The Edmonton Oilers are a team on the rise. That much is a given now that Connor McDavid is in the mix and the organization is more stable both in the front office and on the ice. With the addition of McDavid, some have asked if this is the year the Oilers return to the playoffs. Head coach Todd McLellan is preaching patience and doesn’t want to talk about the playoffs.
McLellan’s comments, as transcribed by NBC Sports, reveal that he’s hoping to build a foundation and doesn’t want fans to get too far ahead of themselves.
“It’s hard for us to go to our great fans here in Edmonton and across the country and ask them to be patient again because it’s been a while. With that being said, we also have to establish a foundation as a new group, a new set of coaches (and) new players coming in – a foundation that will allow us to be successful, not only for as much as we can right now, but also months down the road and years down the road.
You won’t hear us talk a lot about playoffs (this season). I know there will be a lot of conversations and questions asked of me and the players, but my answer is always going to be we’ve got to formulate the foundation and get doing things right before we can take that big step.”
At the very least, Oilers fans have plenty of reasons to be optimistic. The playoffs may be a bit out of reach for the club in 2015-16, but assuming the current path is followed, they’re closer now than ever before.
McLellan is wise to keep expectations in check and he’s definitely approaching the job with the correct mentality. The foundation looks stronger this year than it has in recent memory (thanks McDavid), but there are going to be growing pains.
