Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - CONNOR MCDAVID'S TIME IN EDMONTON IS RUNNING OUT 😬 w/TSN's Darren Dreger | BB Clips

Episode Date: May 1, 2026

Pinder and Rhett are joined by TSN’s Darren Dreger for a full deep dive on the Edmonton Oilers crashing out in the first round at the hands of the Ducks, and the conversation quickly turns to the massive questions now hanging over the organization. After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, this year’s early exit feels like a gut punch, and the guys debate whether the Oilers are now inching toward the kind of franchise-altering decisions nobody in Edmonton wants to think about—including what Connor McDavid’s long-term future could look like. With McDavid himself calling the team “average” after the loss, it’s a heavy conversation on disappointment, pressure, and where the Oilers go from here.Video Link: https://youtu.be/UcmDjqoEBbU#nhl #nhlshorts #nhlplayoffs #nhlpredictions #nhlhockey #nhlpicks #stanleycup #stanleycupfinal #edmontonoilers #edmonton CHECK OUT OUR STUFF ⬇️BARN BURNER MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/shirts/FlamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTS https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9&si=jo8iNGxT4ImhS2Y8📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiProducer: Jack Haverstock Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An average team with high expectations. That's how Connor McDavid described the Oilers post game last night. Yeah, accurate, wouldn't you say? And not just the postseason. I mean, that's pretty obvious when you lose to the ducks in six games. But he took it right back to the beginning of the year. So I guess if I'm ownership or senior management, I'm trying to unpack what that means.

And, you know, aside from the obvious, You know, I think you can look at the ebb and flow of the regular season of the Edmondson Oilers and recognize where Connor is coming from. But traditionally, the last few years anyway, they've been able to find that higher gear and sustain at that level. And this year they just weren't able to do that. They weren't able to do that. So why is it? You know, where is the ineffectiveness coming from?

And, you know, number one, you do that forensic audit as a hockey operations group, which of course includes ownership. You look at your roster and where you failed in this six game series. And then you peel that onion back, right? And in part, you go through your exit interviews. You listen to what Connor McDavid is telling you, Leon Dreisadle, the players you trust, Sackheim, and go down the list. I mean, there's a lot more than that.

And you incorporate that information into your own kind of investigative of work. again of your ownership and senior management. And then you start to make your determinations after that. Is it only a roster issue? And I say only, you know, it's not like you can flip the switch and add some players and you're back off to the races as early as next year. Is it a coaching problem? Well, I mean, Noblock has an extension.

Okay, that happens. Guys get fired going into extensions all the time. Is it a management issue? Well, Stan Bowman hasn't had the job. Like, what are the issues here? but that'll be up to Darrell Cateson, whoever he trusts the most, to try and sort these things out.

Yeah, and two things that we might think are different can both be true at the same time. This roster cannot be, it's possible it's not a good enough roster. It's also possible that this team was injured, which we knew where they were, and they played an S ton of hockey

over the last two years when you factor in four nations and Olympics for their best players, not to mention two trips to the final of the last two springs. It doesn't have to be over the other. It's probably a combination of both. But I look at the last year of what Stan Bowman's done. Andrew Manjapani was a very odd signing because he had played his way to the bottom of the forward rosters in his last two stops. Calgary, then Washington, they give him 7.2 million

and then have to use a first to help get rid of him and bring in some lesser parts in terms of the bottom half of the roster. I look at the Trent Frederick extension. It's a disaster. It has been. It seems like a replacement level player, not a guy that you want to lock up to max term. I look at the goaltending lateral move. Not only did you probably get the worst net mining in Jari versus Skinner, you also gave away Kulak, another asset.

Like when you add all this up, you keep turning a dollar into 75 cents. The more deals you make seems the further behind you are. Right. And this isn't on Bowman, but I'll add the offer sheets by the St. Louis Blues on a hallway in Broberg, right? And man, that left Mark. Why were the

order so vulnerable at that point? And why didn't they know that was going to happen? You know, I know the agent involved, and I can't imagine they didn't know that that was going to happen. So, yeah, I mean, you're supporting what I said in, again, of your ownership, and you've invested hundreds of millions of dollars to this point. Okay, there's a big difference between getting a game seven of the Stanley Cup final a year ago.

and losing in the first round to the Anaheim Ducks, a team that we all know is better, but did anyone really give this team a strong chance of eliminating the Oilers in the first round? Not really. Anything that's possible upsets happen every single year, but not when you've got the best player on the planet on the other side in McDavid. And as Drysiddle acknowledged,

I'm not making excuses nor did he. But all three of their top centers, Dickinson, McDavid, dry saddle injured. At some point in this series, of course, dry saddle coming in. But I don't know. Like where do you start and what are you using as the bait to add the pieces? And oh, by the way, not to be overlooked, you're on the clock, right? McDavid is two years remaining on his contract. What does he want to do? And as we learned in watching closely what happened with Vancouver and Quinn Hughes, I think there's got to be tough conversations.

