The Toronto Maple Leafs will participate in the postseason in 2013, which means that the Edmonton Oilers now have the longest active playoff drought.
The Oilers have lost seven of their last eight contests, including Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Anaheim, and have been officially eliminated from playoff contention.
“We made it really tough on ourselves losing three straight games on that road trip, and to have another season where we’re out of the playoffs, where we’re playing meaningless games at the end of the year, is very frustrating,” Taylor Hall told the Edmonton Journal. “It’s something we’re not proud of.”
The Oilers have been stockpiling young skilled forwards for a while and they were hoping to move their rebuilding process to the next phase this season. Instead Oilers fans will once again be looking towards the lottery to see who else can be added to their talented core.
Frustrated with their continued struggles, Oilers president Kevin Lowe recently fired general manager Steve Tambellini and replaced him with Craig MacTavish.
MacTavish is expected to do “bold things” in order to “move the team forward in a rapid fashion,” so this could be an eventful summer for the Oilers.