yet again will not be a minor matter. And for a second consecutive season, there will be substantial roster churn. It will be a real test.”

It will indeed.

I think it’s the biggest job that coach Kris Knoblauch and team leaders Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse and others face. They’ve got to commit to playing Knoblauch’s systems like never before, but also find that special, maniacal, obsessive intensity and focus that it takes to stay on target and fight through a full season and playoffs.

Of course, the Oilers might get “lucky” like the Florida Panthers did, having a major player getting injured before the trade deadline, using his cap space to bring in fresh players, then also getting that major player back for the playoffs. That might be just the boost this Oilers team will need in the 2026 playoffs which as I understand is the last year teams will play under the old salary cap rules.

But it’s not going to be easy this year, even with such great players on the squad. It’s going to be monumentally difficult. So I wonder.

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