Stan Bowman responds to comments from Connor McDavid.

The Edmonton Oilers were eliminated from Stanley Cup contention this week when they lost their opening round series to the Anaheim Ducks. While that news alone would have sent shockwaves through Edmonton, it was the post-game comments of Oilers star forward Connor McDavid that had the biggest impact following the upset loss.

"We were an average team all year. When you're an average team with high expectations, you're going to be disappointed," said McDavid igniting a firestorm in his post-game comments.

Many took the comments as a direct shot towards Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, and on Saturday Bowman has his first chance to respond to the comments from his star forward. Rather than firing back at McDavid however, Bowman attempted to reframe McDavid's comments to avoid stirring the pot.

"It was one of those years where we were average for a lot of the year," admitted Bowman.

Bowman pointed to the fact that the Oilers never established any consistency throughout the regular season, either positive or negative, an unusual experience for the Oilers who have been very streaky in recent years.

"From that perspective it was a strange year," said Bowman. "It wasn't something that we were used to and it wasn't what we wanted. We wanted to try to find our game."

Although much of the criticism from the players seemed to be directed at Bowman, the Oilers general manager played the role of diplomat and stated that he agreed with much of the comments we have heard from the Oilers roster.

"I think when you listen to what some of the players said I agree that we weren't able to get our momentum during the season to establish that swagger that you need to overcome the adversity you're going to face," said Bowman.

According to Bowman the lack of consistency came in large part due to a series of injuries throughout the season, injuries that never allowed the Oilers to form chemistry with their full roster healthy and ready to play.

"It was a year that was a lot of stops and starts and that all adds up to feeling like it was just an average year and I think for those reasons I understand kind of what [McDavid] was trying to say, I think I do, and we felt the same way as well," said Bowman.

Bowman's comments today are already garnering a ton of negative responses on social media, but I'm curious to hear what you think of his response today in the comments.