Edmonton Oilers Mid-way Point Report Card

The Edmonton Oilers have hit the half-point of their NHL regular season, with a 17-21-3 record, 2 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division. What follows are player grades (A+ to F), for each player who has played at least one game on the active roster.

GOALTENDERS

Cam Talbot. B. His bad moments have been bad, but his good moments have been exceptional and have started to become more frequent. The real test for most back-ups is: Can they do it over 50-60 games? The jury is still out on Talbot, in that respect.

Anders Nilsson. B-. If not for an exceptionally strong stretch by him, this talk of playoffs never would have happened. But he eventually showed tendencies that suggest he’s a very good back-up, and not a starter.

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DEFENCEMEN

Oscar Klefbom. B+. When healthy, he has been the Edmonton Oilers best defenceman, and seemingly personified what Todd McLellan values in a D-man: Physical, mobile, can carry, pass and shoot. The complete package. Just needs to stay healthy & consistent.

Andrej Sekera. B. A rough start, attributed to a new team, new conference, new coach. I buy that, as his last 15-20 games have been flat-out excellent. I’d score him higher, but the start WAS a little scary.

Darnell Nurse. B-. You can see regular glimpses of just how good this kid is going to be. Sure, he makes rookies mistakes. But he’s playing big minutes and most of the time, pulls it off admirably.

Brandon Davidson. B-. Who thought he would even see an NHL game this season? He has only turned into a solid, steady D-man with decent 1st pass skills.

Eric Gryba. C. At his best, the big man can really crush a cycle, but when he tries to do too much with the puck, he’s not fast enough to save himself.

Brad Hunt. C-. Small sample, but has moved the puck quite well, and looks to be better on his feet and more willing to take the man. A Tweener.

Justin Schultz. D. Showed signs of a better defensive game, early, but when his offence abandoned him, so did his confidence, leading to issues at both ends.

Andrew Ference. D-. Was a fringe roster player to begin with, before the flu and 2 separate injuries have left him on the I.R. longer term.

Mark Fayne. D-. A deep disappointment. I’m not sot sure if it has been his iffy play or that his style is just not Todd McLellan‘s cup of tea.

Nikita Nikitin. F. Nikki never did get on track, and save for a handful of decent periods, he was mostly terrible, thus his two stints in the AHL.

FORWARDS

Taylor Hall. A+. The best player on the ice, on either team, most nights, this is probably the best hockey Taylor Hall has ever played. He has pushed the river and been the defacto Captain. All Star. Possible Hart Trophy candidate.

Leon Draisaitl. A. The kid has been an absolute revelation for the Edmonton Oilers, developing a spectacular chemistry with Hall, while displaying his vision, passing, puck protection skills and much-improved acceleration.

Connor McDavid. A. Prior to injury, he was performing like a Top 10 NHL forward, staggering for an 18-year old. Set aside his first 4 games, and he was absolutely spectacular. What a player.

Teddy Purcell. B+. Countless fans wanted Purcell bought out over the summer, but he has showed why he was able to compliment the Stamkos line in Tampa Bay.

Jordan Eberle. B. Injury delayed the start of his season, and took him another 30 days to catch up. Has been his old self since, 2nd on team in goals.

Matt Hendricks. B. His relative lack of offence is all that keeps Hendricks at a “B”. While injured, it showed how much they missed his grit.

Benoit Pouliot. B-. This has been Pouliot’s NHL history: At times, he has looked like a legit Top-6 Forward. At times, though, Bottom-6.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. B-. His worst season since coming into the league, who saw this coming? Flu seemed to knock the steam out of him.

Mark Letestu. C+. Perhaps an overly harsh grade, but too many times, I have found myself wondering how much of an upgrade he was over Boyd Gordon?

Nail Yakupov. C+. Caught fire on the McDavid line, but cooled considerably after Connor’s injury, before suffering his own.

Lauri Korpikoski. C. Has been a serviceable Bottom-6 winger, decent penalty killer, and has provided a little offence, too.

Jujhar Khaira. C-. While the call-up has looked pretty good at times, he does not have much to show for it in the results category.

Rob Klinkhammer. C-. Hurt quite a bit, a C- is about what he’s capable of when healthy. 4th Line guy. Good on fore check,

Luke Gazdic. C-. Probably the best actual hockey of his career, but the debate is now whether that improvement has come at the expense of his grit?

Anton Lander. D+. A bitter disappointment. After a spectacular pre-season, Lander has laid an egg on offence, and even his defensive game has been spotty.

Iiro Pakarinen. D. Has had a handful of moments, but has been plagued by both injury and inconsistency since his re-call.

Anton Slepyshev. D-. How far has he fallen? Started the season on the Edmonton Oilers #1 line. Now, he’s underwhelming in Bakersfield, even.

Andrew Miller. D-. Showed much less than last year’s stint, Miller’s lack of size was badly exposed, despite above-average speed.

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Finally, consider that the Edmonton Oilers have lost more man games to injury this season than any other team in the NHL, and their record (while already a substantial improvement over last season) starts to look better still.

Bring on Game 42!

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