Oilers land near the top of horrible offseason news as McDavid's future hangs in balance

Nobody wants to call a roster with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl a loser, but that is exactly where the Oilers landed in a new ranking of the Western Conference's most disappointing offseasons.

Daily Faceoff slotted Edmonton in at number two behind only the Anaheim Ducks, and the reasoning is hard to argue with once you look at what GM Stan Bowman actually did this summer.

The clock is the real story here.

McDavid is now two years away from unrestricted free agency, and he did not use this offseason to commit long term to the franchise.

That alone puts a different lens on everything Bowman does going forward.

Instead of a splashy move to reassure the fanbase, the Oilers moved out defenseman Darnell Nurse to the Sharks and brought in Shakir Mukhamadulin, Ryan Shea, Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi.

It is a group that could help by subtraction more than addition, and the goaltending swap still leaves plenty of questions unanswered heading into camp.

Then there is Mike Babcock taking over behind the bench, a hire that was polarizing the moment it was announced.

If Edmonton stumbles out of the gate or the season unravels the way last year's did, expect the pitchforks to come out fast, and not just for the coach.

Bowman will absolutely wear it too.

Coming off a major step back last season, the margin for error already felt thin.

A quiet, mostly lateral summer does not exactly inspire confidence that things are trending the right direction before a critical two year stretch begins.

For a team with two of the best players alive still in their prime, there is a growing sense that time is not on Edmonton's side anymore.

The Ducks may have taken the top overall spot on this list.

But Oilers fans know their team's situation carries a different kind of weight given the stakes attached to McDavid's future.

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