I don't know why, but OEL starts out the NHL season slow and gets better as the year progresses. If he doesn't play to his capabilities with the Yotes this year, we are in for a lot of hurt.
I have noticed this with A LOT of Swedes. F.Forsberg, Karlsson, Silfverberg, Lindholm, Bäckström, Hörnquist, Landeskog etc.. I could continue naming Swedes that totally stink at the start of the seasons, only to then start dominating 20-30 games in.
Not sure if this is a question of poor summer training, conditioning or what, but it is a "thing".
Heck, Hedman is the same. Starts off pretty underwhelming and then get going for real at the mid-point, and find an extra gear during the post season.
Perhaps World Cup should've been in July instead of in September.