It truly has been a challenging time for the Edmonton Oilers since the end of January, with a subpar record of just 6-9-1 in their past 16 games. As a result, they have gone from having a genuine chance of competing for the best record in the Western Conference and the NHL as a whole, to fighting to even have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Despite this run of poor form, it would seem that there are still plenty of people who believe in the Oilers, or at least aren't panicking to the same extent as a lot of fans. And this is reflected in the latest round of NHL power rankings, by some of the main North American sports media outlets.
We begin with The Athletic (subscription required), who haven't even moved the Oilers down from their ranking last week of 10th place. And keep in mind said ranking does not include the latest game against the New York Islanders, which saw the team escape with a 2-1 win in overtime.
For this week's theme The Athletic checked in on the longest-tenured players on each team, which included Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in Edmonton. It was quite rightly pointed out how he is off the pace compared to recent campaigns with his points production and that he really does need to step up in a season where the Oilers' bottom six is offering little as a collective.
Oilers not so super at the moment
Next we turn to NHL.com's Super 16, with them keeping the Oilers in 11th place like last week, albeit it doesn't include the two most recent games. Among the 14 voters individually, Mike Zeisberger has the most faith by ranking them seventh, whereas Mike G. Morreale doesn't include them in his Super 16 full stop.
Turning to Bleacher Report, it is another case of status quo, as they also keep the Oilers in 11th place for a second consecutive week. Lyle Fitzsimmons is entirely justified in mentioning those who criticized the Oilers for not bringing in a goalie, with Stuart Skinner's post-trade deadline returns seeing him allow a combined 10 goals and post a .857 save percentage in three games.
Finally we come to Sportsnet, who also have the Oilers ranked in 11th place, with our overall feeling being that the sports media outlets have it about right with this team. And with St. Patrick's Day coming on Monday, we leave you with an Irish style limerick from Ryan Dixon, who writes: 'Last spring they made it all the way to playoff win No. 15/But if the Oilers can’t get that final victory, what does any of it mean?'
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