Edmonton Oilers: What’s Wrong With Jordan Eberle

Over the last 10 games, the Edmonton Oilers are 3-6-1. After dropping a home-and-home to the Arizona Coyotes over the weekend, concerns raised over one player: Jordan Eberle.

The 2008 first-round pick is one of the core members of the Oilers, but of late, his play has been on the decline. While he does have 17 points in 23 games, only seven of those are goals for the sharp-shooting winger. Also, he is a minus-6, and has appeared sluggish so far this year.

So the question rings: what’s wrong with Eberle, and what will Edmonton do to fix it?

Shooting Off Target

Of late, the 26-year-old has been shooting off target. He has a plethora of missed or blocked shots, and despite being dished quality passes from Connor McDavid and company, he can’t muster up a good shot on goal

Not only that, but out of 69 shots on goal this season, only seven have gone in. By the same token, he has 22 missed shots on net and 30 attempted shots that were blocked. These are not good numbers for a sniper who has been working on one-timers in the off-season.

Eberle is a seasoned veteran who should be used to shooting the puck and making the most of his chances. With some of the best playmakers in the NHL skating alongside him, he is equipped to score multiple goals and become an elite NHL sniper. However, he appears sluggish, and doesn’t get too involved in the rush, despite plenty of time on ice at even strength and on the man advantage.

An example of this can be seen on the power-play. He’ll get multiple passes across the slot that put him in perfect shooting position, but he misses the net. Even when given space to set up a shooting lane, Eberle can’t connect. If he wants to start putting up numbers, he’s going to have to start aiming in the right places.

Backchecking Struggles

In addition to his offensive woes, EBerle struggles on the backend. Though he boasts a 3.6 relative Fenwick, he is a minus-6, and as we’ve seen, analytics don’t always tell a true story.

The Saskatchewan-born winger appears lazy and tired on defense, and doesn’t play a complete all-around game. In fact, many mistakes by him have led to goals against for the Oilers. Let’s take a look at a play from Sunday’s 2-1 loss against the Coyotes.

Watch Eberle on this play. He is not covering Jamie McGinn at all, and doesn’t seem to worry too much about covering his man. Eberle is caught standing with his hands in his pockets, and isn’t covering anyone. This leaves McGinn all alone to strike on a perfect shot, and give the Coyotes a very late lead.

While none of the other Oilers on the ice saw McGinn, they were all covering their men in the corner. Eberle was alone in front, unsure of what to do or where to go. He put no effort in defending, and it led to an eventual loss for Edmonton.

These plays are going to plague the Oilers, who currently sit atop the Pacific Division. If they want to win, they can’t allow goals late, meaning all of their players need to be alert and aware on the backcheck.

Bottom Line

Eberle doesn’t deserve Schultz-like hate that drove other players out of town. He has a lot of potential to improve his game, because all he has to do is apply himself. If Eberle put in more effort on goal-scoring or even back-checking, he wouldn’t struggle with getting pucks on net or covering the right man.

Next: Edmonton Oilers: Matthew Benning on the Rise

Although, with the Oilers having plenty of right wingers stepping up in their arsenal, Eberle is no longer the team’s top man. While he’s become more expendable, Edmonton should definitely try to help fix him before shipping him off for spare parts.