This marks the end of the Oilers championship window’: Toronto sports producer takes shot at Edmonton

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In the wake of the Edmonton Oilers losing Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to the St. Louis Blues, executive producer Drew Livingstone of the Steven Dangle Podcast Network in Toronto had a chuckle at Edmonton’s expense: “This marks the end of the Oilers championship window 📝”

A moment later he added, “That Darnell Nurse contract continues to hinder the Oilers.

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And: “Realistically how big is this Oilers championship window? 1-year?”

My take

1. Let he who has never made fun of the woes and problems of an opposing team cast the first stone back at Livingstone.

Part of the fun of sports for many folks is to mock, blast and denigrate the opposing team, to have a laugh at them and their fanbase when their team is down.

That said, many Oilers fans are feeling down and angry just this moment, aren’t in the mood for a Toronto sports executive making fun of the plight of their Oilers, and have long memories.

2. As for the Oil’s Stanley Cup window, it’s not easy thing to win the Cup in a 32-team league. It’s even tougher to remain a contending team over time in an NHL that pushes teams to the middle. The NHL gives lower teams top draft picks (it’s how the Oil got Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, how Toronto got Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly), as well as massive cash subsidies from wealthy teams. It puts a limit on the amount top teams cam spend on talent, as fans of the Maple Leafs know well.

That said, Edmonton Oilers fans wake up today with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard leading their team, well supported by Zach Hyman, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Stuart Skinner, Evander Kane, Vitkor Arvidsson, Brett Kulak, Jeff Skinner, Evander Kane and a solid checking line of Adam Henrique, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark.

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If Darnell Nurse can find his game again all will be well. This team isn’t young but it’s a battle-tested group that has gone deep into the playoffs three years in a row.

How many more years can it go deep into the playoffs? Well, how many great years do McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard have in them?

I’ll suggest the Oilers are not done yet, not even close to done. They’re just getting started. And around them will be other players determined to join in the quest for the Cup, playing here in Edmonton in the top NHL facilities in hockey, with the tightest group of vets in hockey.

3. No doubt it’s a tough pill for the Oilers to lose two find young players in Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. But there is two things in the NHL: winning and misery.

As sharp as their business dealings were — who could refuse such magnificent raises? — Broberg and Holloway will have less winning and more misery in St. Louis.

The Oilers? The team is stacked, it’s starting to replenish its prospect pool with players like Matthew Savoie and Sam O’Reilly, it has solid NHL players willing to sign here on discount contracts, and will continue to build around McDavid and Draisaitl for years to come.

The Broberg and Holloway fiasco is a blow, no doubt. Toronto sports execs will have their chuckle, as will many other Oilers-hating fans across Canada.

But the Oilers’ window is wide open. It will remain so for years to come.

At the Cult of Hockey

McCURDY: Stan Bowman on the Broberg/Holloway fiasco

STAPLES: Hockey world reacts to Oilers loss of Broberg, Holloway

STAPLES: NHL insider plays the blame game for Broberg-Holloway mess

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