When you discuss the Edmonton Oilers, the reality is that they are not perceived as the most physical of teams. However, even allowing for this, there is somewhat of a surprise to realise just how poorly they are performing in one particular statistical category.
As per Ryan Hall of Oilers Daily, the team is ranked dead last in hits among all 32 NHL teams in 2024-25. More specifically the Oilers have just 380 hits entering Saturday's slate of action, averaging out to 13.1 per contest.
Offseason trade acquisition Vasily Podkolzin has made a name for himself by leading the way for the Oilers with 61 hits, followed by Darnell Nurse on 45. Clearly this team is missing Evander Kane, who collected a team-leading 250 hits during the 2023-24 regular season.
Consider that the Boston Bruins lead the NHL with 863 hits, which averages out to 27.8 per contest. Even allowing for the Bruins having played two more games than the Oilers, Boston is still more than doubling their Canadian rivals.
A cause for concern?
This isn't a good look, which understandably leads to the question of if this is something to be concerned about in Edmonton? In theory the answer is yes, until you look at how the team has been playing of late.
Oilers fans had to suffer through a second consecutive poor start to a campaign, as the team went 6-7-1 through their first 14 games. Since then however, coach Kris Knoblauch's players have rebounded to go 11-3-1 in their past 15 games, including winning seven of the previous eight.
As a result the Oilers have moved up the standings and find themselves fifth in the Western Conference at the time of writing. Still, there is the question of if their lack of hits is something which will eventually come back to haunt them?
Some context for Oilers fans
It should be noted that last season the Oilers finished 15th in the NHL with 1,873 hits, which averaged out to 22.8 hits per game. While not spectacular, this was still clearly better than this season (to date), and they went on to progress all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.
It's tough to argue that the lack of hits is impacting the Oilers negatively thus far, just by virtue of the aforementioned reference to the recent positive turnaround in results. However, it is still natural to be concerned about the long-term implications, particularly once the NHL reach the playoffs and the intensity and physicality is ramped up to the max.
Podkolzin appears set to continue doing his part, ably supported by Nurse. However, it stands to reason that the Oilers need the combination of Kane's return and other players stepping up in the coming months, otherwise it's conceivable that the team's lack of physicality will cost them once the playoffs roll around.