The Edmonton Oilers are coming off a tough 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday night (Oct. 16). The game was tied after two periods, but the home team added two goals in the third period to win the game. This was a tough night for Edmonton as egregious turnovers proved costly. However, that’s not the only talking point from the game.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each played over 25 minutes against New York and led the team in ice time. Through four games, McDavid is averaging 24:12 per game, while Draisaitl is averaging 23:38. For comparison, the Oilers’ captain is averaging 21:45 in his career, while the German superstar is averaging 20:36. It’s still early, but their ice time is up significantly from their career averages, and that’s concerning.
The season is a marathon, not a sprint. Overplaying your star players early in the season will lead to fatigue as we move forward. Edmonton needs its best players to be at their best, but they won’t be if they aren’t fresh. Therefore, their ice time must be reduced if the organization hopes to have long-term success as they chase the Stanley Cup.
Oilers Have Depth and Must Use It
Contrary to popular belief, the Oilers still have solid forward depth despite losing key pieces in the offseason. It’s well known that when the Oilers are trailing or in a close game, head coach Kris Knoblauch overplays his top guys, but that’s not sustainable throughout the course of an 82-game schedule. He needs to trust his depth players to provide quality minutes away from the dynamic duo because those two can’t do it all.
Related: Oilers’ Forward Group Is the Deepest of the McDavid Era
Against the Islanders, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was third on the team in ice time by a forward at 20:46, nearly five minutes less than McDavid and Draisaitl. Andrew Mangiapane was fourth at only 17:33, while seven forwards played under 13 minutes, with Isaac Howard playing the least at only 8:19. Adam Henrique played 11:24, Kasperi Kapanen played 11:16, and Matt Savoie played 11:06. Out of those mentioned, Savoie is the player to watch. He has had a solid start to the season, but hasn’t been rewarded for his efforts. The 21-year-old rookie should be given more minutes to help build confidence and hopefully produce more as a result.
At the end of the day, playing McDavid and Draisaitl 25 minutes a game, especially this early in the season, is unsustainable and will have lasting negative effects as the campaign progresses. Fatigue is a real possibility, and if your best players are tired, they won’t be as effective later into the campaign. If the Oilers hope to win the Stanley Cup, they need their superstars to be great in April, May, and June, not October.
McDavid & Draisaitl Shouldn’t Kill Penalties
One way to limit their ice time is to take them off the penalty kill. There’s no reason why they should consistently kill penalties early in the season. They both played 2:10 shorthanded against the Islanders in the last game, more than Henrique, Savoie, and Mangiapane. Nugent-Hopkins was the only forward who spent more time on the penalty kill at 2:19.
Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)
The penalty kill is exhausting because you are constantly defending, which uses more energy. It’s also taxing on the body. Penalty killing requires getting in the shooting lanes and shot blocking. The Oilers don’t want to risk injury by having their best players blocking shots every game. So, putting them in those situations should be avoided if possible. They already spend the entire power play on the ice, so adding the penalty kill to their repertoire seems unnecessary. However, throwing them out there at the end of a penalty kill is acceptable given the right circumstances, but should be used sparingly. They should be featured in the offensive zone as much as possible.
If this trend continues, you’re going to burn out your best players before we even make it to the playoffs. The Oilers continue their five-game Eastern Conference road trip on Oct. 18 against the New Jersey Devils in a Saturday matinée. Keep following The Hockey Writers for all your NHL content throughout the season.
