Oilers reveal a different postseason plan!

When the 2019-20 season got suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Edmonton Oilers fans were upset: their team finally had a shot at the playoffs. They were looking forward to seeing Connor McDavid and the gang in action, and were left wondering what would have been… 

Then, the 24-team playoff tournament was put together, and now fans await for it to happen, and might be wondering what the Oilers’ plan is now that Friday’s draft lottery awarded the No. 1 selection in the 2020 NHL Draft to a placeholder team. The eight clubs that lose in the play-in round of the league’s 24-team postseason will all have a 12.5% chance at securing the top pick in a second lottery at a later date.

While the Oilers have been used to picking first a few times in the past, general manager Ken Holland has revealed that his team does not plan on losing in the postseason in order to land the first overall pick. 

“I don’t think anybody’s thinking of the No. 1 selection now,” Holland said, according to the Edmonton Sun’s Jim Matheson . “The eight losers will readjust after (the play-in). I want our team to make some noise, go on a playoff run.”

“Anytime you’re playing hockey, you’re playing to win … we want the Edmonton Oilers to be the last team standing, and if not, we want the playoff experience as far as we go,” Holland said. “End of the day, only one play-in loser gets the No. 1 pick, the others are picking later.

“I look at this tournament as being relatively wide-open. Regular season ended about four months ago if we start in August. If a play-in team wins the Stanley Cup, they will have to have won five series - even more difficult than usual. But everybody’s dream is to have your name on the Stanley Cup.”

While this plan might be quite different from the ones the Oilers managed to pull back in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015, we know fans will get on board with this one. 

The Oilers are set to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the best-of-five play-in round, and clearly don’t look to stop there.