The Edmonton Oilers have two of the top five scoring leaders across the entire NHL with captain Connor McDavid leading the way having scored 94 points (34 goals, 60 assists) in 55 games. Fellow Oilers star Leon Draisaitl is not too far behind in fifth place with 77 points (26 goals, 51 assists) in 52 games this season, having hit his 1000th career point earlier this year.
There are plenty of others within the organization who are having very productive seasons. Defenceman Evan Bouchard is tied for first in scoring amongst blueliners with 59 points (15 goals, 44 assists) across 55 games played. As well, Zach Hyman, after missing training camp and the first 19 games of the season is point-per-game with 36 points in 36 games and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 43 in 46 games played.
This presents a stark contrast between the top and bottom of their lineup.
Recent Oilers performances highlight issues
This dilemma has been on full display in recent games. When the Oilers eeked out a 6-5 victory in overtime over the Washington Capitals. Despite scoring six goals, all of them came from top line players; Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, and Connor McDavid.
As well, to finally get over the hump and win their third game in a row against the San Jose Sharks recently. The Oilers were down 3-0 but were rallied by their stars once again with goals from the same trio but with Leon Draisaitl chipping in as well.
It is clear that the Oilers are getting consistent performances from their top players, which is a great thing. Players like; McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard are some of the best players at their position across the NHL and they are the type of elite players that will elevate your team when needed and should be leaned on to do so.
The Oilers stacked top-six
The problem is that more often than not, the bottom of their lineup is held off the scoresheet completely. Across the long grind of an 82-game regular season schedule and a full four round playoff run, the team cannot sustainably rely on only a handful of players night after night.
As of right now, when healthy the Oilers top-six appears to be;
Line 1: Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Line 2: Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Kapanen
It is no surprise that their top five scoring forwards are all featured within their top-six. The only reason Kasperi Kapanen is not higher on their scoring leaders list is that he has only played 16 games due to injury and has scored 10 points in his brief time back in the lineup.
Adding up all of these players goals gives you; 109.
The Oilers bottom-six has struggled this season
Further down the lineup, their lines are stocked full of players who have struggled this season.
Line 3: Roslovic - Samanski - Savoie
Line 4: Janmark - Frederic - Lazar
Their entire fourth line of Mattias Janmark, Trent Frederic, and Curtis Lazar has scored under 10 points. Josh Samanski is a rookie -- and is set to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics next month --and has only played a couple of NHL games. Subbing in the injured Adam Henrique and the Oilers rumoured trade chip Andrew Mangiapane does not make this combination much more formidable.
Adding all of these eight players together gives the Oilers 37 goals. The total difference is 109 from the top six and 37 from the bottom-six plus the two extras. It also does not take into account that most of Roslovic's early season production comes from his time playing in the Oilers top-six.
The Oilers need more out of their depth
The struggles are real for the Oilers and looking at some of the other cup contenders, it is clear that their depth does not hold up.
The Colorado Avalanche, who boast forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas as well as an elite defenceman in Cale Makar, have much stronger depth. The Avalanche have 13 players who have all scored 20 or more points while the Oilers have only eight. Another cup contendor, the Carolina Hurricanes have 11 players with 20 or more points.
Although not every team has as many high scoring players as the Hurricanes and Avalanche, the Oilers should be amongst the very best. Especially given their struggles between the pipes this season and on the backend.