Each week, we check in with our readers on social media and e-mail to see what’s on top of their mind, explore the hot topics of conversation and answer hard-hitting questions about the Edmonton Oilers. Here are some of the top ones from this week:
What took so long for Connor McDavid find the back of the net?
Good question. It would be nice for him put a little bit more rubber home, especially if it means more wins for his team. At the same time, he still better than a point-per-game player, leading the Oilers with a goal and seven assists over their first seven games.
And it’s not like he hasn’t been shooting the puck, leading all Edmonton forwards in that category, too. Sure, there have been certain situations where it seems as if he is making a conscious effort not to put pucks on net, as if he’s too busy calculating the best chance to make the perfect pass for a teammate to score a highlight reel goal.
The longest scoring drought of his career is 10 games, so he still had a while to go before something was truly amiss, as rare as those things are for his career.
The scary thought is, where would the Oilers have been by then without his timely goal to beat the lowly Sens?
Why does anyone bother having hate for Adam Henrique?
Henrique became the first player wearing an Oilers uniform to reach his 1,000th NHL game on Tuesday. And while the franchise milestone earned him his fair share of kudos on social media, there were still detractors who were obviously frustrated over how the season’s started.
“Finally, we can sit him the next one. We made it, fans,” read one post on x.com, as if benching the fourth-line centre would be the cure to all the Oilers’ woes.
He’s enjoyed a longer career than around 95 per cent of all NHL players in history. Meanwhile, you’re in your beer league days acting like a has been, when all you amounted to is a never was.
The feat deserves to be celebrated, and will be followed closely by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who by the midway mark of the season will become the first player to reach all 1,000 games with the Oilers.
When are we going to see Connor Ingram get his chance in net?
Look, the Oilers ran into some problems out of the gates this season, but goaltending isn’t one of them.
Traded for future considerations on Oct. 1, Ingram made an impressive debut in a 2-1 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday to help the Bakersfield Condors to their first win in the American Hockey League season.
But that doesn’t mean Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard are going to be clearing out locker space anytime soon. Not by a long shot. You don’t just, on a whim, break up the tandem that got you to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances.
And besides, the last thing you’d want to do to a young goaltender’s development (yes, we realize he is 28, two years older than Skinner) is throw him to the wolves by calling him up at a time when the defence is shaky and porous.
The Oilers’ present goaltending is the only reason they managed to salvage anything out of the five-game road trip. And the tandem remains the biggest bang for the buck in the NHL this season.
What has happened to this Oilers high-octane offence?
The Oilers went into the fifth and final game of their road trip having scored 15 goals, exactly half of what the Vegas Golden Knights scored to lead the league while only playing one more game.
Of course, the Ottawa Senators had given up a league-high 30 goals in their first six games, so a trip to Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday sounded like just what the doctor ordered to cure the Oilers’ ills.
Yet it still took overtime heroics, from a defenceman making his season debut, no less, to put enough points on the scoreboard.
Offence remains a work in progress.
What does the big picture look like two weeks into the season?
A five-game road trip to the east coast in the second week of the season was always going to be hit or miss.
While it could have gone either way, no one was betting the farm the Oilers would win more than they would lose by the time they returned home. Going 2-3 wasn’t the end of the world, but it effectively negated the early traction the Oilers gained coming out of the gates having taken three out of four points at home.
To their credit, they translated that into a road win to open the trip, compliments of a Stuart Skinner shutout, and closed it out by avoiding what would have been a fourth straight loss.
As for the big picture, the Oilers have started out on the outside looking in at the early playoff picture, for as much as that means at this point. And they have started out flirting with .500 for the second season in a row.
Yes, it’s better than the 2-9-1 shemozzle from two years ago, leading to a head-coaching change by mid-November. But it’s difficult to shake the feeling this team should have been better than this by now. Especially considering how good they’ve finished the past two playoffs, having reached the final round.
Good finishes, but not great. Ultimately falling short of the marker. And you can bet their sights are set no lower as they look to make a third-straight run. Unfortunately, they once again find themselves having to make up for a mediocre start to their journey.
If you have questions, comments or concerns you would like to see featured in an upcoming edition of our Oilers Mailbag, please submit them to:
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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