You know, at some point in this offseason in the near future with Connor, Connor's going to, he's going to stay invested. That's how he's wired. That's the character of the captain here. But what if you go through the same thing and help isn't brought in? I would think that McDavid is going to be as cutting in as direct as he has to be, as honest as he has to be with whoever is asking the questions, whether it's Paul Coffey in ownership or Jeff Jackson is still there,

Stan Bowman is still there. Connor, you're in the room, you're on the ice. What do we need? That happened with Austin Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Craig Barouba, sat him down in the exit interview. What do you need? Well, here's what we need. We need this, this, and this up front.

And we need two defensemen. I mean, it's, you're not going to fill all those holes, but those conversations have to happen with McDavid and with DrySah. It has to happen, but has he had too much influence already. And I'm not, I don't mean, like, he's no expert in running a team. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm not big, I actually think that the Edmonton franchise with this guy is as lucky as you can be. He would kill him for Bsavs, making 17 and a half.

Connor stays for 12-100. He is committed and winning a couple of him. He's giving you everything. But there's the other side of it, and you want to include him as same with Matthews. It's great to get their feedback, but they don't know how to run a team. And they shouldn't know how to run a team. Right. Do you know what I mean?

To be fair, the agent shouldn't have run the team. It's kind of a, you have to allow him to have his insights and his whatever opinion. But geez. Anyway, I think you'd No, you're 100% right because it's not their job to manage salary caps. And, you know, I mean, they can look at pending free agents and they can do whatever they can do

to help recruit certain players and all that. But you do have to have the caps based on the wherewithal to bring in these guys. And I guess the one thing that perhaps is becoming more and more obvious. And Edmonton has had its opportunity. And I don't know that the wind is closed. It can't be. I mean, McDavid's in his prime. You got a 90-point defenseman.

Yeah. Bouchard, yeah, you're 100% right. However, I'm looking at what the Montreal Canadians have done to this point. You know, we just saw Anaheim dispose of the Oilers and these young players that they have either acquired or they've drafted that are ready to run. And sure, the Oilers have that in McDavid and in dry-sidal, but they don't have it beyond.

on there, and Bouchard, of course, and there are other good players. I don't have to name them all. But by this time, you know, McDavid's been in the league long enough. Drysadles has been in the league long enough. They needed some of the draft players to develop to a point where they don't have to flush and go out there and try and, you know, take a gamble on Jason Dickinson or Connor Murphy or any of these pieces. You have to have those pieces, those depth pieces within so that you can do some of the

whole filling along the way. And to your point earlier, the pieces, they've not drafted and developed brilliantly, but they did have Brobergen Holloway right there at very low dollars that are huge steals right now. Wanted an opportunity and wanted to stay. Yeah. And it was an inexperienced agent that was GM for 30 days that put them in that spot when he chased a bunch of events. They were the oldest team in the NHL coming out of the offer sheets. And then of course they overreacting, go get I coward who's not ready and Savoy, who will be good,

but not in his prime till likely the McDavid deal is done. It's just swinging all over. They need a good GMing. That's it. It's terribly managed. And I would have a word of caution. And you brought up Matthews stop and talking to Barubi. You could end up like Toronto right now.

Like can Toronto bounce back next year and make the playoffs? Maybe. But no one's looking at that franchise going, boy, they're stocked and ready. And it's the gun barrels are loaded up. We're all in. Like, there's major questions. And you got no draft capital. Yeah.

You're first. And Edmonton is very. very similar. And we get dry sidle or McDavid or somebody pissed off. Yeah. You're in tough shape. But it, again, it amplifies

what you said, Red, in that you can ask the opinion of these experienced players and your superstar players, but they're going to tell you what they see they need by watching other teams who have had success, who have won. Well, those players just aren't readily available.

And you don't have the capital to go out and acquire those players. And furthermore, when you look at free agency, I mean, we're going to try and do free agent frenzy on July 1st on TSN. And it's like, I mean, I hope we scale that show back because, I mean, Alex Tucker is likely to get a sign in Buffalo. And then it gets radish probably in Tampa. Yeah. I mean, those guys are going to stay. I mean, those are the two nice pieces. Everything else is like, Well, and part of your appeal in Edmonton is to have McDavid and tricidal and be looking like you're going to win cups and guys go, I'd like to be part of that.

Right now, the rest of the league's going, yeah, it'd be fucking white with Connor, but we've also learned that a lot of work gets done trade-wise on the draft floor. You know, even, even though it's, it's not your conventional draft anymore, it's decentralized. You know, it still frees up the hockey operations guys, the general managers do their willing and dealing. from their home office, right? And more and more, you're going to see teams make those bigger deals around the draft. Okay, so that happens.

And if you're not one of the fortunate few who are involved in those who have the pieces to, you know, make a difference, well, now you have no other choice but to look at free agency and you dabble, right? Well, there's a guy who am I thinking of here? Not Mangiopani. Oh, my God.

Rosslovick, Jack Rosliving. Yeah. Nice player. Decent support secondary scoring player. That's what he is. Okay. Why didn't he get a contract until he was essentially left twist in the win? And he took what he could get, right?

