Struggling Oilers offence gets no help on the injury front

The Edmonton Oilers are in a bit of mess at the moment, with a decidedly average 10-9-2 record following Thursday night's 5-3 home loss to the Minnesota Wild. Yes they're still in a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but they look nothing like a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

There's enough blame to go around, with the Oilers' poor play effectively a team 'effort'. However, it's tough not to focus in on the offensive side of things, given how productive this team usually is season after season.

Yes, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are (more than) doing their job, but the reality is it's not enough to make up for the rest of the team. As a result, the Oilers are ranked 20th in average goals scored per game, not helped by a power play unit which is ranked just 22nd out of all 32 NHL teams.

Not firing on all cylinders

This is a shocking turn of events, for a team which last season scored the fourth-most goals in the NHL, and led the way a season earlier. Similarly, the Oilers' power play was also fourth-best last season, and in 2022-23 led the league with a NHL record 32.4 percent efficiency.

There are plenty of culprits responsible for this unusually low level of overall offensive productivity in Edmonton. Examples include Evan Bouchard, who is well off his pace of last season when he averaged a point per game, along with offseason addition Jeff Skinner, who only has four goals and seven overall points in 21 games.

Two other players worthy of mention are Zach Hyman and another offseason addition in Viktor Arvidsson. Hyman has just three goals in 20 games, one season after scoring a career-high 54, while Arvidsson has only five points in 16 games, despite averaging 40 points for the majority of his time in the NHL.

Headed to IR

Unfortunately for the Oilers, both players are also now dealing with injuries, thus delaying their ability to get back to their usual respective levels of productivity. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the game against the Wild, to provide updates on the duo.

Arvidsson was the more important update, just in respect of having a more serious injury. Having already missed four games, Knoblauch confirmed the winger has now been placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

For what it's worth, the move has been made retroactive to Nov. 12, meaning Arvidsson can be activated at any time. However, as things stand, no actual timeline has been provided for his potential return.

It's a tough break for the player, who just last season was limited to 18 games due to other injury ailments. Oilers fans will of course be hoping he isn't suddenly an injury-prone proposition, after signing a two-year, $8 million deal during free agency to come to Edmonton.

Not as serious thankfully

As for Hyman, Knoblauch advised he will just be out for between four and seven days, also with an undisclosed injury. Clearly this is good news, in so far as concerns that the forward's injury could have been something more serious.

Due to the two injuries, the Oilers claimed Kasperi Kapenen off waivers from the St. Louis Blues and recalled Drake Caggiula. Both saw playing time on Thursday night against the Wild and, for what it's worth, were first and second on the team with four and three hits respectively despite limited ice time.

Knoblauch also advised Darnell Nurse remains out with a concussion, with our best guess that none of the injured trio will play on Saturday night at home to the New York Rangers. The thinking is that all three will be options to return after Thanksgiving, on Nov. 29 in Utah.

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