EDMONTON — So you had a bad day. Or in the Edmonton Oilers’ case, a bad season.

So what? It happens to the best of ‘em.

Two years playing until the end of June, two Stanley Cup Final losses, and whatever it was that the Oilers tried to do differently in the 2025-26 season simply did not work.

So the question becomes: Was it really a one-off? Or was it a genuine drop-off?

Nobody is doubting that the Florida Panthers can bounce back after a season in which they finished 14th in the East and 25th overall in the NHL. Yet there is plenty of shade being thrown this September at an Oilers team that lost in Round 1 last spring with four injured centremen.

Winning earns you that respect, and even though the Oilers have played more playoff games over the past five years than any other team (81) — winning more than everyone but Florida and Carolina — they still haven’t won, if you know what we mean.

“I don't want to say we took it for granted, or (there was) complacency,” said captain Connor McDavid, when asked what happened last season. “You know, you go to a Cup Final two years in a row, you feel pretty good about your group. That when it matters you're going to be able to turn it on. And who knows? Without injuries, maybe we could have.”

But,........

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