Will the real Edmonton Oilers please stand up?

[WetcoastOrca]

On the positive side:
They have the high end forwards and the Defense looks much improved with Bear emerging. Coaching and commitment to team Defense looks much improved.

On the negative side:
Depth is just awful at forward.
RHN has been very disappointing this year which really hurts their depth.
Goal tending is in the bottom half overall imo.

The good news is that one of their biggest weaknesses is the lack of depth at forward and that’s probably one of the easiest holes to fill. That would go along way to making them a clear playoff team imo. Still time for Holland to make some moves. They’ve also banked a lot of early points so they still have a strong chance of making it to the post season. McDavid and Drai can carry the team a long way.

 

[PinSeeker]

They are an 84-90 pt team, they are who we thought they were. AND WE LET'EM OFF THE HOOK!

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

They'll slide out of playoff contention by Jan, and be a seller at the deadline. The adreneline rush of the start of the season is wearing off, and they don't have the depth or talent on the bottom half of their lineup to compete. Its still a team that needs a properly done rebuild.

 

[Sam Spade]

Oilers have scored 48 goals in 17 games this season.

McDavid and/or Draisaitl have been involved in all but 11 of them.

 

[Connor McConnor]

Oilers season in a nutshell:

Get heavily outplayed = win
Outplay the other team = lose

Doesn't help a few of their past games they aren't getting any calls. Despite taking it to St Louis for a majority of the game they got 2 PPs AT HOME vs. 5 for St. Louis. That was pretty much the tale of the tape right there. Don't even get me started on the disaster ref job in the Arizona game. Next time you play the Oilers just mug McDavid and Draisatl and you'll get away with it.

 

[Kamiccolo]

I for one am shocked after some of the parading around fans did in October. I've saw 3 of their games so far this year (Including last night) and I didn't see anything different than I saw last year. The differences were

- McD and Drai scoring at unsustainable pace to make up for lack of depth

- Goaltending playing way better than their career's indicate. Smith was a wall but he is ancient. Kosk is a terrible goalie who will slowly continue to trend back that way.

- Special teams. I remember watching them PK and thinking how good they looked. PP was red hot and Neal scored every time he touched the puck on the PP. Both have regressed.

However this year it's even worse because RNH is useless as well. They are a top line team with a few top 4 D and average goalies. IMO making it out of the bottom 10 is an accomplishment given their roster.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Well, they've gotten to a pretty nice winning record so far despite the fact RNH has forgotten how to play hockey and they are missing several of their secondary-type regulars.

Their top guys are going to cool, but I am not so sure that their depth (RNH included) doesn't have another gear.

Smith can have long stretches of elite play, he has done it for the Flames before.

They are still a question mark right now, but they have the benefit of having had a strong start, and that can often be enough to carry a team into the playoffs.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Bubble playoff team imo. Still need a lot of help on the bottom 2 lines.

 

[SteelerNation]

It wont. Defenses will start to tighten up in the coming few weeks and the lack of decent depth will start costing them close games. Relying on Neal is asking for trouble. Also winter in Edm seems to crush the players moral every year.

the Edmonton winter takes a little bit of Mcdavids soul every year. This can’t be understated.
Anyone that has to live through Edmonton winters isn’t going to perform as good.

 

[HugginThePost]

I'll be the first to admit that I preached the easy start to the schedule was the biggest reason for early success, and to a degree I stand by that.

But I have looked over their season and it is a mixed bag of results.

It looks something like this:

• Oiler wins against a winning team - 5
• Oiler wins against a losing team - 5
• Oiler lose to losing team - 3
• Oiler lose to a winning team - 4

So what does this tell us.......not sure. It would appear they are a .500 team going forward.

I think they are winning games against winning teams using unsustainable goal tending and riding McDrai into the ground. Also, early in the year they were riding a crazy PP production - 45%?

This team is what it is. They will win games it they get 0.935% goal tending and McDrai get their points. They have zero depth, the bottom 6 does not score, like ever. The second line has become a black hole with RNH and Neal.

As the season wears on, the affects of McDrai being run into the ground, plus teams start tightening up on defense, I think the Oilers will struggle to get their wins. Unless the above criteria is met - McDrai scoring at least 3 and the goalie standing on his head.

