Two teams made the Stanley Cup finals this year, but only one of those teams has the confidence of their fanbase, and it’s not the Edmonton Oilers, at least according to a survey done by The Athletic.
The Athletic is a major on-line source of news and reports on sports in North American, an excellent publication overall in my view, even as I question how representative these results are of the overall Edmonton Oilers fanbase.
In the Athletic’s ninth annual survey of readers on the confidence level of fans in the management of NHL teams, fans have the most confidence in the Florida Panthers, which makes sense as that team just won the Stanley Cup, but the Edmonton Oilers ranked 25th out of 32 NHL teams.
Does this add up for a team where hockey boss Jeff Jackson just saw his Oilers come back from near last place to almost win the Stanley Cup, then follow that up with a series of discount signings that were the toast of NHL observers in the July team building period?
Indeed, the Oilers dropped five spots from last season’s rankings of fan confidence in the Athletic. What is up with that?
Here’s the Oilers report card from the Athletic:
And here’s what The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn had to say about Edmonton’s rankings: “Jeff Jackson was having a top-notch summer, one that had the Oilers looking like no-doubt Stanley Cup favorites for next season. After coming so close in 2024, the Oilers looked like the team to beat in 2025. All of that goodwill seemed to evaporate with the franchise’s controversial hiring of Stan Bowman, which was panned by many fans. On top of being banished from the league for three years for what the NHL deemed an ‘inadequate response’ to sexual assault allegations brought forth by former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach, there’s also a lengthy track record of questionable decision-making in Chicago. It all just seemed like a misstep for a team that was already well-positioned to win it all next season. Why anger an entire fan base with that kind of hire?”
My take
1. Here’s how The Athletic described its methodology: “This year’s edition saw nearly 10,000 responses from fans grading their favourite teams and 250 responses grading every team… According to the collective opinion of our well-informed subscribers, here’s how much confidence each team’s front office currently inspires.”
2. I’m not sure how many fans graded the Oilers, but I’ll suggest 250 is a small sample size that might not reflect the general fanbase. I’ll also suggest that The Athletic’s subscriber based might also not reflect the attitudes of the general population. I subscribe to the Athletic and love the coverage of hockey be top writers like Luszczyszyn, Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman, Thomas Drance and others, but I think it’s fair to say that like many sports networks and publications, such as ESPN and the CBC on the left, and Fox Sports, Outkick News and Barstool Sports on the right, The Athletic’s editorial viewpoint is not at all non-partisan or neutral. Its a left-of-centre publication. Might not that outlook be reflected in its readership?
3. It’s also fair to say that readers of The Athletic have more knowledge than many sports fans, as this is a publication for sports fanatics, but such fans are also likely to be highly critical. I’ve seen over the years on social media sites like Twitter X — where the most informed but most critical readers congregate — that criticism of Oilers management is often most focused and vitriolic there, with the general population far more supportive and uncritical of both the team and management. Based on my experience, most loyal of all are Oilers season ticket holders.
I wonder how many Oilers season ticket holders voted in The Athletic survey. I bet it’s very few.
4. In the case of his article, Luszczyszyn nailed it in part insofar as the hiring of Stan Bowman had a corrosive impact on the opinion of subscribers to The Athletic. Does the general Oilers fanbase now feel the same way about management as The Athletic’s subscribers? I doubt it. I suspect many of them think Oilers management has done well, if not exceedingly well.
5. In early July, the entire hockey world was head-over-heels enthusiastic about the moves made by the Oilers, as the team brought in or re-signed players like Adam Henrique, Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown, Jeff Skinner and Mattias Janmark, all on discount deals.
Said Ryan Whitney of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast: “I am actually over the moon right now… Everyone wants to be there. Nobody wants to go anywhere. They want be a part of the greatest comeback story, the way the Panthers did it, lose in the finals and go get it done.”
And The Athletic’s Luszczyszyn: “In terms of fit and price, there were few deals today better than Viktor Arvidsson to the Oilers.”
And The Athletic’s Thomas Drance: “The Edmonton Oilers forward group is shaping up to be nasty.”
And Edmonton commentator Jason Strudwick: “Adam Henrique? Wow! I have no idea how they are going to fit him in cap-wise but that is a lot of depth up front. That is more than a wish list than you can ask for if you are an Oilers fan.”
And Oilers commentator Preston Hodgkinson of The Daily Hive: “My goodness has Jeff Jackson ever rehauled the team up front. A very real case that the Oilers are the winners on day 1 of this year’s FA… just incredible work by the management today.”
