Connor McDavid says Oilers, ousted by Ducks, were ‘average’

however edmonton oilers Made two consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, Star Center connor mcdavid Admitted that this season’s roster was just “an average team” after being eliminated in the opening round anaheim ducks.

After the Oilers he said, “It was tough. We were an average team all year. An average team with high expectations. You’re going to be disappointed.” lost 5-2 Thursday night in Game 6.

Edmonton played for the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025, losing twice. Florida PanthersUltimate Champion. But this version of the Oilers, built by general manager Stan Bowman, failed to advance beyond the first round for the first time since 2021. His regular season points percentage (.567) was also his lowest since the 2018–19 season.

Injury speculation surrounded McDavid throughout the series, as he was not as effective as he was against the Ducks. He scored six points in six games but scored only one goal. Only two of his points were scored at equal strength. In the Game 6 loss, McDavid did not score a single point and went minus-3, with two giveaways and missing six of eight faceoffs.

McDavid acknowledged that the Oilers were battling injuries.

McDavid said, “It hurt a lot, very quickly. The first round is always tough. It’s always chaotic, and it’s hard to deal with things so quickly like a lot of guys did here.” “That being said, it’s not an excuse either. We expected it to last longer than we did. It is what it is.”

oilers star leon draisaitl It was noted that the team’s top three centers were all playing injured.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to find ways to win games. Injuries? Yeah, they suck, and it affected us in bad times. But at the end of the day, they were the better team,” Draisaitl said.

The immediate exit from the playoffs led to speculation among fans and media about McDavid’s future in Edmonton.

The 29-year-old McDavid signed a two-year contract extension ($12.5 million AAV) last October, giving Edmonton at least three seasons to build a Stanley Cup winner around him. The six-time NHL scoring leader is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2028. McDavid took his time evaluating Edmonton’s contention window before settling on a short-term deal to remain with the Oilers.

“I said clearly I was committed to winning here, and I meant it when I said it, and two years means a lot,” McDavid said last October. “It gives us a chance to continue to pursue what we’re pursuing here with the core people we have here, and we also have a little bit of money to work with.”

After aggressively eliminating the challenger Los Angeles Kings In the first round for four consecutive seasons, the Oilers faced the high-scoring Ducks, who made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2018 under new coach Joel Quenneville. The Ducks took a 3–1 series lead before defeating Edmonton 4–2.

The Ducks took a 2-0 lead on a bouncing-puck goal at just 13:43 in Game 6 on Thursday night. Ryan Poehling And from a one-timer Chris Kreider. guard Connor Murphy Edmonton’s lead was cut to 2-1, but cutter gauthier Scored his fourth goal of the series just 1:36 into the first period for a 3–1 lead.

McDavid said, “They played very fast, and we weren’t very fast. They started well. We didn’t. We were chasing the game.” “It’s been that way all year. We’ve been looking for consistency all year. Obviously, we didn’t find it in the playoffs.”

troy terry He scored his third goal of the series with 37 seconds left in the second period to give the Ducks a 4–1 lead. of edmonton Vasily Podkolzin The Oilers were credited with a goal just 1:13 into the third period to give some life, but the Ducks ended it with an empty-netter. leo carlson.

“That’s a real hockey team there,” Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Said.