Oilers hit with ugly news after Stan Bowman's controversial offseason
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Athletic's annual front office confidence rankings just delivered a gut punch to Edmonton, with the Oilers sliding from 21st to 27th among all 32 teams.
Edmonton fans are used to defending their front office, but this year's numbers make that a lot tougher.
The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn released his ninth annual front office confidence survey and the Oilers landed in the bottom six, trailing everyone except the Rangers, Kraken, Kings, Blue Jackets and Red Wings.
A year ago they sat at 21st. Now they're 27th, and the timing lines up almost perfectly with a summer full of tough calls from Stan Bowman's group.
What dragged the Oilers down
The biggest factor pollsters and fans kept pointing to was the coaching change.
Edmonton moved on from Kris Knoblauch, a coach who had taken this roster to back to back Stanley Cup Finals, and brought in Mike Babcock instead.
It's the kind of move that splits a fanbase right down the middle, and based on these results, plenty of voters weren't sold.
Add in a handful of offseason contract decisions that raised eyebrows around the league, and the drop starts to make a lot more sense.
Here's the post that first flagged the ranking shift.
Where this leaves Edmonton
The frustrating part for Oilers fans is that the on ice product hasn't been the issue.
This team has McDavid, Draisaitl and a roster most executives around the league would trade for in a heartbeat.
But confidence polls like this measure something different, they measure trust in the decision makers steering the ship.
With Babcock now behind the bench and Bowman's contract math still playing out, Edmonton has a real chance to climb back up next year if things break right.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
The Penguins just gave Marc-Andre Fleury something that has completely changed the organization
The Penguins just gave Marc-Andre Fleury something that has completely changed the organization