Edmonton Oilers

Oilers Fans Haven’t Forgotten GM’s Biggest Mistake, New Poll Shows

The Edmonton Oilers are still reeling from past mistakes in the new ranking for NHL front offices. What gets them out of the gutter?

by
NHL Trade Talk
August 20, 2026

Stan Bowman and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers front office still have work to do if they want to change public perception of their ability to lead this Oilers team to the Stanley Cup. New polls from The Athletic and a drop in overall rankings from 21st to 27th show that there’s still little faith in this management team.

Janson Duench of The Athletic examined the results of several online polls that capture how Oilers fans are feeling these days. There is definitely a hangover from past moves, despite the fact that this summer felt like a step in the right direction.

The Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg offer-sheet blunders still have some fans holding a grudge. Others haven’t gotten over the Tristan Jarry trade, while many continue to believe the Trent Frederic extension was a mistake. And no, the Darnell Nurse trade, the additions of two legitimate goaltenders, or the signing of a potential stud on the blue line haven’t been enough to change those opinions—at least, not yet.

The good news is that fans are starting to slowly come around.

“The blowback to Babcock’s hire was swift and deafening back in June, but there is now cautious optimism among Oilers faithful — over two-thirds of respondents are at least somewhat confident in the new bench boss and his track record. There’s certainly a vocal minority who believes his tenure will be an unmitigated disaster, but the majority says he has more trust than the outside noise might suggest.”

The biggest issue remains the blue line, which may have gotten a bit weaker with Nurse’s departure. If Babcock is going to fix anything, it should start there. Depth scoring is also a concern. Can the new coach get the most out of the bottom of the lineup? He seems keen to give players more defined roles and responsibility, while putting a ceiling on the ice time for the top stars. We’ll see how long he sticks with that.

Can the Oilers Have the Kind of Season That Changes the Narrative?

What does Edmonton, specifically Bowman, have to do to get fans to change the way they think about this management team? “There is overwhelming consensus that Bowman had a constructive summer, seemingly restoring some goodwill among fans. He rebuilt the crease, shuffled the blue line and inked Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy to five-year extensions, all while leaving the team with ample salary-cap flexibility.” Still, that wasn’t enough to slow the results from 10000 fans. The Oilers dropped six spots in the overall rankings for faith in team management.

The Edmonton Oilers introduced Stan Bowman to the media on Wednesday and the new GM and Executive Vice President talked his past mistakes.

Winning is all that matters now. If the Oilers can rebound from a first-round playoff loss and make a long run, opinions will change. If they can win a Stanley Cup, everyone will finally get the respect fans in Edmonton might be starting to think some in this organization deserve.

The Oilers deserve the heat they got for some poor choices. Their roster management was not ideal over the past few years. That said, they took a step forward this summer. Will it be enough to shift the narrative?

Next: NHL Trade Talk Recap: Canadiens, Senators & Flames Stiffed