 

[HugginThePost]

the Edmonton winter takes a little bit of Mcdavids soul every year. This can’t be understated.
Anyone that has to live through Edmonton winters isn’t going to perform as good.

I realize this is probably tongue in cheek, except, you know, he tends to play better in the winter months.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I feel like their flaws will get exposed in the second half. That's when teams begin tightening things up and the open ice disappears.

McDrai is a great duo but this is a bit much for anyone.

McDavids numbers usually explode in the second half, same with Draisaitl. Thr issue in previous years is the other lines couldn't also score, but more than that the other lines bled goals against.

 

[Aceboogie]

The Oilers are a team with alot of flaws and got a ton of puck luck this season. This is a team building for the future. They likely wont make the playoffs, despite the good start and have some major holes to fill

Some major positives are that LD looks like a legit top 5 player in the league and Ethan Bear continues to impress

 

[tony d]

Seems like they're coming down to earth as of late to where they were projected to be for this season. I think they end up fighting for a playoff spot but will just miss out.

 

[Motte and Bailey]

It’s very hard to sustain success in the NHL without quality depth in your lineup... That should be enough to tell you who the real Oilers are.

 

[vanarchy]

I say this all the time but at wait until all star break for these assessments at least.

And even then, look at what the Blues did last year to turn an entire season around.

 

[Whiston532]

We’re an ok team that was/is benefiting from two things. A handful of players absolutely carrying the team offensively and both goalies playing very well above expectations. Plus our defence is decent too.

the problem is both of those things are extremely unsustainable and as time goes on well either adjust or come back to earth.

this was always viewed as a development/holdover year with reasonable expectations. We were hoping someone on our bottom six would step up and nobody has. Hopefully someone like Benson or Yamamoto can come up (if they’re ready) to give a bit of a boost. And next offseason we can get the bottom six sorted out.

 

[Menzinger]

Theyre a pretty ugly looking team on paper who have been carried hy some amazing performances by their top guys.

Its not exactly a recipie for sustainable success over the course of an entire season.. you would be pretty hard pressed to find any serious hockey journslist outside of the Alberta bubble that had them heading to the playoffs during preseason predictions

 

[Mez]

the Edmonton winter takes a little bit of Mcdavids soul every year. This can’t be understated.
Anyone that has to live through Edmonton winters isn’t going to perform as good.

Only biatches can't handle Edmonton winters..l

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

If this were the 40-50 game mark, it'd be cause for concern. 17 games in? It's just a slow spell any good, no matter how skilled, will go through. Look at some of the dominate teams over the past decade. They all had struggled for a handful of games at some point.

 

[Three On Zero]

They had an extremely easy schedule to start, teams just need to shut down McDrai and they have nothing. 7-1 was a mirage

 

[OVO16]

They were always gonna come back down to earth.

The team still has atrocious forward depth behind their 2 best players. Their defense and goaltending is still mediocre as hell

 

[Ducksauce]

As a side note- James Neal has one point in November after 6 games and is a -6. It's clear that he has essentially taken Chaisson's role from last year and Chaisson has taken Lucic's role. It's strange how similar their seasons are playing out getting PP time with the big guns.

Neal 19-20
20 games
12 goals
2 assists
14 points
-10

Chaisson 18-19
20 games
11 goals
2 assists
13 points
+4

Chaisson 19-20
17 games
1 goal
4 assists
5 points
-1

Lucic 18-19
20 games
1 goal
4 assists
5 points
-1

 

[Coffey]

As a side note- James Neal has one point in November after 6 games and is a -6. It's clear that he has essentially taken Chaisson's role from last year and Chaisson has taken Lucic's role. It's strange how similar their seasons are playing out getting PP time with the big guns.

Neal 19-20
20 games
12 goals
2 assists
14 points
-10

Chaisson 18-19
20 games
11 goals
2 assists
13 points
+4

Chaisson 19-20
17 games
1 goal
4 assists
5 points
-1

Lucic 18-19
20 games
1 goal
4 assists
5 points
-1

Don't forget Lucic 19-20.

18 games.
0 goals
3 assists
3 points
-4

 

[Trocity]

I hope they make the playoffs, it's tragic not having players of Mcdavid and Draisaitl's caliber in the postseason.