“It’s bust or bust for this group,” Connor McDavid said, speaking to the media on Tuesday. Leon Draistel added: “We’re all here to win and when you don’t it’s disappointing. As a group, we’ll talk about it, find the positives and be ready for next year.” The mentality for the team next season, said Zach Hyman, is, “We’re winning the Stanley Cup because it’s a flop.” It was these kinds of comments that captured most of the air as players spoke of how disappointed they were with the way the 2022-23 season ended, and there was an aura of confidence that this squad could be better.
Each player talked about the importance of this group winning together. Noting that he’s incredibly proud of the culture the Oilers have built from the ground up, McDavid said his core is wanting to see it through and win together. Draisaitl noted that every season they don’t make it, it just makes them want it more. They will get a chance next season as McDavid indicated everyone is coming back, nobody is getting old and all of their players are in their prime.
“It’s progression – maybe I don’t feel it today. But it is. We’re a better team than we were last year, and everyone’s back. It’s just more experiences, really,” he said when speaking about what comes next. The club needs to work on the little things. “The margin of error when you play a good team in the playoffs is very small. McDavid pointed out that we made a lot of mistakes. In that room, Dricetel said, they believed in not hitting themselves. He has claimed that the Oilers have a way of giving up games and that they need to “shut it down”.
How good is this heart?
McDavid noted that the Oilers feel they can knock on the playoffs door as often as they want but winning it all is what matters. With everyone back, Hyman notes that even the youngsters are tied up, so the team should look a lot like it did this season.
The focus is there, Ken Holland will do what he can to round out the roster with pieces that bring out his essence and the Oilers will try again.
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