I think it was game one at the intermission he was signed to your point. Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's because other teams, including Edmonton, scout these players heavily. And you don't just look at the positives, you look at the negatives and you break it down. And with all due respect to Jack Roslovick, who again is a nice support player, the flaws in his game do surface. And they did surface, right?

So are you going to try that game again? If you're Toronto or you're Edmonton or you're any team that's been scraping trying to get over the hump? I mean, this year, especially on that free agent line, looks pretty bleak. Yeah, like I'm just looking at it right now. We all expect tuck to resign in Buffalo. all expect Melkin if he plays to be in Pittsburgh. We'd all expect John Carlson to either like what he's seen in Anaheim or go back to Washington.

Probably. He just want to keep playing. And the other name we mentioned was Radish, who obviously has been a phenomenal fit with Tampa and a guy that they brought up. So it's like, I can see them going and given more money than they need to to, to Mantha and Charlie Coyle, but it kind of feels like the Roslovick band. It does. Yeah, it does.

How do you fix that, though, guys? Are we, well, that's the conversation. Are we underestimating the fatigue factor? By the injuries, too. No, I mean. To me, those are go hand in hand. Yeah. And look, they tried to, the media tried to play that card last night.

And I would have too, because I don't get it. And I mean, you know, you played at that level. So imagine playing the schedule that they had to play this year with the Olympics. You back it up. You had the four nations, a conend schedule last year. You go to game seven. Stanley kept the final against Florida. And if it's not even physical fatigue, which...

Mental. Mental. Like, I don't care if... We know that Carter-McDavid is the most skilled player on the planet. We know this. We know he's incredibly mentally tough. But there's only one Superman. That...

Well, and I've asked this before, and I asked it two years ago after four nations. Why in the, hang on, I don't want to swear. Why in the, are they playing him in Philadelphia on a Saturday afternoon after the Four Nations ended? Why are they playing him when they're up six one? I don't remember the exact score. Right. With four minutes, five minutes left in L.A. And a nothing, like, they have mismanaged this guy.

Go home or go to an island and take a week off. Because guess what? I don't care about these. Now, if he's saying I'm playing, I guess it's. different. But even at that point, you have to be a strong enough management and coaching stuff. I say, no, we know what's good for you. Go away. Yeah. Get some rest. They didn't do that. No. They ran them ragged. And as you're saying that, I don't know why this pops into my head, but I'm thinking of the managers who worked with Roberto Longo when, you know, he was at his

elite level as a star goalie in the National Hockey League. And it used to frustrate the coaching. and the general managers in Vancouver and then in Florida, the guy wouldn't take a day off. You'd have 60 plus starts and they couldn't get them off optionals. They couldn't get them off practice days. He felt like he needed to be involved because that's what kept him maybe as mentally sharp, you know, mechanically as sharp as he was. I don't know.

Maybe that's how superstars are wired in certain situations, but I don't disagree. I mean, sometimes as a manager, or as a head coach, you've got to just take control and say, yeah, I know this is pissing you off, but too bad. Too bad. I'm managing my most valued asset, and you're not playing or you're not practicing. You're taking time because we need you when it matters,

and that's not getting beat by the Anheim Ducks in game six of the opening round of the playoffs. Okay, I'll put a ball on Evanton. Final one. What's off limits here? What would you say is not on the table? like if we're talking about the coach GM, the president, trading con, like what would you

say is off the table at this point? I would say a major trade like that, like involving one of the primary guys. And I wonder about Darnell Nerson, including him in that collection of primary. And I thought actually, certainly in the second half, that Darnell kind of found

his game again. And he got to a place where he's comfortable, not doing anything fancy. I'm not going to dissect the game of Darnell Nurse. But you're not moving any of your principal pieces, right? You're probably not doing that. Certainly not your top through and I, two and I'd include three in Zach Hyman.

You're not doing that. Bushard as well. I mean, even though, you know, you get the ugly that normally starts with the year with Evan Bouchard, you know, through much of the second half. That's how he played his way into top of ballot. for some guys, not me, on the Norris.

But it feels like that's more off limits than the potential of a coaching change or the potential of something drastic happening in management. I don't know. I don't know if it's fair, unfair to put Stan Bowman in the crosshairs. Has he had enough time? He hasn't had enough time. And I think they run this team back. I think they'll tinker.

be enough because they do have those top guys. They'll always have the questions until they win. I think they run everything back, except the coach might be, that might be changed. And no different than Florida here, guys. You know, the difference is, of course, Florida won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. But who doesn't have the Florida Panthers,

as in top two, top three Stanley Cup contenders going into next season because of rest in good health? Maybe everything will be the same. You could talk about fatigue. Yeah. We didn't talk about Conradiv playing. zero games this year. That's their best player in Florida. Barkov had zero games.

You're underestimated. But the fatigue is huge. This, this, this, the squad is not going to, this, as much as I don't want to give Edmonton hope, but it might be the best thing for them. It would have been maybe even better to do it, to do what the Panthers didn't miss and get a draft. You know what I mean? But the fact that these guys

are going to rest and they've been kicked in the nuts again and they've had, they're going to have time to recoup, they can take a month now and go, This sucks.