Oil Spill: Analyzing the Edmonton Oilers' Skid

It always seems to be something with the Edmonton Oilers, especially in this current era. The Oilers are coming off finishing 2nd in the makeshift North Division last season, but it saw them swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs' opening round by the Winnipeg Jets, adding to their recent list of playoff disappointments. In what proved to be another blow against the "North Division sucks" narrative that plagued the previous season, the Oilers got off to a strong start, going 16-5-0 in their first 21 games, leaving many to suddenly believe that the team could contend for a Stanley Cup this season.

Then the month of December progressed, and the bottom started falling out. Six straight losses, all in regulation, and it began with a 4-3 to the expansion Seattle Kraken on December 3. After winning back-to-back games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and the aforementioned Kraken, the Oilers had their next four games postponed due to the wave of positive COVID-19 tests, leading to extended holiday break throughout the league. Since returning to play, the Oilers have played five games--they went 0-3-2 in those five.

It's been said that the glaring issue in the Oilers' recent skid is goaltending. Mike Smith began the season as their main starter, but his injury brought Mikko Koskinen to the spotlight, and he definitely held the fort down. However, in the Oilers' last 13 games, they gave up at least four goals in ten of them. Smith has returned from injury, but even he hasn't helped things, and it includes his 6-5 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on New Year's Eve. In that time, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Anaheim Ducks, and yes, their provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames, have all passed them in the Pacific Division standings.

I said this before, many times before, and I'll say it once again: the Edmonton Oilers are The Connor and Leon Show. As usual, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (or as I call them, "Superman and Batman"), are leading the way for the Oilers. They are tied for the league lead in points with 53, though in the case of Draisaitl, 26 of those points are goals, and no one has more goals than him this season. The dynamic pair also represent the NHL's last two Hart Trophy winners, with Draisaitl taking the nod in 2020, while McDavid won in 2021. Now, there has been a bit of depth from the Oilers this year; longtime stalwart Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 26 points, with 23 of them being assists. Jesse Puljujarvi has 23 points, and has been racking up goals and points quite a bit recently, and the newly acquired Zach Hyman has 20 points of his own, including 11 goals.

But as usual, the main leaders of that team are McDavid and Draisaitl, and one has to wonder about the future of both of them should the worst case scenario happen and the Oilers actually miss the playoffs. Now, I know there's still a lot of the season left, but it's January. December is considered the last month for fans to say "it's early," and while January isn't really that late, it's too late in the season to still have any problems. I've said for the last three years that Connor McDavid needs to get out of Edmonton. This is a 100+ points per season player, he's a young stud (he'll turn 25 in a week), he's the best player to wear that Oilers jersey since some guy who wore #99 for that team. Yet McDavid has won only one playoff series in his young career. I know that last statement won't tug at the heartstrings of fans of another Canadian team with a young superstar, but many fans can agree that McDavid is being wasted in Edmonton.

The same can be said for Draisaitl, who has cracked 100 points twice, with his 110 point 2019-2020 season getting him the Hart Trophy. Draisaitl is 26, so like McDavid, he has his whole career ahead of him and has that same plague, only one playoff series won. If the duo somehow end up out of Edmonton, they'll most likely be in separate teams, as it would cost teams more than an arm and a leg to get both of them together. At the current moment, goaltending remains an issue, and we could see the Oilers make some deal to get a key player in net. The rest of the season will tell the tale for the Oilers.