In the aftermath of the LA Kings' fourth straight playoff flameout against the Edmonton Oilers, many upset fans were understandably calling for big changes during the offseason. These changes ran the gambit from firing the head coach, cleaning out the entire front office, trading cornerstone players, and forcing team mascot Bailey to work out with a conditioning coach all summer. Ok, not sure about that last one, but you get the picture.
However, now that the Oilers have gone on to make relatively quick work of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars, maybe blowing up the Kings isn't the right move. In fact, as we approach the start of the Cup Final on June 4th, LA gave McDavid and Co. their toughest series. Since dropping the first two games against the Kings and needing a furious late comeback to avoid an 0-3 hole, the Oilers have only lost two games in their last two series combined.
Did the Oil just need a couple of games to reboot their playoff mojo or were the Kings really their toughest competition to date? The truth may lay somewhere in between here but of Edmonton's four playoff loses, half of them were at the hands of the Kings. When you factor in that the Kings were less than 30 seconds away from going up 3-1 in that first round series, it does bolster the idea that LA has been Edmonton's biggest challenge in the West.
Giving them a tough series, however, does not absolve the organization of its many failures. They have had four years to figure out a way to vanquish the Oilers and have been unable to do so. End of story. The fans are tired of seeing this and shouldn't be blamed for not taking solace in the fact that the Oilers are in the finals again. The only thing that they care about is winning some playoff series and that should always be the measuring stick. That being said, maybe Team President Luc Robitaille's assertion that the franchise is "close" is not completely off the mark. What can they do to close the gap and get over the hump is still the question du jour though.
Going into their rematch with the Panthers, the Oilers have eight players with five or more goals in the playoffs. The depth scoring that was supposed to be a strength for the Kings turned out to be with the Oilers. 40-year-old Corey Perry is leading the team with seven playoff goals (tied with Leon Draisaitl) and Connor Brown has as many goals as Zach Hyman (five). The Oilers are showing the league that you can't just rely on two guys for all your scoring needs. You need guys up and down the roster that can light the lamp and the Kings will need more scoring next season, if God forbid, they run into the Oilers in the playoffs for a fifth straight year.
“Look at the guys (Edmonton) is scratching. One’s a 50 goal scorer at one point and the others a 30 goal scorer. These are tough lineups to crack,”
– Peter DeBoer on the Oilers luxury of depth pic.twitter.com/Wu7ceoqJ52
— Oilers After Dark's -B.W. (@OADsBraydonW) May 28, 2025
New general manager Ken Holland is on the clock now and he should be looking at how to add enough scoring for the Kings to go on their first long playoff run since 2014. Could it come in the form of a splashy free agent signing? Might he already be working the phones on some type of draft day trade package? Whatever it is, this much is clear: the Western Conference still runs through Edmonton and will for the foreseeable future.
