EDMONTON — Mattias Ekholm was asked about the merits of a team that stumbles as clumsily as his Edmonton Oilers is, but still scores enough points not to be buried in the West. He admitted, and we paraphrase, that it was better than the alternative.
Ekholm then added, “Conversely, a really good team will come out of this situation and get fired. That's what we're looking at.”
By the time Ekholm hit his head on the pillow that night, his Oilers had been routed 5-1 by the last-place Buffalo Sabers. The Oilers ranked 31st in the National Hockey League in 5-on-5 goals against ratio and had four major wins in the first 21 games of the season.
Pathetic? Complacent? Poorly built? Over the hill?
Pick your descriptor: The Oilers were a terrible hockey team for most of the first quarter.
“Part of us understands that we've played a lot of hockey over the last two years and we can't just hang on until the end of the regular season,” Ekholm said. “You have to fight. It's a tough league and you can't just put your skates (over the board) and think you're going to win games.”
“It's up to us, the veterans and the leaders who have been on this team for a while. We have to understand that it won't just come to us.”
Most encouraging development: The fees are small.
The brightest star was the free agent acquisition. Jack Roslovic — He was Edmonton's best forward, ranking third on the team in goals (seven) and fifth in points (15). A great buy at $1.5 million, he looks great next to Leon Draisaitl.
Rookie forward Matt Savoie It was a pleasant surprise and looks like a good prospect, although five points and a minus-6 in 21 games isn't exactly what's needed for the Calder Trophy.
After this, there were much more lagging behind than vice versa.
The most important things about development: Where to start?
Trent Frederickwho has been stalking his new team since last season's trade deadline? In 44 games with the Oilers (including playoffs), Frederic went 2-3-5. He has just one point in 21 starts this season.
Evan Bouchard, who needed about 18 games to find an acceptable level of defensive play? He's tied for fifth among NHL defensemen with 16 points, but he's still minus-5, worst among the top 40 defensive scorers.
David Tomasek, the promising 29-year-old European who has been unhurt in six of his last nine games? He has three points, minus-7, and will struggle to stay in the lineup when Kasperi Kapanen or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins return from injury.
Darnell Nursewho doesn't play hard enough, doesn't defend well, and doesn't have anything in his game that even remotely justifies being a $9.25 million defenseman? He is a huge part of this team, leading the Oilers in 5-on-5 play on the ice. When he's this unreliable, the Oilers won't gain much.
“We defended really well last year — one of the best defensive teams,” head coach Chris Knoblauch said this week. “We're okay with that right now. If you want to be a really good team, we need to be better defensively.”
Top six forwards: Grade C.
McDavid and Draisaitl have 54 points between them. They will always do well in attack.
Nugent-Hopkins is off to a great start, averaging a points per game in 16 games, although his minus-11 mark tells a different story. Roslovic played fantastically.
Mangiapane is downgraded, and Zach Hyman's absence from all but two games this season is also a factor.
Bottom six forwards: D-minus
The steady Adam Henrique stayed with Frederic and Mangiapane in Monday's 5-1 loss to Buffalo, and Noah Philp's fourth line between Matthias Janmark and Curtis Lazar gave the Oilers nine memorable minutes.
There's no identity, no toughness, no offense, and overall a team that ranked in the top five in the NHL in rushing the past three seasons ranks 15th this season. Yes.
It is assumed that this device will be able to stabilize the next Stanley Cup. The pressure-tested group of veterans isn't too old and should provide a foundation for a team that can feel safe taking some chances on offense.
“Obviously, it all starts with our defensive zone,” Ekholm said. “Limiting chances and goals. I know we have the firepower to score goals – I'm not too worried about that. I just want to make sure we get back to a defensive game that we can be proud of and that limits us to having to score five or six goals to win the game.”
Instead, it was a season of failed breakthroughs, with opponents standing unmarked in front of a hapless Oilers goalie, Connor McDavid are being abused by opponents who face zero resistance and a top four that is getting lost more often than it meets in the first quarter.
Bouchard's difficulties were noted; Ekholm's performance has been inconsistent at best; A nurse may have the worst start to her career, and Jake Wallman was everywhere – but almost always not in the right place.
Do they miss defensive backs coach Paul Coffey? You be the judge of that.
What other grade would you give the two goalies who have the worst 5-on-5 save percentage in the NHL (.876) and the second-worst all-time save percentage (.865)?
Yes, given the performance of the team in front of them, getting their stats into the middle third of the NHL would be a herculean task for them. Stuart Skinner And Calvin Pickard. But if there's ever a time when a team needs someone to step into the net, the Oilers are that team.
Picard's performance is particularly unsettling. His save percentage (.830) ranks last among goalies with seven or more games played. So is his goals against average (4.17). It can't get any worse than that, and suddenly general manager Stan Bowman, tasked with fixing the problems with his No. 1 pick, also has backup problems.
Skinner was just fine and that won't happen again this season. Flashes of “good enough” are erased when inconsistencies return. At the end of the day, a .889 save percentage is about the same, but it's not enough for an Edmonton team that needs more to get past the top.
Most Improved Player: Matt Savoie
Best Defender: N/A
