Edmonton Oilers Not Just A One-Player Team
I completely understand the disappointment of Edmonton Oilers fans, over the loss of Connor McDavid. In fact, I share in it. But proclaiming the season “lost”, because of it, is an emotional overreaction. That is because the Edmonton Oilers are no longer a one-player team.
A lot of other things have transpired for this team since last season’s sour finale, the most notable of which certainly being the winning of the NHL lottery, and the ultimate drafting of Connor McDavid 1st Over-all. But I would argue that this very development led directly to the Edmonton Oilers making other vital changes that have made the club better…Connor McDavid or no Connor McDavid:
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-A new General Manager, in Peter Chiarelli. An experienced NHL G.M. was brought in to help sculpt this team around a generational talent. And he has done good work so far, within the financial parameters handed to him when he first got the keys to the car. They include…
-A new Coach, in Todd McLellan. McLellan knows how to implement an effective NHL system. He is also a good assessor of talent, skilled at finding the right spot in the roster for the appropriate talent to thrive in. McLellan has given a much-needed “center” to an uneven roster, including…
-A superior power play to last year. So far this season, even without 2014-15 leading scorer Jordan Eberle in the rotation, is 8th, firing at 22.2%. That’s a substantial improvement over the miserable 19th place finish of a year ago, at 17.7%. This serves to limit how physical other clubs can be with them, ans the potential punishment is way more lethal.
–Stability and growth for the youngest members of the roster. Peter Chiarelli did not panic and trade “prospects for parts”, as many suggested he perhaps should. As a result, a matured Leon Draiaitl is off to a terrific start, Nail Yakupov appears re-born, and Darnell Nurse is a Top-4 NHL D-Man.
-A fresh start for Taylor Hall, who has been nothing short of spectacular. A player who at times last year looked as if the hard-life of being an Edmonton Oiler was really wearing on him has looked electric, so far in 2015, and is in the Top 5 in NHL scoring…without playing with McDavid on his line.
-I want to say the Edmonton Oilers goaltending is better, too, and for 11 of the 13 games so far this season, it has been. Both Cam Talbot and Anders Nilsson have had one real stinker each. But if you erase those from your memory, the goalies HAVE been better. Do they need more consistency, though? Yes.
You can argue that the very presence of Connor McDavid has helped foster all of the above. Sure. But did we ever believe that Mark Messier would have been nothing without Wayne Gretzky? Of course not. Complimentary, certainly. But Messier was his own player, and proved that by winning a cup after #99 had moved on.
As it stands today, the Edmonton Oilers are 6 points out of a playoff spot in the West. If they can hang in through the rest of November and December, with a schedule more favorable that the start of the season was…then they are getting McDavid back, Justin Schultz back, and in a position to push.
Is that an “IF”, that I just wrote. Yep. Losing Connor McDavid hurts, no qustion. But because the organization had done some very good things around him, McDavid can reasonably hope that when he returns (in early January?) there will still be many meaningful games left to play.