EDMONTON — They’ve tried everything in Edmonton. Heck, they’ve accomplished nearly everything too.

There's just the one, big thing that remains.

And when it comes to that decade-long pursuit, we sense the hockey world is moving on.

Somehow, while everyone fully expects the Florida Panthers to rebound from 25th place last season and reinstall themselves as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, the questions are more harsh for an Oilers team that also had an off year in 2025-26 — yet made the playoffs only to have their top four centres injured against Anaheim.

The Oilers are yesterday’s news, not like those impressive young Habs in Montreal.

Until you’ve done it, you haven’t done it. And no one cares how close you came (two Cup Finals), how many playoff games you’ve played (more than anyone in the past five springs) or how many individual trophies they handed you (a bunch).

32 Thoughts: The PodcastHockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.Latest episode

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into........

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