It's been an interesting time in Edmonton recently, and by interesting, we of course actually mean concerning. After overcoming a second consecutive slow start to a season and getting themselves into a strong position, the Oilers have lost their mojo in the past few weeks.
With a 5-6-1 record in the past 12 games, this Oilers team has come into a subpar run of form at a tough stage of the season. The optics look even worse, when you consider this run has included losing their last three games and allowing a combined 18 goals in the process.
There's little to suggest the Oilers won't make the playoffs, but with home ice advantage to play for, they really do need to right the ship sooner than later. In this respect, general manager Stan Bowman admits he is worried about the team as a whole.
Stan Bowman admits there is room for improvement
Bowman made his comments during an interview with Mark Spector of Sportsnet on Monday, ahead of Tuesday's road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He said:
"Yeah, I'm worried about everything. I mean, part of the job is to be concerned about having not only the right group of players, but also having them perform to their fullest. To be on top of their game. Most of our guys have had good seasons, but not everybody. So there is room for improvement."
At one point Bowman had seemingly overcome the controversy surrounding his hiring by the Oilers. However, this was before the St. Louis Blues made their double offer sheet for Philip Broberg and Ryan McLeod, which caused immediate chaos for everyone concerned.
Some will argue it's easy to make a point with the benefit of hindsight. However, even at the time of Bowman deciding to let both players walk, we did contend they should have kept one of them, even allowing for the high cost of matching either of the offers.
Fairly or not, Stuart Skinner getting a lot of blame
Of course all of this was taking place before any games were actually played and -- as Bowman mentioned to Spector -- certain players have not had good seasons. Arguably the prime example of this is Stuart Skinner, which is not good when we're talking about your main goalie.
We've gone to great lengths time and again, to stress how talented Skinner is, how the players in front of him have left him hung out to dry far too often, and just in general what a tremendous teammate he is. However, even allowing for all of this, you can't get around the reality that he has just been too inconsistent for a number one.
Consider that at the time of writing, Skinner is projected to set a whole host of single season worsts, including save percentage, GAA, RBS, GA percentage and GSAA. This is not good. (We're not including his first NHL season in 2020-21, because he only played in one game.)
Interestingly though, as noted by Oil On Whyte's Devon Hladunewich, Bowman has still not made a move for a goalie upgrade, even with the trade deadline now less than two weeks away. This is down to a number of reasons, which have almost created a perfect storm (in a manner of speaking).
Stan Bowman says too much focus put on goalie play
As per Hladunewich, these reasons include faith in Skinner, salary cap limitations and the cost of making a trade. However, it's also about Bowman believing too much is being made of any goalie woes, as he said:
"There tends to be a lot of noise around the goaltending position, league-wide. Because when the puck goes in, it's like, either that was a good goal or a bad goal. I just think there's a lot of attention given to that. I'm not sure it's the most productive conversation all the time."
This alludes to Bowman not putting too much emphasis on recent results, and effectively mirroring his coach Kris Knoblauch, who is renowned for always appearing cool and calm under pressure. The Oilers general manager said:
"Nobody played well enough last weekend. They’ve all got to play better. But for a large sample size this season we’ve been a pretty good team — and not because of one or two players."
The thing is though, it's not just about the last weekend, with our aforementioned points about the past 12 games as a collective. Yes this is a supremely talented team which can play with anyone on their day, but there is still a need for more consistency and upgrades on the roster as a whole.
Bowman will continue to take a deliberate and calculated approach, and not make any panic trades just to appease a passionate but concerned fan base. However, with him admitting he is worried himself, he knows he has to do something between now and Mar. 7, to put the Oilers in a better position to contend for the Stanley Cup come playoff time.
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