McDavid frustrated by missing playoffs again: 'Going to be a long summer'

For the third time in his four-year NHL career, Connor McDavid won't take part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

His Edmonton Oilers were mathematically eliminated from contention with a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night, and it left the 22-year-old captain with a sour taste in his mouth.

"It sucks obviously," McDavid said afterward. "It's not good enough all year. We let streaks drag on, times where we couldn't find ways to get wins drag on. You got to find a way to stop the bleeding quick. It's a slim margin of error in this league."

When asked about his frustration level, McDavid was crystal clear.

"It's really high. It's really, really high," he said. "It's frustrating. We want to play in the playoffs as a team. I personally want to play in the playoffs. I'm not happy about it. It's going to be a long summer."

After a playoff run that ended in Game 7 of the second round in 2017, the Oilers have produced a pair of listless campaigns. This season, the organization also replaced coach Todd McLellan with Ken Hitchcock and fired general manager Peter Chiarelli.

"It's been an insane season," McDavid added. "Coaching change, GM change. Good times and bad times. It's been a roller-coaster. It's been emotionally challenging. It's been hard mentally to keep on going, but we were always kind of right there. We were close and then we'd drift away. That's the way it goes."

For his part, McDavid has been sensational in 2018-19 with a career-high 115 points through 74 games. Linemate Leon Draisaitl has also recorded more than 100 points, but the Oilers still rank 20th in the NHL with 222 goals scored and 25th defensively with 261 against.

After Monday's loss, Edmonton sits 13th in the Western Conference at 77 points with three games remaining.