January 11, 2023 by Raghu Sharma

The Edmonton Oilers are just past at the midway point of the regular season with a record of 21-18-3 for 45 points in 42 games. This currently places the Oilers in the final wild-card position and fifth in the Pacific Division. With the cutoff to make the playoffs trending somewhere in the 93 to 97 point range, the Oilers will need to greatly improve in the season’s second-half to ensure they make the playoffs.

I think its fair to say that this has been a disappointing season after coming off an impressive run to the 2022 Western Conference Final. All final four teams started the season out poorly, but the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers have since recovered in their respective divisions and the more competitive Eastern Conference.

The Colorado Avalanche have not only had to maneuver the loss of key personnel in Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky, as well as injuries to Gabriel Landeskog, and the big contract extension of Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon this season an still find themselves only two points behind the Oilers with three games in hand.

The Oilers on the other hand came back with a fairly similar team to the one that made the playoffs last season. The biggest addition being Jack Campbell and his five-year contract worth $25 million. The Oilers have been through the ringer a bit themselves, but their greatest loss has been Evander Kane in the top-six since he took that brutal skate to the wrist against the Lightning back on November 8.

Outside of that major injury, the Oilers have been relatively healthy on the back end and suffered some injuries to players including Dylan Holloway, Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele at different stretches this season. Some of the biggest reasons for flaws are the dry spells of players including Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto, the inability to play sound defense, good 5v5 play, and the shaky performances from goalie Jack Campbell.

Parity has become a real staying point in the modern NHL. No game is a guaranteed win any longer. Take a look back at the game against the Anaheim Ducks on December 17, where the Oilers lost 4-3 despite putting up 49 shots on goal. In their last seven games, the Oilers are 1-4-2 and have a two-goal lead in four of those losses. Simply put, that is unacceptable if they want to be a threat in the league.

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The Oilers are a team that has relied on the torrid pace of Connor McDavid, who leads the league with 77 points in 42 games, and Leon Draisaitl, who ranks second in league scoring with 62 points in 40 games, the number one power-play unit in the league at 32.2 percent, and above all, the goaltending performance of rookie Stuart Skinner with a 2.88 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.

The Oilers rank 24th in shots allowed per game at 32.5, 23rd on the penalty kill at 74.2 percent. The Oilers are tied for third in goals for at 147, but are 23rd in goals against at 142. All these stats show a lack of commitment to defense as a whole.

What the Oilers need is major help on the back end, namely a stable, two-way defender like Jacob Chychrun. The Oilers spend far too much time hemmed in their own zone and are overplaying their supposed top defenseman Darnell Nurse at 24:05 minutes per game. If the Oilers and General Manager Ken Holland do not act fast, this could become a lost season.

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The Oilers are desperately seeking stability on the blueline, some more goal support from players in the bottom-six and getting goaltender Campbell up and playing to the standard that has been set by Skinner. The next two weeks are crucial for the Oilers as they face six division rivals in a span of seven games. This stretch could easily determine the fate of this group.

It is time for the players to take a look in the mirror and decide how much they genuinely want the chance to compete for, and win the greatest trophy in all of sports – the Stanley Cup.