Heading into the 2025 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers had an obvious struggle that they needed to address: The team’s goaltending situation. With Stuart Skinner struggling in his plays against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, the fans wanted a solution.
When the time came for the Oilers to pick in the 2025 NHL Draft on June 28, they chose defenseman Tommy Lafreniere in the third round at No. 83 and left winger David Lewandowski in the fourth round at No. 117.
When it came to addressing the decisions that led to these picks, Oilers general manager Stan Bowman’s comments post-2025 NHL Draft have the fans more riled up than anything.
Comments From Oilers’ GM Stan Bowman Make Fans Lose Their Cool
“Well, I mean the evaluation is it’s not something you do just once or twice and that it’s over with when I say that, I mean looking not only at the goal, the goal thing we have, but also what’s out there and options,” Bowman mentioned a week later about the team’s goaltender situation.
Bowman’s full thoughts on the goaltending pic.twitter.com/jyoKPlvmbS
— Adhi (@OilerAlert) June 29, 2025
This didn’t sit well with Edmonton fans who are aware just how desperate the Oilers’ current situation is right now. The duo of Skinner, the Oilers’ No. 1 goaltender, and backup Calvin Pickard was demolished by the Panthers’ offense, thanks to Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart.
One fan even mentioned, “Get a goalie, you dips**t. This isn’t good enough. You’ve been a terrible GM. What on earth was Katz thinking?” Oilers fans have been increasingly angry at the lack of any initiative from Bowman to address the team’s key flaws.
Another fan wrote, “‘Evaluation’ and ‘Process’ are just buzzwords for we have no intention of doing anything; if something falls in our laps, so be it, but we are just going to wait and see what comes to us. It’s so over, man, lol.”
Fans believe that the Oilers are just glossing over facts.
‘Evaluation’ and ‘Process’ are just buzz words for we have no intention of doing anything, if something falls in our laps so be it, but we are just going to wait and see what comes to us. It’s so over man lol
— ²⁹ enthusiast (@2997_mcdrai) June 29, 2025
Meanwhile, another fan points out that “must have been evaluating for a long time while Kyle Beach was being abused.” Bowman was with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, when former player Beach accused a former Chicago video coach of sexually assaulting him. The incident led to Beach leaving the team.
One more fan talked about how Oilers management cannot evaluate the situation with Skinner. He points out, “We have the worst goalie in playoff history, it’s definitely time to try something different, ffs.”
Bowman’s decision to pick offensive players was interesting when the Edmonton front line is already stacked with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Both players performed well in the NHL regular season and postseason.
To this, one fan wrote, “I’m sorry but Gibson would have been miles ahead of any Oilers goalie. If I were an Oilers fan, I’d legit lose my lid.”
With the last few rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft remaining, it is imperative for the Oilers to at least pick a goaltending prospect.
