TALKING POINTS: Bowman speaks in his end-of-season media availability

Oilers General Manager & Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Stan Bowman spoke to the media on Saturday at Rogers Place in his end-of-year media availability to offer his final thoughts on the 2025-26 season and discuss off-season plans.

The executive took questions on topics ranging from individual player performance on the roster to what changes and improvements are needed, goaltending, contract discussions, and more.

Read the full transcript and watch Bowman's entire availability below.

Bowman on the performance of Head Coach Kris Knoblauch this year behind the bench and his status for next season:

“When you don't have success, I think you have to kind of evaluate everything, so that goes for my staff, the coaching staff, and the players. That's what we're going to do over the next little bit. It's only been 36 hours since we finished, and I'm sure people will evaluate me as well. That's the way it goes in this business. It's a results business, and you have to identify other areas you can improve. You have impressions when the team doesn't succeed – sometimes those are right, sometimes they're not – so you don't want to make quick decisions.

"Part of it is we want to talk to the players and coaches to get their views, talk to my staff and then kind of look at what actually happened. As I said, we have impressions of why we didn't succeed, but you want to make sure that they line up with what actually happened. So today's not a day for making announcements like that or anything, whether it’s players or anything else. That's going to come in time. I’m here to talk about our season and answer your questions, but I don't have any announcements.”

Bowman on McDavid’s post-game “average team, high expectations” comment after Game 6 and the team's direction with him having two years left on his contract:

“Well, I think just looking at the way the team played, I think that it was one of those years where we were average for a lot of the year. I think the way I took that comment was that, in previous years, we've had stretches where we've been able to really get our game going and dominate, winning five, six, eight, or 10 in a row, and we've also had some losing streaks. This year, it was strange in the sense that aside from twice, we never won more than two games in a row. We won three and five in a row, and we never lost five in a row either. It was really one of those things where we kind of stayed right around that midpoint all season long. So from that perspective, it was a strange year. It wasn't something that we were used to, and it wasn't what we wanted. 

"We wanted to try to find our game, and I think when you listen to what some of the players said, I agree that we weren't able to ever get our momentum during the season to establish that swagger that you need in order to be able to overcome adversity that you're going to face. Anaheim was sort of the opposite. They had multiple eight- and nine-game winning streaks and then winless streaks, so they were a team that could get hot and then really struggled to find their game. Obviously, when it came down to the series, they were able to find their game quickly. We weren't able to do that. So I think that was an accurate portrayal of our year, and it kind of goes back to the start of the season. We never were able to really get our group together.

"If you remember back, Hyman missed the beginning of the year, and then Kapanen got hurt. Walman got hurt, then when they came back, Nuge and Roslovic got hurt. Every time someone came back, someone else got hurt, and that's probably common to a lot of teams where it wasn’t unusual for us.  But we only had a couple of games all year when we actually had our kind of full group, and then we made the additions at the deadline.  We were looking like things were starting to trend in the positive direction, then Leon gets hurt and then other players get hurt. We finally felt like starting off the playoffs, we were going to get some health and then other guys got hurt.  So it was just a year that had a lot of stops and starts. That all adds up to feeling like it was just an average year, and I think for those reasons, I understand what he was trying to say.  I think I do, and we felt the same way as well.

Bowman on his thoughts concerning McDavid’s future in Edmonton:

“Well, we're trying to win. I know how bad Connor wants to win. I certainly feel the same way. That's why we all do this, so we're pushing hard. Not every year does it work and the decisions you make, but it's not like we're building for five years from now, where we're trying to ramp this thing up and looking to 2030 as a year when we're going to be a good team. We're pushing every year, so I think we're not going to change that. We're going to continue to do what we can. Now is the time when we want our team to win. We're not looking down the road.”

Bowman on adding Jason Dickinson & Connor Murphy at the Deadline and the team’s need to develop a stronger defensive identity moving forward:

“I think that's a fair comment. I think that we've struggled with that more so this year, but even in years past, I think if you're trying to maybe define the style that we play, we're more of an offensive team, and with that comes a bit of a give and take. It's hard to be an offensive team if you're playing safe and simple hockey all the time, because you're not going to generate as much. But I think sometimes we go too far in that direction, and I think when we targeted Murphy, Dickinson and Dach to come in, it was with that mindset that they have a skill set and a mentality, and if we can get that to take hold in our team, other guys will also grab onto it. But at the end of the day, you need a little bit of a mixture of both.

