The Edmonton Oilers cannot help but feel déjà vu as they once again left Amerant Bank Arena defeated after a Stanley Cup Final. They’ve been here before, in a similar situation in the 2024 NHL playoffs. It was do-or-die for the Oilers, and especially for Connor McDavid, whose future looks up in the air after the loss to the Florida Panthers.
The Oilers have been outplayed by the Panthers throughout most of the Stanley Cup Final. McDavid and Edmonton hoped to strike hard in any chance they got, but this Panthers’ shutdown ability prevailed.
Tomorrow is not a given for McDavid and company. Avoiding elimination in Game 6 could have secured McDavid’s stay in Edmonton. Reports cast doubt on the star’s future if the team felt short of the Cup for the second straight NHL season. The organization’s sixth Stanley Cup has been hard to come by, so far. And the outlook isn’t great in Alberta.
“The window is sort of closing. This is an odd one. It’s closing not because of his age but because of his contract status. There’s an awful lot of talk within the sport that if they don’t win this year, McDavid might look elsewhere,” ESPN’s reporter Steve Levy said on The Jim Rome Show. “He still has a year left on his contract after this season. But, if you’re the Oilers and you know you can’t re-sign him, you can’t let him go to free agency and not get anything for the greatest player in the game.“
Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers looks on against the Dallas Stars during the third period in Game Three of the Western Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on May 25, 2025 in Edmonton, Alberta.
Failing to emulate Crosby
McDavid and the Oilers hoped to extend the series to a win-or-go-home Game 7 for the second straight season. They managed to escape elimination three times in a row during last year’s Final. This time they failed to do so, going home empty-handed for the second season in a row.
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After the blowout loss in Game 5, it didn’t take long for fans in the NHL to build a parallelism between McDavid and Sidney Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins captain hoisted his first Stanley Cup during the 2008-09 season. Crosby led the Pens to silverware, rallying back from a 3-2 deficit against the Detroit Red Wings. However, McDavid is still ringless at 28, while Crosby already boasted multiple titles at that age.
Another story
Like Edmonton and Florida’s background, Pittsburgh had lost to the Red Wings during the past season’s Cup Final. Moreover, the Penguins had been on the losing side of a lopsided outing in Game 5.
The similarities were there, but McDavid and company couldn’t emulate the Penguins’ feat. The best player in the world has yet to end the franchise’s championship-drought, but perhaps he will set for new horizons after falling short in 2024 and 2025.
