The HARSH TRUTH About The Edmonton Oilers

The HARSH TRUTH About The Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are broken. Well, not actually broken, but they have some serious problems right now. After two Stanley Cup final appearances and a lot of contracts being handed out in the off season, some good, some bad, but we’ll get into that later. The Edmonton Oilers find themselves in a very strange position. They’re average, maybe even worse than that. In the future, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any better, making this season even more controversial for the team. and their narrative moving forward. So, what happened from last season to this point? And how have the Oilers gotten here despite having two of the game’s most elite players? Well, let’s break down this back and forth start for Edmonton to see if there’s something that they can bounce back from here or if the future is even darker than we ever could have imagined. What’s up, guys? Welcome back to the channel. As you can tell by today’s intro, we are going to be doing a breakdown of the Edmonton Oilers today. A team that is all too familiar with having some rocky starts in the past and yet again find themselves in a kind of unpredictable position. Now, through their first 20 or so games, the Edmonton Oilers, I think, have been a little bit underwhelming. And today, we’re going to break this video up into multiple parts. The first half, I’m going to talk about their underlying stats. Then, I want to talk about some of the contracts that they handed out in the offseason. and then round it out by talking about who’s really to blame and if there is any chance for this team to get themselves back on track and potentially capitalize on this opportunity to win a Stanley Cup within this short window that Conor McDavid has given them. So, if you guys have been enjoying the content lately and want to continue supporting the channel, be sure to hit that thumbs up right now. Subscribe to the channel. We are so close to hitting 30,000 right now. I think we’re just under 400 subscribers away. So, if you haven’t subscribed yet, do that now. And with all that being said, let’s get into today’s breakdown. So, let’s start with the raw stats because that always gives us an idea of what we’re getting into with these breakdowns. Let’s start with the offense because the Oilers have performed below their affformentioned cup standards. And based on my research, they are relying way too much on their power play to score goals right now. Their power play currently is third in the NHL at a near 30% success rate, while their overall goals for per game ranks 23rd in the league at 2.96. Looking even deeper at their 5v5 offense, their five-on-ive goals for percentage, ranks 31st in the NHL, only higher than the Nashville Predators, who sit at just under 40%. They also ranked 26th in expected goals for per 60 minutes and 23rd in actual goals for per 60 minutes, which isn’t a place that this Oilers offense wants to be in. So, quick summary of their offensive stats for those who aren’t too familiar with advanced analytics. The Oilers are using their power play to score their goals while their five-on-5 offense continues to drop throughout the league statistics. Now, let’s flip over to the other side of the puck and look at their defense. The Oilers have invested a lot of money into their blue line, especially this off season, hoping to go along with the all too popular narrative of defense wins championships. Now, has that worked out? Unfortunately, stats would say otherwise. Edmonton currently as a team ranks 25th in high danger shots against, allowing 54 through their first 24 games. They’ve also allowed 87 goals already on the season, which puts them on pace for over 300 this year. and compare that to last season. There was only one team in the league that surpassed the 300 goal mark and that was the San Jose Sharks who historically were a very bad team. So quick summary, they’re not blocking enough shots. They are giving away way too many pucks and they’re allowing way too many high danger chances. And this has put the Edmonton Oilers in a very difficult position where they’re leaving their goalenders out to dry and their offense is being forced to score a lot of goals just to make up for these margins. Lastly, let’s quickly touch on goalending because everyone wants to blame Edmonton’s goalies for everything that happens and more specifically Steuart Skinner for the lack of success that we’ve seen from this team. Even though the defensive numbers suggest that maybe there’s a little bit more blame to go around. Right now, Edmonton sits 31st in save percentage at 871 and 28th in goals against average at 3.57. But Steuart Skinner, believe it or not, actually has a goal saved above expected of 2.9. So, he technically is playing better than advanced stats expected. So, now that you have the numbers, let’s talk about who’s really to blame and why the Oilers are in this position. Well, remember at the top of the video I mentioned that the Oilers spent a lot of money on their defense and how that hasn’t exactly panned out so far. Well, the three contracts given out in the offseason were to Matias Ekholm, Jake Walman, and the biggest one, Evan Buchard. Now, Jake Walman has been about as advertised so far. I think he’s been a positive addition to this blue line. Yes, he makes some mistakes here and there, but he’s also come up with some big offensive plays and some key defensive stops. And you all know how I feel about Matias. I think this guy is one of the best shutdown guys in the league. Very defensive-minded. And this contract is going to age very well for Edmonton. It’s not expensive. He’s a good top four pairing Dman and actually shows up a lot in the playoffs when he’s healthy. Now, these two contracts, we all expected them to have their ups and downs, but I think the most polarizing one so far has been the Evan Bousard deal. And first off, I actually think it’s an interesting story as to why Edmonton gave Buchard this contract. And it all comes back to the offer sheet deals that Broberg and Holloway received from the St. Louis Blues a few years ago. According to reports, the Carolina Hurricanes before acquiring Keandre Miller from the Rangers were interested in potentially offer sheeting Bousard, forcing the Oilers to get a deal done as to avoid the