"You want to be just a team that defends and doesn't try to make plays, but there was a reason we targeted those players. I felt like that was something our group was lacking. As we look at next year, can we find a way to do both, which is to have that mentality to score but also be responsible. I think sometimes with defensive play, it's looked upon as maybe just the way you play in your own end, but it's actually more so the way you manage the puck and the risks that you take in the offensive zone and the neutral zone, and there's that balance where if you always play a simple, safe game, you're not going to score a lot. So you have to allow some of your creative players to be creative. But also, there are times when maybe you don't need to make that play or try to make it, and that's the challenge.”

Bowman on the injuries the Oilers were dealing with in the playoffs and if Zach Hyman could have any carryover to next season from his late arrival this year due to wrist injury:

“No, I don't believe so. We're at the beginning of May now. I don't know that anyone's going to be having surgeries, so there were a lot of guys playing banged up. I think that's just the reality of playoff hockey. We're not unique that way. There are teams still playing right now with injuries, but it was hard. A lot of our guys, they were trying. They were gutting it out. Dickinson and Murphy were fighting through a lot to be able to even get in the lineup. You have to commend them for their will and their desire. I'm impressed with the way guys are able to do that and push through a lot of pain to play, but I don't expect those things to linger into next season.”

Bowman on evaluating goaltending with Tristan Jarry under contract another year and Connor Ingram becoming an unrestricted free agent this offseason:

“You're right, we only have one goalie signed, so we have to evaluate that. It’s going to be part of the process over the next little bit when we talk to our coaches and look at what we want to do. I think Connor came in and he played pretty well for us. I think he was really just getting his game in order in the American League when Tristan got hurt. By the time we got to the playoffs, Connor had shown that he had taken some big steps, and he got his game to a pretty good place.

“Tristan, it didn't work out very well for him. I thought he started really well with us, and then he got that injury. He never seemed to really recapture his confidence or his performance when he came back, so that’s something that we have to evaluate. It was only a few games, and then he got hurt, I think it was in Boston, and then he missed time. When he came back, he didn't have his game, and at that point in the season, it was tough to try to let him work his way through it.

“Like I referenced earlier, our team wasn't playing great either, so it was hard to let him work his way through it. So I would say that we have to evaluate that. Where it's going to end up, I don't have that information yet, but we're looking for improvement in that area for sure.”

Bowman on the play of Trent Frederic this season:

“Yeah, I don’t think Freddy had a good year. You’ve got to call it the way it is. I've talked to him about it, and we need him to play better. Part of that is on us, too. I don't think we set him up well. We moved him into a bunch of different roles. We started him with Connor and Leon at the beginning of the season, and we moved him around to different lines. You have to be able to overcome that as a player, but I think I've seen this before with players who sign long contracts. They feel like they have to maybe do something different just to show that they're a good player, and you end up losing your identity a little bit. 

"I think Freddy finally got his game together in March when he was playing at his best, so there were elements of his year when we saw the player we expect him to be. Now, it's important that he reaches that level sooner, and we also have to do a better job of putting him in those positions and supporting him. So I think it's a combination of things. Obviously, that's not the year we need from him. We need him to play better, and we need to do a better job of setting him up so that he can have success."

Bowman on his expectations for exit interviews with players and coaches this season:

“I don't go into them with expectations. I think sometimes, there are a few different ways it goes. Some guys like to have a lot to say about their year and about the team, while other guys don't. They take a lot of different themes I've found over the years, so I don't go into it expecting anything. You're open-minded, you have some questions to ask, and you want to listen. I think it's important to listen to them, too, and then you always have to kind of filter what they say.

"Everyone has their own perspective on things, and that's good because they're speaking from the heart. But sometimes, their takes on things over the years I’ve found are a little bit off, but maybe not, so I'm not going into it with any expectations. You're there to listen and ask some questions, and then it's a process of compiling information, meeting with the coaches and my staff, and looking at the actual numbers and analytics to see what can change. Because usually, when you add it all up, you can make sense of it, but when you just take little snippets of it, you can sometimes get off track."

Bowman on the impression that the Oilers are further away from winning the Stanley Cup than they were the past two seasons, which included two trips to the Final:

“That's a hard question to answer. The one thing I've noticed about the NHL is that there are a lot of changes year to year. I think this year in particular, you’ve got teams that haven't been in the playoffs in a long time and haven't won a series in 15 or 18 years, and now they're onto the second round. So things change year to year. You look at the positive strides some teams have made, while others have setbacks. But we want to improve. We need to improve. We're not in a good spot here, talking to you guys in early May, and we want to be playing until the end of June. 

