LAST SEASON
Talk about a whirlwind season. There were few teams in the entire NHL that rode the high highs and the low lows as much as the Edmonton Oilers did. They came out of the gates swinging with one of the best starts in the league, going 9-1-0 in their first 10 games and 16-5-0 in their first 21 games.
By the time December rolled around, Edmonton had sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. Superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl played a big part in that, but so did Mikko Koskinen in net. With Mike Smith injured shortly after the season kicked off, the big Finn held his own.
But as quickly as the Oilers rose to the top, they fell to the bottom under then head coach Dave Tippett. Through December and January, the Oilers won just six of 20 games as their defensive game imploded. Edmonton and its players looked completely lost and by the end of January, it was clear Tippett had lost the room.
On Feb. 11th, the Oilers made the move to fire Tippett and bring up AHL bench boss Jay Woodcroft, and just like that, the Oilers’ season turned around. Woodcroft, in his first stint as an NHL head coach, carried the Oilers to not just a 26-9-3 record, but a deep run in the playoffs to the Western Conference Final. Edmonton dispatched the Los Angeles Kings in seven games before making quick work of the Calgary Flames in five games. Ultimately, the Oilers couldn’t do any damage against the Colorado Avalanche, despite it being a series tighter than it looked on paper.
KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES
Additions
Jack Campbell, G
Matthias Janmark, LW
Greg McKegg, C
Calvin Pickard, G
Departures
Duncan Keith, D (retired)
Mike Smith, G (LTIR)
Zack Kassian, RW (Ari)
Josh Archibald, RW (Pit)
OFFENSE
Edmonton iced one of the best offenses in the league last season, scoring the seventh most goals. These guys named McDavid and Draisaitl were largely responsible for that. McDavid posted career bests with 44 goals and 123 points, while Draisaitl scored 55 goals of his own and 110 points. They were supplemented, finally, with some solid depth scoring around them. Evander Kane was a big addition, as was Zach Hyman who scored career highs in goals and assists with 27 each and 54 points.
The Oilers brought in Evander Kane last season in January after having his contract terminated by the San Jose Sharks and he made an instant impact. Between 58 regular season and playoff games, Kane scored 35 goals and tied for the league goal-scoring lead in the playoffs with 13 tallies. Edmonton’s far from a team that needed more scoring up front, but Kane’s ability to do that while playing a physical game helped provide just that much more depth up front. Edmonton brought him back in the offseason to the tune of a four-year deal paying him $5.125 million annually.
This year, they won’t exactly be hard pressed for offense bringing back virtually their entire forward group. Expect them to be a top-five scoring team in the NHL with McDavid and Draisaitl leading the way not only for the team, but the league as a whole.
DEFENSE
Edmonton’s biggest weakness for years has been its back end, but it took a huge step forward down the stretch under Woodcroft. In all situations under Tippett, the Oilers allowed 3.23 goals against per 60 – the 11th worst rate in the league. Under Woodcroft, that number improved to 2.73 – the fifth best rate in the league. This was a huge reason why the Oilers were able to improve down the back stretch of the season, and the Oilers’ top pair of Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci were a big reason why. Under Woodcroft, they improved their on-ice goal share from 46.2 percent under Tippett to a staggering 64.2 percent.
While losing Duncan Keith on the back end might be a bigger loss than some would imagine, the addition of Brett Kulak at last year’s trade deadline really helped stabilize the entire D-corps. Couple that with what should be a breakout season for Evan Bouchard, and the Oilers’ defense could take a big step forward this year.
GOALTENDING
All Edmonton needs in net is some consistency. While Mike Smith was surprisingly solid as a whole for the Oilers over his three-year stint, he was wildly inconsistent game to game, much like his backup Koskinen. The latter would fill in well for the oft-injured Smith, but Koskinen was never able to keep his play up for extended periods of time before falling apart.
Now, all Jack Campbell needs to do is be a consistent goaltender. The Oilers need him to stay healthy and provide quality starts over an extended period of time. Over his 77 total regular-season games in Toronto, Campbell posted a .916 save percentage and, in all honesty, the Oilers would be elated to get that.
They also have a rookie in Stuart Skinner joining the team as the backup this year. He drew in 13 games last year for the Oilers, posting a .913 save percentage and 2.62 goals-against average. He’s slated to take somewhere around 30 games in net this season and the 23-year-old projects to be a future starter in the league. He spent parts of the last four seasons with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors and posted a .920 save percentage and 2.21 GAA in 35 games last year.
COACHING
Woodcroft was a revelation for the Oilers last season. He stepped in during a tough stretch and almost immediately turned the Oilers’ season around. While the initial goal when he joined was just to get to the playoffs, it was quickly clear there could be more in store for this team and that’s exactly what happened.
One of the knocks against Tippett previously was that he seemed to not only lose the room, but was unclear when it came to expectations for players up and down the lineup. It left the Oilers’ stars feeling lost at times and depth players having no idea what their roles were. Credit to Woodcroft as those were things that became a quick focus.
Woodcroft never got a training camp last year with the Oilers and he had very little time to run practices, which made it hard to fully implement things with the roster. Now, he’s going into a year where he had some say on the Oilers’ roster and will get a full training camp with tons of practice time to coach this team up. He could very well be a Jack Adams Award candidate in short order.
ROOKIES
The Oilers will have a number of rookies looking to step into the lineup. The aforementioned Skinner is penciled in for a spot, while on the back end, a job will be Philip Broberg’s to lose. He was drafted by the Oilers eighth overall in 2019 and just came over to North America last year. He appeared in 31 games with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, scoring four goals and 23 points, and quickly emerged as a tremendous defenseman under Woodcroft and Dave Manson, both of whom are on the Oilers bench this year. Broberg also got a taste of NHL action last year too, so he should know what to expect heading into camp this year.
Dylan Holloway, the Oilers’ 14th overall pick in 2020, will look to break into the lineup on a full-time basis this year. He overcame some issues with a wrist that persisted through college and into last season, but played 33 games down the stretch for the AHL Condors. There, he scored eight goals and 22 points. He’s a strong candidate for the Oilers’ third line coming out of camp, although the signing of Mattias Janmark creates competition. For now, we’ve projected a lineup with Janmark in that spot, but don’t count out Holloway by any means.
A BURNING QUESTIONS
1. Just how many points can Connor McDavid and Leon Drasiaitl score? If they stay healthy this year, I don’t think it’s out of the question for McDavid to score 50 goals and 135 points. He’s yet to hit the 50-goal mark, but he shot the puck at the highest pace of his entire career last year. He has a tremendously deceptive shot, and he’s starting to learn how to use it. Drasiaitl, meanwhile, should be able to hit the 50-goal mark once again this season. While the Oilers have their most offensive weapons in the last decade, Draisaitl continues to be the Oilers’ best goal scorer.
2. How far can Jay Woodcroft push this club? I think it’s fair to say many didn’t expect the Oilers to be Western Conference finalists after the first half of their season. Despite that, the Oilers built and built as the season went on and peaked at the right time in the playoffs. Woodcroft was able to get the Oilers in a tremendous mindset, and expectations are high.
3. Will the Oilers continue to get peak Evander Kane? He was a dominant power forward from the moment he donned an Oilers jersey, but his career has been a rollercoaster of off-ice issues. If he truly has arrived in a good place mentally and can stay in the lineup, he should smash his career highs this season.
PREDICTION
The Oilers have the personnel to make another deep playoff run but still don’t quite measure up to the mighty Colorado Avalanche. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them meet again in the Western Conference Final, with Colorado winning again – but in a much closer series this time.
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