Edmonton Oilers Re-Vamp Power Play

Edmonton Oilers fans who follow my columns will know that the main gist of last night’s post-game breakdown (if you will pardon the pun) was how the power play let the team down when it needed it most. In fact, while it is easy (and not wrong) to blame the 4 losses so far this season on a handful off serious mind-cramps, you can just as easily make the case that the Oilers could be 2-and-2, even 3-and-1, if the power play had just scored once per game. Once!

So…what to do?

TRADE!!!

Well, lots if fans would love to have a trade. But I don’t see a major acquisition happening right now. Most of the assets that the Edmonton Oilers possess that would bring a decent return would subsequently leave gaping holes elsewhere in the lineup if they were to leave town. And as much as Peter Chiarelli would like to make the playoffs this season, I have no doubt that he is a realist who sees this as a building (not RE-building) year. Now’s not the time to give up on the kids. Speaking of which…

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PROMOTE!!!

I agree: Leon Draisaitl would help this power play. He is arguably the very best passer in the organization, a skill that may be beneficial…he said, tongue firmly planted in cheek. But as stated above, this season (and this roster) looks and smells like a building one. So Draisaitl may be ticketed for Bakersfield until at least until after Christmas. But even if that’s the case, there ARE a few other options in the AHL that could help, short-term: Andrew Miller is a faster, slightly less skilled Jordan Eberle. And Brad Hunt, for all of his failings on the other side of the puck, CAN move it through the neutral zone and shoot it like a bugger. Failing that, though, I guess the Oilers could always…

WAIT!!!

Related to the above, if the Edmonton Oilers could just afford to be patient, then Jordan Eberle would be back in the power play in a month, and Draisaitl by mid-season. Would that help? Getting back your leading scorer (Eberle) from 3 of the past 5 years? Uh-huh, sure would. But by that time, it is sadly possible that the Oilers could already be out of the playoff picture. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want yet another Oilers season done by Halloween. That’s all Trick and no Treat whatsoever. Which leaves only one option for Todd McLellan…

SHUFFLE!!!

“Shuffle”, it is! The units McLellan rolled out on Friday at practice were as follows:

UNIT 1: Connor McDavid, Andrej Sekera, Nail Yakupov, Benoit Pouliot, Mark Letestu.
UNIT 2: Taylor Hall, Anton Lander, Teddy Purcell, Justin Schultz, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

That, to my eye, is a better balance than what we have seen up until now:

Possession: While Mark Letestu is not your prototypical power play ace, to say the least, he does bring one important thing to that 1st Unit: Prowess in the face-off circle. A drought in the dot Thursday night sent the Oilers back into their zone to retrieve over and over again. Anton Lander (typically) can bring the same thing to the 2nd Unit. And while he is at it, McLellan should stop trying to stack one side on face-offs. With no man on the center-point, a lost face-off is rung around the boards and out in seconds. That system only works if your possession is well above 50%.

Zone Entry: Connor McDavid (all 18 years of him, no pressure, kid) on Unit #1, Justin Schultz (ok, ok, stop it) on Unit #2. They both have the tools.

Net Front Presence: Benoit Pouliot on Unit #1, Anton Lander on Unit #2. Not exactly Ryan Smyth, but they can do the job.

Shooters: Yakupov on Unit 1, Taylor Hall on Unit 2. Check. Double-check. This should be JUST fine.

Even without Eberle and Draisaitl, those new pairings do check off a lot of boxes, don’t they? Or, at least, they had better hope so, or Saturday night in Calgary won’t go so well.

The Oilers are fast and creative enough to draw penalties. Since they lack brawn. their aggressiveness must be drawn from man-advantage opportunities.

Bring on the Flames.

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