"But we did do some good things this year, too. We just weren't able to put it together when it mattered in the first round, but I think, looking at the positives, we had some young players take steps forward – in particular Matt Savoie, who not only established himself as an NHL player, but I thought he took a big step after the Olympic break, and he really showed us that he's got a bright future here, so that was positive. You look at Podkolzin’s game, and I thought he really took a big step forward as well. He was probably our best player in the playoffs, consistently making a difference every night, and Samanski showed that he could be an NHL player. So we've got some young guys that are in their early to mid-20s that are gonna be even better next year. I was really impressed with the way Howard and Hutson played in the American League. I expect those guys to be pushing much like Matt Savoie did this year, where he got himself into the lineup and took on a bigger role as the year went on.

"I think for those guys, the goal is to get themselves into the lineup next Training Camp. Then you start looking at it a little bit differently. You've got some young players that are going to take steps forward, and then you've got the veterans who are already at a high level and we want them to maintain that level. So I think there's still reason for optimism. It's natural at this time of year, when you're disappointed, and you're frustrated that your team's not where you want it to be, to think that you're going in the wrong direction. But I don't think that's the case. I think there's reason for some excitement, too, over some of the things that went well this year.

Bowman on the challenge of acquiring new players when a large part of their roster is made up of players with No Movement Clauses in their contracts:

“Well, there are a couple of different ways to improve your team. You can make trades, you can make signings, or you can have younger players ascend into the lineup, so I think we do need some new players. I don't know if we're going to have a dramatically different roster next year. I think sometimes, just a few players can make a big difference, whether that's through a trade, a free agent signing or a younger player getting an opportunity. I think in the case of younger players, they grow over the course of a season, and what you see in October isn't always what you see in April.

"I think Matt Savoie was a good example of that, so there are a couple of different ways your team's going to look. We're not going to have the same group of players as we do today. We're going to have some new faces. Who will they be or how many will they be? It's a little bit too early to tell right now, but there were some good things we did this year. I think we had a lot more depth scoring than we've had in the past – I think we had six 20-goal scorers – with Podzy and Savy being close. So we had a lot of guys who did good things, but it didn't take us where we wanted to go. So I don't think we have to rewrite everything, but we do need some adjustments.”

Bowman on McDavid’s contract being the ‘compass’ guiding this organization’s moves:

“Well, we're trying to win. We're trying to find a way to win, and we've been doing that. So those questions are more for Connor as far as what his plans are and what his thoughts are. We're on the same page as Connor. We want to win, too, so all the moves that we make are geared towards trying to win the cup next year. We're not building for four years from now, so I think that it lines up in the same parallel path where Connor wants to win, and we want to win. So that's the way we look at it. All we can do is build this team up the best we can, whether it's trades or signings or development of players from within. It's all with the hopes that it's going to take us to a better result than we have now.”

Bowman on the team needing to help their goaltenders by improving their defence:

“I think the defending is certainly part of it, like the way you play when you're in your zone, but I think what gets overlooked is really what led to those mistakes. There were times this year, even in the playoffs, when we’re in tight games, like in the third period of Game 3, where we got the puck in the offensive zone and then five seconds later, we're giving up a two-on-one. Those are things that are not really a defensive zone system or issue. It's really those things that happen sometimes, and they happened at the wrong times for us this year, and it hurt us. But I think that's part of that balance of creating offence, but also giving up prime chances. 

"So I think, yes, I agree with you that it's about finding that balance. One extreme is that you just don't create much of anything. You play very safely, and you're not going to score a lot. You can rely on your power play, and our power play has been excellent all year. It was slow to get going in the series, and I think that when you shrink a season to a seven-game series and look at just a couple of games, certain plays often make a huge difference. So your point is well taken: we want to find that balance so we can still be an offensive team, because our best players are elite offensive players, and we don’t want to turn them into guys that don't score. That's the give and take that you have. We haven't always found that proper balance, and sometimes the problem you get into is some of the players who maybe don't have that elite skill trying plays they're unlikely to pull off. 

"So that's really the balance that you're working on with our team all the time. It’s a push and pull. If you try to push too much for offence, you're going to give things up. If you play too conservatively, you're never going to score enough. So I think we didn't have a balance between those two things this year. We have to find that.

Bowman on the impact additions of Connor Murphy & Jason Dickinson at the Deadline and his hopes to re-sign them this offseason:

“I thought they did an excellent job. As I said earlier, the biggest thing with them is their mentality and how they play the game, as well as how they see their role is very clear. They don't have any misconceptions about what they're supposed to do, and they bring that mentality to each shift, and they play their style, and they play it well, and we sorely needed that. It was great having them. They're great guys as well, as far as their character. They contributed a lot to the group while they were here. Would love to find a way to bring them back. That's for us to sort through with them and their agent, but I was very impressed by their contributions. I think their mentality and their approach to the game were welcome additions, and I think they could play a big role.”

