On Christmas Eve, I did a statistical evaluation of the defence pairings. By those numbers, it looked like Jason Strudwick was easily the worst defenceman on the team. However, Jason Gregor made an excellent point in the comments — shooting or getting out-shot generally has a lot to do with the forwards on the ice. With that in mind, here are the numbers for Oilers forwards (even-strength only) in goals and shots for and against, with and without Strudwick. They’re probably worth considering when discussing an extension.

Horcoff: With -– 0GF/4GA, 20SF/38SA; Without -– 19GF/9GA, 243SF/173SA

Nilsson: With –- 1GF/2GA, 17SF/32SA; Without –- 11GF/13GA, 132SF/140SA

Cogliano: With -– 2GF/1GA, 31SF/43SA; Without –- 14GF/13GA, 147SF/150SA

Moreau: With -– 3GF/1GA, 29SF/61SA; Without –- 13GF/15GA, 160SF/201SA

Cole: With –- 2GF/2GA, 27SF/47SA; Without -– 10GF/12GA, 180SF/183SA

Penner: With -– 0GF/2GA, 18SF/34SA; Without -– 21GF/8GA, 194SF/139SA

Pisani: With -– 4GF/3GA, 22SF/38SA ; Without -– 4GF/8GA, 66SF/89SA

Stortini: With -– 2GF/3GA, 16SF/32SA; Without -– 2GF/3GA, 30SF/35SA

Brodziak: With –- 2GF/3GA, 21SF/50SA; Without –- 6GF/8FA, 102SF/121SA

Pouliot: With –- 1GF/4GA, 26SF/45SA; Without –- 12GF/5GA, 135SF/132SA

Hemsky: With -– 0GF/3GA, 16SF/34SA ; Without -– 20GF/12GA, 232SF/180SA

Reddox: With –- 1GF/2GA, 6SF/20SA; Without -– 2GF/1GA, 24SF/34SA

Gagner: With -– 1GF/1GA, 27SF/36SA; Without -– 14GF/15GA, 156SF/157SA

We’ll all draw our own conclusions here, but given that every single player has been out-shot by a massive margin (37:20 on average) when placed with Strudwick, I have to ask –- can any team win if it’s out-shot 37:20 every game? Is there any possibility Jason Strudwick isn’t driving these numbers?