With a 5-5-1 record at the time of writing, the Edmonton Oilers are looking little like the team which went all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. At the same time however, they're also not as poor as the version which began the 2023-24 campaign with a 2-9-1 record, that was their worst ever start through 12 games in franchise history.
On balance though, as a collective there is more to dislike that be encouraged by. This includes factors such as ranking fourth-lowest in average goals per game, fifth-worst in power play efficiency and poorest in the NHL on the penalty kill.
Now throw in the fact that Connor McDavid is out for around two-to-three weeks, and this really is a challenging time for the Oilers. And this is reflected in the latest round of NHL power rankings by the various major sports media outlets.
No love from ESPN
Beginning with ESPN, they have been particularly damning of the Oilers, ranking them in 23rd place. Now for what it's worth this ranking was done prior to Thursday night's 5-1 take-down of the Nashville Predators, but it's tough to imagine ESPN would have placed them much higher even with this positive result accounted for.
Next we turn to USA Today, who have ranked the Oilers at number 17, which does take into account the Predators result. Mary Clarke makes reference to the McDavid injury, how they need to dig their way out of another hole, and overall is off to a disappointing start in 2024-25.
Over at NHL.com, it's little surprise their panel of 15 voters as a collective do not have the Oilers ranked in their Super 16. Of note on an individual basis though they do get some love, as Jean-Francois Chaumont has them 16th, Adam Kimelman ranks them 15th and Shawn P. Roarke places them at 14th.
Finally we come to The Athletic, who have been the most optimistic about the Oilers, by ranking them at 14, down two places from last week for what it's worth. Their theme for the week was Halloween-related with a spooky thought for each team, and it's tough to argue with their Oilers pick of Darnell Nurse carrying on from where he left off, with his performances in the playoffs last season.
In general, we don't really have any bones to pick with the various power rankings, and not just because this is a fun and subjective assignment, created to encourage debate. In addition though, it really is tough to pin down where the Oilers should be, other than to say this is an under-performing team which has now also been temporarily weakened by the loss of the best player in the game.