Bowman on attempts to add secondary top-six scoring in the past falling short of expectations and helping to create an environment for those players to succeed:

“Well yes, partially that's true. We do have some young players ho going to do that. Matt Savoie wasn't really in a primary scoring role, yet he finished with 18 goals. I think if you look at his season up until the Olympic break, he was mostly at the bottom of the lineup penalty killing, but mostly not with offensive players. Then he really got hot from the end of February till end of the season, and we know Howard can score. He hasn't proven it at the NHL level. Next year, though, we're looking for him to take a step and be a part of this team. It's going to be up to him how he performs when he gets here, but our hope is that he can be here.

"I think we did see Podkolzin take a step forward this year. There are three guys right there who I expect to take steps. Now, you're asking about new players we bring in? We will have to look at who the players are and if we need them and their skillsets. But it's not just through July 1 acquisitions where you add secondary scoring. I think from our team, those three players I just mentioned are expected to be secondary scorers. They're not new names, but they're still guys that we think can contribute.”

Bowman on a few signings not working out in past seasons and his process of improving:

“Well, the only one I can speak to really is mangy Mangiapane. It didn't work here. We tried.  We thought it would work and put a lot of thought into it. Looking at his skillset and natural ability to play both sides, play with offensive players, sometimes when you get into a situation, it just doesn't happen. So that's why we had to pivot, and I think Roslovic did come in, whether it was a July 1 signing or an October 5 signing, he did bring a lot of value for us.  So yeah, it's a fair question, but at the same time, we'll have to see which players are the ones that we're approaching this July 1, or are we not looking at free agents? Are we looking at trades?  That's possible, too.”

Bowman on the importance of managing the minutes of Draisaitl and McDavid during the year to keep them healthy and fresh for the playoffs: 

"Yeah, I think not so much for the injury reason, more so. I think the end result is the same, but maybe for a different reason than you're saying. I think it's natural when you've got those players that are the best players in the league, it's natural to lean on them. I mean, they get it done and they deliver. Connor led the league in scoring. It's hard to say we should play him less. But I think the reason that your point is a good one is that it gives other players more opportunities to grow their games. I think the more players you have in your group that are playing and gaining their confidence and expanding their game, then the better your position you're going to be in. So it's not that we want Connor and Leon playing less, but I think the benefit of them playing a little bit less is less wear and tear on them, but also it's more opportunity for other players to grow their games. 

"It's tough. You've got to put yourself in the coach's shoes. You've got these two guys that are probably the two best forwards in the league, and you're looking down the bench, it's hard to resist that temptation. But I think it is not because they can't do it, but because we want to give other players an opportunity to grow their games."

Bowman on acquiring a right-shot centre who can kill penalties this offseason:

"Lazar's faceoff numbers are really good this year, but I think in a vacuum, that's a great point. You'd like that. I think Henrique was overlooked. He was actually really good on his offside in the right face-off dot. He was excellent at those draws even as a lefty, so we missed Adam a lot.

"I think that was the other thing we had in the playoffs. Our four centers were all sorts of compromised, and it's tough to overcome that. Ideally, that's the most important position. I guess your goalies, your D and your centres, and your wingers are usually the ones that maybe you can work around a little bit more. But the centres have such a high responsibility, so yes, I agree that sort of, in a vacuum, having a right shot centre that's good on face-offs would be good. Does it have to be a right shot?  It doesn't matter if they're good on that other side and they can win. But it's clear that the face-off to start a penalty kill is more important than a neutral zone or face-off percentage.  You may be good at those, but they don't really lead to advantageous positions as much."

Bowman on bringing back Kasperi Kapanen, with the Finnish forward set to become a UFA: 

"Yeah, he played really well. After a great start, he got hurt in Detroit in late October, and after he missed that time, he was about to come back and got hurt again. So he was in and out of getting his game going, but he started the season in training camp excellent, and then I think he finished the year excellent. He's another guy that we'd love to try to make that work. 

"We have to balance all the cap, and as UFAs, they ultimately have a decision where they want to play. But he seemed to find a really good role with our group this year. He's got some pretty good chemistry with Leon and Podz. That line was pretty effective. He was hurt, so they didn't play together that much, but anytime we put them together, they were pretty effective. I think his skillset is a nice combination of speed, power, physicality, and scoring. He's on the penalty kill.  He can do a lot of different things, so we're going to have conversations with him and see where that goes."