The Edmonton Oilers dropped there season opener Saturday in Gothenburg, Sweden against the New Jersey Devils, 5-2. Center depth remains a very real question after game 1.
The offseason narrative surrounding the Edmonton Oilers has been the disastrous 2017-18 campaign, and whether they have the pieces to bounce back this season. The simple answer is yes. Anytime you have the best player in the sport, you have a chance.
Outside of Connor McDavid, is the supporting cast adequate enough? After McDavid and Leon Draisitl, there was a significant drop off in point production from the forwards. RNH has the skill set, but injuries have been to common to fully expect a big offensive season.
The decision to put Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the wing with Mcdavid gives the Oilers the potential for a dynamic duo on the first line, but it also weakens the team down the middle. Depth at the center ice position is crucial to success in the National Hockey league. As we saw in this game, Todd Mclellan was forced to put Draisitl and Mcdavid together to try and get back in the game. Further weakening the teams center depth.
A one-two punch of McDavid and Draisitl is formidable, but the depth after that should give the team, and fans some concern.
So the question is. Are the Oilers deep enough down the middle to be a contender?
Ryan Strome
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Not much needs to be said about the Oilers top two centers. We all know what to expect from Mcdavid, and while Draisitl can be inconsistent at times, he should be in the 75-80 point bracket.
The question marks start in the 3 hole. Ryan Strome has faced unfair criticism since the Islanders traded him to Edmonton for Jordan Eberle. Eberle was a really good player in his time in Edmonton, and while the Taylor Hall trade made some sense, it was lopsided, and this trade was even worse.
Strome hasn’t lived up to the hype of being the 5th overall pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft. His career high of 50 points in 14-15 are by far his career high, and he hasn’t surpassed his career high of 17 goals that same season. Strome is a highly skilled player. Being highly skilled doesn’t always lead to high-end point production in the NHL.
40-50 points is a reasonable expectation for Strome. Nothing earth-shattering, but what would be really good production from the 3C. A slow start from Strome may force Todd Mclellen to break up the Mcdavid, RNH duo in order to be deeper down the middle. The deeper a team is at center, the harder it is for the opposing team to matchup. Strome needs to be good.
Kyle Brodziak
This is a homecoming of some sorts for the 34-year-old Kyle Brodziak. Brodziak started his NHL career with the Oilers in the 2006-07 season but wasn’t full time until the following year. Point production isn’t the end all be all with Brodziak. His role is to be a responsible two-way player, that will also help the Oilers abysmal penalty kill from last season.
As it stands right now, Tobias Rieder and Zack Kassian are penciled in on Brodziak’s wings, giving that line two big bodies that can get the puck down low to create a cycle game, while having Reider add some skill to the trio.
This line won’t ever look pretty when they are on the ice, but they can chip in some offence from time to time. This line won’t get a lot of 5v5 ice time, but with the style that they play, they don’t need a lot of ice time to make a positive impact.
The common belief with coaches and fans about their teams’ fourth line, is just don’t lose the 4th line battle. Unless there is an icing, where the opposing coach can get a mismatch against the Oilers 4th, fourth lines will play against each other. All that will be asked of this line is to not get scored on and create energy for the team.
Final Thoughts
The Edmonton Oilers have the best player in the NHL. Having Connor McDavid as the number 1 center covers up other weaknesses on the team. He will get his 115+ points this season, and Draisitl should be around the 80 point threshold. The uncertainty of the second line is what will Lucic provide, and can Yamamoto stick with the big club all year?
One game is an incredibly small sample size of an NHL season, but Yamamoto looks like he still needs some seasoning in Junior, and outside of Mcdavid, Lucic was the Edmonton Oilers best player today. That’s both bad and good. Lucic playing well is obviously a good thing for the Oilers, but if he is one of the teams best players on a given night, don’t expect good results for the team.
Overall, the Edmonton Oilers looked lost against the Devils. Sloppy play is expected in the first game of the season, but the number of mental errors was astounding. The team just didn’t look prepared to play. Hockey players are creatures of habit so maybe we can chalk this up to playing in another country.
Either way, some of last years downfalls showed their ugly head last night. If the Oilers are going to return to the postseason, the team can’t be bad when Mcdavid is not on the ice. He needs help, and without it, another long season awaits.