The Edmonton Oilers need some fixing. They become vulnerable at times, and teams are finding ways to manhandle them. That physical style becomes the norm during the playoffs.
The Oilers, who are incredibly talented, are (at times) surprisingly easy to knock off their game. Edmonton loses its swagger when the other team plays more physically. Saturday night against the Calgary Flames is the latest example. Oilers management has time to deal with the problem, but not much in terms of cap space or tradable assets. For starters, the Oilers need to find a reliable third line that combines skill, defensive awareness, and physicality.
Beyond the top two lines with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers aren’t a strong offensive team. When the two big centres are together, Edmonton owns a 50% goal share (all numbers at five-on-five, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) and scores 3.38 goals per 60. That’s a strong offensive unit. McDavid, without Draisaitl, has been hot for weeks and now delivers 3.22 goals per 60 minutes and a 52% share. Draisaitl solo has been money all year. His current goal percentage is 64%, and the duo is scoring 3.69 goals per 60. All of these numbers are championship quality.
However, when those two are not on the ice, Edmonton scores 1.17 goals per 60 and owns a 29% goal percentage. The terrible offence by the bottom six hides the positive fact that they are surrendering just 2.81 goals against per 60. That’s a solid, but those lines need to start producing.
Oilers Need More Offence
Management appears to be biding their time to see if Trent Frederic can produce something close to what he did with the Boston Bruins. If his recent foot speed improvement can result in better scoring, then Adam Henrique would have a rugged scorer on his left wing.
However, if Frederic doesn’t improve, the Oilers have only one option. If the coaching staff keeps Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the top line, then the only option is to give the Henrique line to Vasily Podkolzin. Then they need to decide on Mattias Janmark, Kasperi Kapanen, or Quinn Hutson as the line’s right winger. As for Draisaitl, he can dominate with any winger. He’s proven it time and again.
