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So much was right with the Edmonton Oilers heading into the holiday break with three straight wins. Their stretch of success goes back further than that, though. The Oilers nabbed victories in eight of their last nine contests and 11 of 13 to vault themselves up the NHL standings after an iffy first quarter.
Advertisement They’re now the Stanley Cup contender everyone thought they would be. The sustained period of excellence, along with what they endured earlier on, possibly provides an understanding of what’s to come. These are five notable stats so far — and what it could mean for the Oilers the rest of this season.
27 This is the number of man games lost due to injury or illness after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was held out of Sunday’s game because he was sick. This excludes Evander Kane , who, of course, has missed the entire season to date . Oilers management knew that would be the case, though, and has planned accordingly — or at least tried to.
That’s not to discount Kane’s absence. The Oilers having to manage without him hasn’t been insignificant for a couple of reasons. On the ice, they’re lacking a true top-nine winger, and a healthy and motivated Kane fills that void with ease.
Plus, when it comes to team composition, GM Stan Bowman has tried his darndest to keep Kane on the active roster and out of LTIR to accrue cap space toward the trade deadline. The Oilers didn’t have any roster issues until Connor McDavid sustained an ankle injury on the first shift of their 10th game. They’ve been in and out of LTIR ever since thanks to injuries to Darnell Nurse , Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson .
Still, they’ve done enough at this point to add $3.5 million to the roster by the March 7 deadline, per PuckPedia. They could increase their daily rate by ditching a forward after the holiday trade freeze expires if they so choose, too.
Maintaining good health is paramount to this group. Staying out of LTIR for as much time as possible increases their chances of a bigger addition or two later in the season. 62.
9 This is the expected goals percentage for Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak in 182 minutes together at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Advertisement The combination of improved play from Nurse and Kulak’s ability to handle more important and varied minutes has been vital to the Oilers. The big question mark heading into training camp was who would play with Nurse after the departures of Philip Broberg , Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais in the offseason.
Those concerns only grew louder after the first couple weeks as Nurse rotated through Ty Emberson , Travis Dermott and Troy Stecher on his right side. It wasn’t until the end of October that Kulak, a fellow lefty, was tossed into the mix, first on occasion and increasingly with more regularity. Nurse and Kulak still get steady shifts with main partners Stecher and Emberson, respectively.
It’s the work of Nurse and Kulak as a sometimes tandem might be the most pleasant aspect of the team’s season. In addition to that expected-goals percentage, they are also top 10 in the NHL among duos that have 150 minutes at five-on-five with a 66.7 goals percentage and a 58.
4 Corsi for percentage, per Natural Stat Trick. This is elite stuff. The top duo of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard has been very good but a bit more inconsistent and, as a result, not quite at their outstanding level from last season.
Still, the emergence of Nurse-Kulak has given the Oilers a solid top four on defence, despite its patchwork nature. The Oilers might be able to make only one significant addition before the deadline because of cap reasons coupled with few enticing assets — a limited prospect pipeline and diminished draft capital. Continued excellence from Nurse and Kulak could allow management to focus more attention on a forward instead.
12:04 This is Jeff Skinner ’s average ice time over the last 19 games, starting with Nov. 12 when he played 8:53 against the New York Islanders . The Oilers who’ve played less per game during that span: Drake Caggiula (now in the minors), Derek Ryan , Travis Dermott (waived and claimed by Minnesota ) and Corey Perry .
The difference between Perry and Skinner is just six seconds. Advertisement It feels like Skinner is so far to the periphery when it comes to having an impactful role with the Oilers that he might as well not be in the picture at all. The Oilers courted him quickly after the Buffalo Sabres bought him out in June, believing he could be an upgrade as a scoring winger compared to what they had in that position last season.
The fit couldn’t be more wrong right now. Skinner showed no signs of chemistry with either superstar centre, first Leon Draisaitl and then Connor McDavid and was knocked out of the top six before the first homestand. He’s basically been banished from that spot in the lineup ever since.