And former AHL and pro scout Shawn Simpson: “It’s been a great off season for the Oilers.”
And The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler: “Really nice offseason in Edmonton for Jeff Jackson.”
And NHL podcaster Peter Blackburn of the What Chaos show: “The Oilers are having an outrageous offseason.”
Even a Calgary sports commentator, Eric Francis of Sportnset, lauded the Oilers, picking them as the Stanley Cup favourite for the coming season: “I’m just going to tell you right now that that team on paper is the most terrifying team in the West and I think in all of hockey. Kudos to the Oilers.”
You get the picture, I’m sure.
6. On July 11, Casino.org reported how happy each NHL fanbase was with their team based on a survey of 2,000 fans. The survey found the Oilers fanbase are fifth happiest fanbase in the NHL just now.
At the same time Luszczyszyn of The Athletic used his analytical approch to suggest that of the teams that made the Final Four in the 2024 playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers were the only one that got better during the July free agency period and not worse. Said Luszczyszyn: “Most Stanley Cup finalists don’t get to run it back. Usually, they have to lose some key pieces to make the cap work the following year. Lucky for Edmonton, the Oilers not only didn’t have to lose any vitals cogs, they actually got to add reinforcements… A team that was a goal away from glory getting better — even marginally so — is a big deal.” With the retention of Adam Henrique and the addition of Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, Luszczyszyn said, “That gives Edmonton a seriously deep top nine that may be the best forward group we’ve seen in the cap era.”
7. But then came the Stan Bowman hiring. In a poll at my Twitter X account on the day of his hiring, I asked, “Are you OK with the Edmonton Oilers’ decision to hire Stan Bowman as GM?”
In total, 2,490 voted, with 42.1% saying yes they were OK, 57.9% saying they were not.
8. I can see the Bowman hiring impacting the Oilers grade from fans when it comes to overall vision for the team, but it’s intriguing how poorly The Athletic subscribers just now graded the Oilers on roster building, D+, cap management, D, draft and develop, D-, trading, D, free agency, C+, and vision, D.
For the record, if I were grading the Oilers I’d give this management group, right now, a grade of A for roster building, a B for cap management (the Jack Campbell signing and buy-out hammering them), a B for draft and development (with picks Stuart Skinner, Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg and Dyland Holloway all trending up fast just now), an A for trading (Ekholm, Foegele, Kulak, Henrique), an A- for free agency (Zack Hyman and Evander Kane signings, along with this year’s crop but a demerit for Jack Campbell) and an A for vision, given the commitment to excellence now adopted at all levels of the Oilers organization.
As for Bowman, I put weight in him leading his team to three Stanley Cup wins in six years in Chicago, even as he made major mistakes as he went along.
When it comes to the Blackhawks scandal, which The Athletic identifies as the major issue with Edmonton’s low grade, based on Sheldon Kennedy support of Brown, as well as reports from Kennedy, Jeff Jackson and Bowman that Kyle Beach and Bowman have come to some kind of peace, and based on the work Bowman has done with Kennedy on the issue of sex assault, as well as on the nature of Bowman’s role in the Beach matter, I was OK with Bowman being considered for a position in NHL management. And I’m OK with the Edmonton Oilers decision to hire him.
As I’ve already said, Bowman has been aggressively penalized. He’s served his sentence. He’s highly qualified to lead an NHL team. And based on Kennedy’s testimony and Beach’s reported position on Bowman, I would trust Bowman to make the right call should a situation similar to the Kyle Beach matter arise again.
Under certain circumstances, I’m open to people getting second chances. Stan Bowman met that standard.
9. On Twitter X, I’m now asking Oilers fans what they think of Oilers management, based on the criteria set out by The Athletic. So far at least, after 570 votes, 85 per cent are giving the Oilers either a Grade A or B. Just four per cent are so far giving the Oilers a grade of D, which is what The Athletic subscribers gave the Oilers.
What say you? Here’s the poll:
At the Cult of Hockey
McCURDY: How the Oilers replenished their prospect pool
STAPLES: Oilers will need to pay more players than just McDavid and Draisaitl to win Stanley Cup
McCURDY: The roster Stan Bowman inherited from Holland/Jackson
LEAVINS: Jackson’s multi-layered approach to a Stanley Cup — 9 Things
STAPLES: The carrot and stick aspects of the McDavid and Draisaitl contracts