It's somewhat hard to believe that we're already effectively at the halfway point of the 2024-25 NHL regular season, although I've heard plenty of people talk about how quickly last year went in general, which I'm actually in agreement with. In any event, The Athletic has unveiled their report cards for the Edmonton Oilers and the rest of the NHL (subscription required).
For a better understanding of the assignment, The Athletic asked their NHL staff to assign a grade for all 32 NHL teams, with expectations in mind. This meant looking at how the teams had done to date, and whether they should use the rest of the 2024-25 season to concentrate on contending for the Stanley Cup, short-term progress, or the long-term future.
In respect of the Oilers specifically, it should come as no surprise that The Athletic has them in the cup contender category. As for the grade handed out to them, their B+ comes with the double-edged sword that they are both being capable of and needing to be better over the second half of this season.
Is the Oilers' grade fair or not?
Certainly we can agree with this, when considering how the Oilers started the 2024-25 campaign, along with how they've been playing of late. At one point they had a decidedly average 10-9-2 record through 21 games, but have since gone an extremely impressive 14-3-1.
It should be noted that the Oilers' 24-12-3 record through 39 games compares slightly favourably to their 23-15-1 mark at the same point last season, which ended with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. However, as noted, they do indeed need to be even better moving forward when considering just how dangerous the Vegas Golden Knights look.
Ahead of Sunday's slate of games, the Golden Knights sit six points ahead of the Oilers in the Pacific Division, with their 57 points also representing the most in the NHL as a whole. Oilers fans won't need reminding that the Golden Knights knocked their team out of the playoffs two seasons ago, on the way to winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Where can the team be better?
As talented as the Oilers are, there's no shortage of areas which The Athletic point at needing to improve, including in goal, the power play, and a few key spots in the lineup. How much of this improvement will come internally or need to be made via the trade market, remains to be seen.
In terms of the play in goal, the team save percentage is only 20th in the NHL at the time of writing, while the goals against average is better, at tied-10th lowest. As we wrote recently, Stuart Skinner has been playing a lot better of late and clearly has the talent of a top goaltender, although questions still understandably remain about his ability to be more consistent.
As for the power play, it doesn't seem that bad at tied-11th best for efficiency, but we suspect the criticism comes from how much more this unit is truly capable of. The Oilers are just two seasons removed from setting an NHL record with a 32.4 percent efficiency, while last season they were fourth best.
Key personnel who must improve
As for the few key spots in the lineup, we suspect The Athletic means the likes of Evan Bouchard, Jeff Skinner and Adam Henrique, who are certainly all capable of performing better. You also want to believe that whenever Evander Kane finally returns from injury, he will also provide a boost to the roster.
For the NHL as a whole, The Athletic has just six teams with a better grade than the Oilers, including the Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets leading the way with a A+. The Washington Capitals have a A, while the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs all have an A-.
Overall, we believe The Athletic's B+ grade for the Oilers is fair, when factoring everything in for a team which is indeed performing well overall, but still needs to play even better. Ultimately, their ability to improve is going to be a significant key to making a return trip to the Stanley Cup Final, or falling short.