Shifts there have been few and far between. Skinner was mostly on the fourth grouping when the Oilers were forced to use 11 forwards for a few games in November. He couldn’t get a promotion when Hyman and Arvidsson were out of the lineup at the same time.
Ditto for Sunday with Nugent-Hopkins sidelined. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are playing really well right now,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. Skinner has been passed over by someone who was dumped by a division rival, Vasily Podkolzin , and someone who the Oilers plucked off waivers, Kasperi Kapanen .
Those players provide some combination of speediness and effectiveness in retrieving pucks, which mesh well with Draisaitl’s game. Those traits aren’t some of Skinner’s best. Making matters worse for Skinner is there’s been no interest from the coaching staff in using him in non-five-on-five situations like four-on-four, three-on-three or six-on-five.
Second power-play opportunities haven’t been a given, either. Before playing 11:50 on Sunday, Skinner skated 7:53 and 8:06 in the team’s previous two contests. Something has to give in the next few weeks.
A healthy forward group when Kane returns means Skinner’s place in the lineup could be in jeopardy — especially with Bowman and his staff aiming to augment the roster before the trade deadline. Skinner, on a one-year, $3 million contract with a no-movement clause, has his share of power when it comes to his short-term future. Advertisement .
921 This is their NHL-best team save percentage since Nov. 23, per Natural Stat Trick, which encompasses their run of 11 wins in the last 13 games. Stuart Skinner has a .
923 clip in nine games during that span. He’s posted an in-game save percentage of at least that in eight of the nine starts. The loss to the Florida Panthers last Monday was the only blip on the radar.
“I’m just trying to do my part here,” Skinner said. “I’m trying to play as solid as I possibly can every single night and give my team a chance to win every single night. “That’s what I’m here to do, and I’m going to keep on trying to do that.
” Team defence greatly factors into the equation here. No NHL club has allowed fewer high-danger chances in all situations, according to Natural Stat Trick, than the Oilers since that Nov. 23 cutoff point.
But goaltending from Skinner and Calvin Pickard , who has a .914 save percentage over his last four starts, has been much improved. There’s still a long way to go considering Skinner’s save percentage on the season is .
895 and Pickard’s is .901. The point is the Oilers got by with average goaltending for the first quarter of the season.
They’ve emerged as a legit contender with solid work between the pipes. Knoblauch and the players often say they want the game to be predictable in front of their goaltenders. There’s bound to be a greater emphasis on that philosophy into the new year.
32 This is the number of games with Adam Henrique as the third-line centre — all but two that the Oilers have played. The only exceptions came in early November when Nugent-Hopkins was slotted as the third pivot for a pair of contests, yet Henrique remained on that line. Henrique has played just 4:28 with McDavid and 9:21 with Draisaitl.
Those amounts are essentially scraps from leftover meals piled up. Henrique, a regular top-six forward in his career, hasn’t had any time in that role. Henrique’s play can certainly improve — he scored Sunday for the first time since Nov.
16 — but it’s no wonder we’re nearing the halfway point and he’s recorded just three goals and 10 points. Advertisement An issue is the Oilers have lost some of their roster flexibility. Trading Ryan McLeod certainly had its merits as it allowed the Oilers to shed $2.
1 million when they had huge cap issues in July. Getting Matt Savoie back helped them get a bit younger — at least once he joins the team on a full-time basis either later this season or next — and augments a weak prospect base. But removing McLeod from the lineup has posed issues aside from losing his speed and penalty killing acumen.
It’s also meant the coaching staff basically has no alternative to playing Henrique at third-line centre, a position he and McLeod shared down the stretch last season. Henrique re-signed with the Oilers because he was comfortable in Edmonton and wanted to play for a contender, so his scaled-back role is the least of his worries. He still plays on the top penalty kill and gets second power-play duties.
“The depth we have, it helps create (success),” Henrique said. If the Oilers want more offence from Henrique, they’ll likely have to tweak their roster before the deadline to give him some chances in the top six. Otherwise, Henrique will have to find ways to chip in when he can.
(Photo of Darnell Nurse and Stuart Skinner: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images).