bad PR that has followed them since they mistakenly allowed the other players to get taken away from them in those offer sheet moves from St. Louis. Now, first off, I just want to say it’s never a smart decision to make financial moves based on how you think fans are going to respond. Yes, I think that Edmonton should have resigned Evan Bousard, but based on his performance and play so far, I don’t think he’s worth that $10.5 million ticket that they signed him to. Now, I will say in all fairness, Bousard is a well above average offensive player. He opens up the ice is a huge part of their system, and his slapshot, it’s actually pretty deadly. But on the defensive side of the puck, I think he’s just an average player. He’s actually a lot more mistakrone than a lot of the other guys on this team. And I just don’t think defensively he’s worth the amount that the Edmonton Oilers gave him on that ticket. Now, individually, statistic-wise, Buchard is just terrible with his giveaways. He’s 16th in the league right now with 22 on the year and has become a turnover waiting to happen in a lot of big spots. But truthfully, it’s not just Evan Bashard. The defense in general, including guys like Darnell Nurse and others, it hasn’t lived up to the standards. And a rather undercovered story with this team has been the lack of defense coming from their forward core. Now, many people just say that defense comes from the back end and they forget that forwards also have to help out with this. And when you look at a lot of their statistics, even their plus minus, which is a stat that I really don’t like to use because I think it’s kind of wishy-washy. Guys like Conor McDavid have a minus5 on the year right now despite having 33 points on the season and being top five in the league. That is not a good sign. That means that either something is happening with the other players or maybe just maybe Conor McDavid isn’t putting the effort in all the way through his game, which is a big problem. That shows signs that either they’re lacking the overall skill to get things done or they just have a lack of motivation, which can happen when you go to back-to-back Stanley Cup final appearances. The drag of a regular season can become a little bit well predictable and lackluster for a team. So, that is maybe what they’re experiencing. Could be fatigue. Who knows? But as an all-around group, the Edmonton Oilers just have not been getting things done on the defensive side of the puck. Now, is this something that the Oilers can overcome and turn around in terms of their forward core? Of course, talent is hard to find, and the Edmonton Oilers have a surplus of that. It’s more just about hard work and trying to instill that motivation in this group, which is something that this coaching staff has proven to me that they’re capable of doing. Now, the one thing I am worried about is their defense. I keep saying it, the stats, they look terrible. And while I’m a big fan of Ekholm, there’s a lot of guys in this blue line that I’m just I’m not too sure of. And based on the contracts and how long this group is going to be put together, I really just don’t like the makeup of everything. And unfortunately, I think it’s time we talk about Stuart Skinner because I’ve been kind of avoiding the goalending topic this whole video. But I think it’s time for him to be done as a starter in Edmonton. And while I do think that the guy has shown us flashes over the years of what he could potentially be, I just think the inconsistencies based on the timeline that the Edmonton Oilers have with this new Conor McDavid extension, it’s not something that I’m willing to put my 100% trust into. And I think at this point with McDavid taking that pay cut, it would be irresponsible to not address your issues between the pipes. And I think if the Oilers continue to move forward with Steuart Skinner and this sort of shaky blue line, then they are doing a disservice to their players and their fan base. And I just don’t see any real chance of them winning a Stanley Cup with this current group and with this current makeup. Now, is that something that’s completely impossible? No. We’ve seen a lot of injuries happening throughout the league and more specifically to the Florida Panthers this year, which makes this the best opportunity for the Edmonton Oilers to go back to the cup final and potentially win. But there are also some really good teams out there that continue to improve. So, the path is only going to get harder and harder as they move forward. And with the Oilers having very limited options right now financially, it’s kind of a tough position for this team to be in. So to summarize, at 109 and five and with plenty of season left to play, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Oilers will somehow make it into the playoffs, whether that’s as a wildcard team or eventually as a top three spot in their division. But if the stats tell us anything right now, they’re far from contenders and something has to change. And that’s where I want you guys to come in. How do you feel about the Edmonton Oilers? What do you think has been the biggest problem with this team? Or who has been the biggest problem with this team? And do you think that eventually they’ll be able to turn things around? Let me know what you guys think in the comments below as always. And if you enjoyed this video, be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe. Now, like I said, we’re so close to 30,000 and it would be so awesome if we could hit that by the end of the month. So, thank you guys so much for watching this video. I have a few other pieces for you guys to check out here on the screen if you’re bored and want to watch more hockey related content. And I will see you guys in the next upload.

The Edmonton Oilers are off to a disastrous start. After a offseason of uncertainty and a lot of contract extensions, the Edmonton Oilers entered the season as the favorite to come out of the West after back to back Final appearances. Unfortunately things haven’t exactly gone as planned with many of the players playing below average by all accounts. So today let’s see if we can get to the bottom of what’s going wrong for this team and the harsh truths about the rest of their season. Subscribe to Jimmy Hockey for more NHL News and Breakdowns.

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