Are the Edmonton Oilers forwards (already) better than last season?

This is the third and the last of a three-parts article analyzing the differences between the 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers, who got to the Western Conference Finals and this season team, who all the supporters root for getting even further.

The first part is just about the goalie position, with all the changes from last year, and you can read it here. The second is focused on the Oilers’ defense, and you can check it on the link here.

This article will be all about the forwards of the Edmonton Oilers

If the defense and the goalies were the main issues last season, we absolutely can’t say the same about the offensive side of the team.

The Oilers got into the Western Conference Finals and can dream about winning the whole thing most due to his forwards.

And we can’t talk about it and don’t mention Connor McDavid. With only 25 years old he is already a generational player and always get mentioned on discussions about the greatest of all time. And last season he finally returned to fell how it is to be on a deep playoff run, what he didn’t felt since the 2017 playoffs.

He is motivated.

He knows the time to win is now.

He comes from one of his best seasons, with 123 points in just 80 games on regular season winning the Art Ross Trophy for the 4th time in his career.

Connor and the whole Oilers organization were in need of a good playoff run. And that’s exactly what happened last year.

With 33 points in only 16 games, he led the NHL playoffs in points even playing only until the Western Conference Finals.

These amazing stats brought also some unforgettable moments for every Oilers’ fan, such as his OT goal on game 5 to eliminate the Flames at the Saddledome, which we’ll never be tired of watching.

We already know Connor can be the best player on ice in every single game he plays. If we add more fuel to his playing abilities, a great and stable coaching staff and a reliable defense, he can keep improving, keep getting more and more individual trophies but mostly, be confident to finally win it all for Edmonton.

But not even Wayne Gretzky won his four Stanley Cups by himself, and for sure Connor won’t as well. But he has excellent players alongside him, and one of the most essential players for the team is Leon Draisaitl.

The 3rd pick of the 2014 draft is coming from his best scoring season, with 55 goals in 80 games played on regular season, and just as Connor McDavid, he finally got to fell once again how sweet it is to play hockey in the post season, having 32 points in 16 games, only behind the 33 points McDavid had. As we can see by his numbers:

When it comes to Leon Draisaitl, there’s a fairly good chance he’ll continue producing at the rate he’s been at over the last few seasons. He’s clearly in his prime, has done well staying healthy and has put up 304 all-situation points in 207 games over the last three seasons. That’s second only behind Connor McDavid (325 points) and 50 points ahead of third place Jonathan Huberdeau (254 points). Feels like 100 points is a reasonable target for the 24-year-old, and there’s a good chance he’ll surpass that.

But nobody can forget that the Draisaitl we all saw playing great was an injured Draisaitl. We can only imagine (for now) and hope to see what the German is capable of do when healthy and more motivated than ever. Here is what Leon said about his injury on the playoffs:

“The game after, I was trying to push off and I just had no pop, no jump,” the superstar said during an interview on Sportsnet’s “32 Thoughts: The Podcast.” “I was getting frustrated with it because I was like, ‘I can’t beat guys, I don’t know what to do now.’ … I just had to change my game a little bit, slow it down even more, if that’s even possible.” He said his status was questionable ahead of the Oilers’ series-clinching win against Los Angeles. “I actually skated in the morning … to try and test it out, and it was awful. It was so bad, I could barely stand up,” he said. “But, then the adrenaline kicks in and you’re warming up and you see 10,000 people in the stands already. … It becomes a lot easier.”

Hockey is not a sport for only two players, and the Oilers were able to fix this issue bringing excellent names last year.

One of them was Zach Hyman, who from the first moment in Edmonton already played great, earning a lot of minutes with McDavid on the first line and had the best season of his career in points, with 54 on 76 games of the regular season and being the player with most points not named McDavid or Draisaitl on the team.

On the playoffs, he was the second with most goals of Edmonton and the third of all NHL, with 11 on 20 GP, only behind his teammate Evander Kane and Nathan MacKinnon.

With another full season and stability on the coaching staff, Hyman is another player who can deliver even more, playing either with McDavid or Draisaitl.

But if one player will finally face some stability on the NHL, it is Evander Kane. Only speaking about his on ice performance and actions here, he just signed a new 4-year 20.5M contract with the team, worth 5.125M AAV.

He was other player who delivered on his first games with the Oilers and showed he is still an elite NHL player. He could’ve earned a better contract in other team, but he choose to stay in a team he believes can fight for the cup.

Kane, who scored 13 goals on only 15 playoff games and led the NHL playoffs on goals, brings strength to the first line, such in ability and physical, leading the NHL playoffs in PIM too, with 37. Kane said the following about staying in Edmonton:

(…) “This is a great opportunity. This group, this organization. You know, from the top down with Kenny (Holland) and Jay (Woodcroft), Connor (McDavid) and (Leon Draisaitl) and those guys. It was hard to pass up and having an opportunity to truly compete for a Stanley Cup and hopefully hoist one here on a Canadian team. “I’ve embedded myself in this team. I’m happy to be here,” “Honestly, ever since I landed at the airport back in January, everybody’s treated me really well. The fans, the community have been great, and that only continued to rise as time went on. It was no different coming back for the opening of the season.”

Finishing the probable top 6 forward, the Oilers have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, which is the player of the team who spent most time with the team.

And we all know how much someone who is with the Oilers since 2011 deserves some good playoffs runs and finally be able to fight for the cup.

The first pick of that year played most of last season on third line and was great, but the coaches and the fans all know he can still be valuable and worth some top 6 minutes if needed. With his 8-year contract signed last year, he is another one who believes on this team more than ever.

Let’s talk now about the ones who almost left the team for this season and were set to an arbitration for their contract, which are Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto.

Starting with Puljujarvi, he just signed a one-year contract and we all know he isn’t the player who the primary stats tell the whole story.

With only 3 points on 16 GP played of the NHL playoffs, the 4th overall pick of the 2016 draft can for sure produce more on the ice, especially playing with McDavid and Draisaitl, but he’s nothing near a bad NHL player. His forecheck, number of pucks recovered and his defensive playing are among the best on the league, as we can see on the stats below.

Puljujarvi is Edmonton’s best forechecker, as his forecheck pressures per hour rank higher than 97% of the NHL. Alongside this, Puljujarvi’s offensive zone takeaways, zone exit, and puck retrieval stats rank well above average as well. it was mentioned that SportLogIQ (a proprietary data company that numerous NHL teams use) placed Puljujarvi in the top-third of the league in offensive zone pucks recovered, rebounds recovered, and puck battle wins. This is the primary explanation for Puljujarvi’s marvellous 5v5 defensive metrics. He does an excellent job at forcing turnovers, retrieving pucks, winning board battles, and keeping the play in the offensive zone for his linemates, resulting in superb possession results. In 2021-22, the McDavid line allowed 1.5 goals against per hour with Puljujarvi, while they allowed 2.9 goals against per hour without Puljujarvi.

With Kailer Yamamoto, he signed a 2-year contract and comes from one of his best years on the team, scoring 20 goals and 41 points in regular season, but on the playoffs he had 7 points on 14 GP, with a plus-minus of -6.

Such as Puljujarvi, we know he has the potential to produce even more with time and good coaching. Yamamoto’s potential already was presented to the world with the “DRY Line” of 2019-20 with him, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins, which gave Draisaitl a Hart Memorial, Art Ross and Ted Lindsey award that season and showed that Yamo can score 26 points in only 27 games.

He can not only be better, but make the other players around him better too, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the bottom 6 this season, playing with even younger players, such as Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway.