The Edmonton Oilers have the talent to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, general manager Ken Holland said.
"When you've got Connor McDavid and you've got Leon Draisaitl - - and we've got some other players, obviously [Darnell] Nurse and [Ryan] Nugent-Hopkins -- I believe the window to try to be in the playoffs is now. We're in the race," Holland said Monday in a radio interview with Sportsnet 590 The Fan. "When you've got Connor McDavid, the window is now. The time is now."
The Oilers (22-17-5) enter their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday as the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference. They haven't made the playoffs since the 2016-17 season, McDavid's second season in the NHL. The Oilers lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Second Round.
Holland, in his first season as the Oilers GM, said if the Oilers can make the playoffs anything can happen, pointing to the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche, each the second wild card last season, winning their first-round series.
Columbus swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning is the Eastern Conference First Round; the Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames, the top seed in the West, in six games in the first round.
"If we can get in, much like Columbus knocked off Tampa and somebody knocked off Calgary -- you've just got to get in, and then it's a brand new season," Holland said.
Holland said he believes McDavid and Draisaitl, who entered Monday tied for the NHL lead with 65 points each, are the why he said he believes the Oilers need to push for a playoff spot this season. He would like to add more depth the Oilers roster but doesn't see that as reason not to try to make it this season.
"Certainly in the short term, try to make it playoffs in 2019-20," Holland said. "Over the next two or three years, become deeper, become better so maybe we can have better regular seasons. But I don't know that a better regular season means that you're going to go on a longer playoff run. Maybe it means that you have a little less stress in January and February, but you're always going to have stress. And once you get in the playoffs, it's wide open."
Holland came to Edmonton on May 7 after serving as the GM of the Detroit Red Wings the previous 22 seasons. As GM of the Red Wings, Holland saw Detroit win three Stanley Cup championships (1998, 2002, 2008) four Presidents Trophies (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008), 10 division championships (1991, 2001-2004, 2006-2009, 2011), five regular season conference titles (2002, 2004, 2006-08) and reaching 100 regular season points in 13 of his last 18 seasons. He was assistant GM when the Red Wings won the Cup in 1997.
He said McDavid, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, who has 437 points (151 goals, 286 assists) in 331 NHL games, has won the Hart Trophy as League MVP in 2016-17 and the Art Ross Trophy as the leading scorer in the NHL two times (2016-17, 2017-18), stacks up with any of the Hall of Fame players who played for Red Wings during his tenure.
"I managed some great players in Detroit -- [Steve] Yzerman, [Sergei] Federov, [Brendan] Shanahan, the Russian Five, [Henrik Zetterberg], [Pavel] Datsyuk and [Niklas] Lidstrom, (Chris) Chelios. But I've not managed anybody like Connor. And he's 22," Holland said. "…You know, Zetterberg and Datsyuk just became Zetterberg and Datsyuk at 25 and 26. They played in the NHL when they were 21 and 22 but they were just support parts - they grew into being ready to carry the torch and have a team compete for a Stanley Cup.
"When you factor in Connor's age and what he's accomplished - he's already got on his resumé a Hart Trophy, leading the league in scoring twice - I haven't managed anybody close to Connor McDavid. I feel very, very fortunate for this challenge and this opportunity."
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