That was as close as they would get.
The next goal—and the one after that—belonged to the Anaheim Ducks. They edged Edmonton 7-4, taking a 2-1 lead in the series. They pushed their advantage to 3–1, and although Edmonton managed to extend the series, the Ducks closed it out on home ice, sending the Oilers into yet another early offseason.
Once again, the season ended in disappointment for the current biggest superstar in the game. Another year, another heartbreak. McDavid is still to reach the pinnacle. Become immortal.
He has just finished his 11th season in the NHL, and he’s yet to win on the most important stage in hockey.
Lack of rhythm
“We’ve been searching for consistency all year, and obviously we didn’t find it here in the playoffs,” McDavid said. “It’s tough. We were an average team all year; an average team with high expectations, you’re going to be disappointed. We just never found it.”
The Oilers earned the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, but their winning percentage was 56.7% – the lowest since the 2018-2019 season.
Edmonton never found rhythm and poise during the regular season. They wrestled with injuries and struggled with solid goaltending, even trading away Stuart Skinner, who was with them the previous two seasons when they made the Stanley Cup Finals. When the postseason came, the team was supposed to be at its best.
Instead, the squad was fighting issues in the rotation due to injuries.
“Too hurt, too soon. The first round is always tough. It's always chaotic, and it's tough to play through things so early on as many guys did in here,” McDavid said. “That being said, it's not an excuse, either. We expected to have a longer run than we did. It is what it is.”
Also, the end of the season revealed internal issues that star center Leon Draisaitl spoke about after the elimination.
“In what world do you have the best player in the world on your team and you’re not looking to win? I know we’re looking to win, but we need to be better. We have to be better. There’s no way around it, we have to improve,” said Draisaitl with undeniable frustration in his voice.
Carrying the load alone
The squad built by general manager Stan Bowman suffered its first first-round exit since 2021, but the Oilers have been in the best shape in decades. Starting in 2006, they experienced a 10-year playoff drought.
After a decade of struggling, drafting McDavid in 2015 changed everything, giving the franchise a generational talent capable of reshaping the league. A prodigy.
He took the NHL by storm, making decorated veterans look like plastic cones randomly scattered on the ice. Individually, he’s delivered.
A three-time Hart Trophy winner, multiple-time scoring leader, and perennial All-Star, McDavid has built a résumé worthy of the era’s best. He’s won Olympic and World Cup medals. His skills and hard-to-believe goals earned him the nickname 'McJesus'.
At 29 years old, McDavid is in his prime. But the Oilers have yet to capitalize on it.
Back-to-back Stanley Cup appearances. Back-to-back devastating losses to the Florida Panthers, staying just a single step below the mountain top. Is the third time a charm? Not for Edmonton.
For a while, it seemed like it might be.
Last October, McDavid signed a two-year, $25 million contract extension. It was a deal way below what he would get elsewhere. Moreso, it was far less than what someone of his caliber deserved. But he wanted to win and wanted to do it in Edmonton.
So, the megastar agreed to less money, allowing the front office to build a stronger team around him.
But the move proved ineffective. Instead of improving, the Oilers regressed.
They struggled with defense after giving up the eighth-most goals and recorded the fourth-fewest takeaways, all while ranking 15th in the league in turnovers on the offensive end.
Not to mention that none of the goaltenders posted a save percentage above .900.
This postseason, the Ducks skated faster. The Oilers couldn’t keep up. Anaheim was younger and hungrier, outlasting the injury-struck Edmonton.
“Our centers 1,2,3 were playing through stuff. But at the end of the day, you have to find ways to win games in any way. You have to grind one out, you have to defend one out. At the end of the day, they were just better than us,” Draisaitl acknowledged.
Time is ticking
McDavid led the league in points with 138, but even he couldn’t do it all for the Oilers. His numbers were elite, and his goals and passes will once again compile for an electrifying highlight reel.
But even historic individual performance wasn’t enough to carry a flawed roster.
If Edmonton wants to bring the Stanley Cup home, they must make changes this offseason, starting at the core. The team must address its defensive structure, stabilize goaltending, and build reliable depth around its stars.
The starting building block could be a new goaltender.
They have been looking for the right fit for years. This season, they gave up on Stuart Skinner in favor of Tristan Jerry, but he also struggled. Connor Ingram and Calvin Pickard are most likely to enter free agency.
Strength in the net
So, who can the Oilers target? One of the most prominent names in the market might be Sergei Bobrovsky.
Edmonton watched his craft from an immediate distance, as his wizardry in net kept them from winning the Stanley Cup twice in a row.
As an unrestricted free agent, if Bobrovsky decides not to sign back with Florida, Edmonton might be a perfect fit for the 37-year-old star.
Another option might come in the form of Filip Gustavsson - the veteran Minnesota Wild goalie who is coming off a Game 2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in his first start of this year's playoffs.
The Sweden-native had a solid regular season with the Wild, posting a .903 save percentage and a 2.69 goals against average with four shutouts.
Yet he has been getting pushed away by rookie Jesper Wallstedt. If the friction continues and his position gets threatened, Gustavsson might try his luck elsewhere.
Jordan Binnington is no stranger to Canada - he guarded the Canadian net during the 2026 Olympics, and in the NHL, he's with the St. Louis Blues.
Statistically, he had the worst season of his career, finishing with a career worst in both save percentage (.873) and goals against average (3.33).
Joining the Oilers in his home country could be a great spark for Binnington if Edmonton decides to take a chance on him.
They would have to trade for him, but as the Blues start looking to Joel Hofer as the goalie of the future, a price tag for the 32-year-old Binnington may not be too steep.
When it comes to defense, the Oilers should look to trade the contract of Darnell Nurse. Once a defensive anchor, he's been underperforming and dragging Edmonton's defensive efforts down.
The organization needs to target top defenders this offseason, and getting rid of Nurse's $9.5 million contract would clear a lot of cap space.
The window is still open—but it’s narrowing.
Draisaitl and McDavid have played together for a decade, but they have yet to lift the coveted championship trophy. Time is slowly running out. The quick exit immediately sparked speculations regarding McDavid’s future. The captain is under contract for two more years.
After that, nothing is guaranteed.
“I obviously said I was committed to winning here, and I meant that when I said that, and two years makes a lot of sense,” McDavid said in October. “It gives us a chance to continue chasing down what we've been chasing down here with the core guys we have in here, and we have a little bit of money to work with, too.”
The core of the team is getting older, and once this two-year window closes, it might be a time for a rebuild. The clock is ticking louder than ever. The Oilers have been waiting for another Stanley Cup since 1990, and it’s been 33 years since a team from Canada won the title. A brutal wait for a country considered the cradle of hockey. For McDavid, there is one thing to check off on his career list - the Stanley Cup.
Only one question remains: Can McDavid finally finish the climb in Edmonton—or will he have to chase it somewhere else?