The Edmonton Oilers begin 2018 in the unenviable 13th position in the Western Conference. They are seven points back of Anaheim, with a game in hand, for the final wildcard position. Minnesota, Chicago, Calgary and Colorado are also ahead of them in the race for eighth place in the west.
The Oilers were brutal against Winnipeg on Sunday. But lack of effort isn’t the main concern with this team. Their special teams are killing them. Every other topic is simply white noise or a distraction from the root of their problems.
The penalty kill is horawful. Yes, it is so bad you need to combine words and make up a new one to accurately describe the ineptitude of their penalty kill. It has been bad all season.
And for the past 19 games, the power play has decided to challenge the penalty kill for biggest weakness on the team. The PP is 12% over the past 19 games — six goals in 50 chances — and the first PP unit has two PP goals in the past ten games.
Special teams are killing the Oilers. Much of it is coaching. Yes, the players need to be better, but seeing no improvement on a dreadful penalty kill and now a powerplay plummeting down the rankings is the recipe for no playoffs, and it could cost the coaching staff their jobs.
The NHL is a tough business. The Oilers have enough skill to be better than 13th overall. Their 5×5 play is very competitive, but they are losing games due to the powerplay and penalty kill.
The Oilers have scored a power play goal in only 13 of 39 games. They’ve allowed a powerplay goal in 24 of 29 and in nine of those games they’ve allowed two or three powerplay goals.
What concerns me about the powerplay is the lack of options once they are set up in the offensive zone. Their zone entries, for the most part, are good, but when they get set up they generate very little.
Using Draisaitl in the bumper spot when McDavid is on the half wall limits both of them. Rarely can Draisaitl one-time the puck or get off a quick shot when the puck comes from the right boards, and because of that, they look for the high tip, which should never be the first option. Either set up McDavid on the left boards, which isn’t ideal, so Draisailt can shoot the puck from the slot/bumper, or put a right shot in the middle, like they did last year with Letestu, and have Draisaitl swing over to the left side. Have more motion in the powerplay, where Letestu can sometimes slide out from the bumper and be open for a one-timer.
Many powerplay coaches and players have told me when they watch opposing powerplays they like to see what the plan is once they are set up. Do the Oilers have a plan? Their set up is limiting their two most skilled players, so to me, the plan isn’t defined enough. It can’t just be, “Let Connor weave his magic.” The best players in the world love to be challenged and are always striving to learn. I have no doubt McDavid can adapt to anything the coaches put in front of him, but this year I’ve seen very few noticeable options. Yes, McDavid’s unwillingness to shoot is a small issue, but he wasn’t a shoot-first thinker last year and the PP was fine. Teams have adjusted to what the Oilers did last year, and I believe it is the coach’s job to adjust to what the PK is doing and find ways to exploit it.
Outside of not scoring very much on the PP, recently I haven’t seen a lot of quality chances produced. If they generate enough quality chances, eventually they will go in, but we aren’t seeing that and that is the main reason the production has plummeted. The powerplay has enough skill to be better and it is up to the coaching staff to put that skill in positions to succeed.
The PK also has to wake up.
The penalty kill system, or lack thereof, is the main factor without question. Whatever the coaches are seeing on video, they haven’t been able to communicate it properly to the group. The PK can’t get out of their own way. A competitive PK is 82%, but the Oilers haven’t been able to improve at all in the past six weeks. The overall numbers won’t improve much the rest of the year, but considering how shitty the PK has been it shouldn’t be difficult to ask it to be better than 70 freaking percent.
There have been zero improvements in the past 21 games, and in fact, it has gotten worse. In the last 14 games, the PK is 69%. The coaches need to try a different message. Changing players is one option, but if you put new players on the ice and the message is the same, I don’t see why it will improve. It is just adjusting the chairs on a sinking ship.
Make no mistake: the Oilers’ quest for the playoffs begins and ends with their special teams. Their 5×5 play is good enough, although limiting a few more goals would be nice, but they are still outscoring teams at 5×5.
Fix both special teams and the Oilers can make a run. If they don’t, then we could see changes throughout the organization.
LINEUP..
Maroon-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Cammalleri-Draisaitl-Caggiula
Lucic-RNH-Strome
Auvitu-Letestu-Slepyshev
Nurse-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Klefbom-Davidson
Talbot
The Oilers had an optional skate this morning, but the above lines were used yesterday. It would be a big shakeup to sit Khaira and Kassian. Matt Benning had a tough night versus the Jets, so I can see why Davidson would draw in. Kassian might be out for his four-minute minor, but the game was over, 4-0, when he took that penalty. The coach might be sending a message that they need to be disciplined for all 60 minutes, regardless of the score. I’ll be a bit surprised if Khaira is out. I thought he’s played quite well in December. He didn’t do much versus Chicago and like the rest of the team did very little versus Winnipeg, but I still like his game. If I was guessing though Slepyshev would come out and Cammelleri in up front. Davidson will play for Benning.
Earlier this year when Caggiula, Khaira and Cammalleri were healthy scratches they played very well in their first games out of the press box. Anton Slepyshev, when coming out of the press box, has done very little. He was used on the PK and wasn’t scored on, so that might be why he is still in. Regardless of who plays tonight, their effort must be better than Sunday’s, but even that might not be enough if their PK and PP plan isn’t improved.
Kings
Pearson-Kopitar-Brown
Gaborik-Kempe-Toffoli
Clifford-Shore-Lewis
Iafallo-Mitchell-Jokinen
Muzzin-Doughty
MacDermid-Martinez
Forbort-Gravel
Quick
The Kings are 8-3-2 in their last 13 games. They are showing no sign of slowing down. Drew Doughty has been excellent the past month producing 11 points, along with being +12 while averaging 27 minutes/game. He plays the toughest competition most nights and I love his attitude and skill. He relishes playing against the best players, and if they get the better of him he doesn’t wilt. At the midway point of the season, he would #1 on my list for the Norris trophy. He is having another excellent season.
TONIGHT…

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers have dominated the Pacific division since the start of the 2016/2017 season. They are 25-7-3. But the Kings are playing well. It goes to OT. Oilers lose 3-2.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid gets a point. In his career he has never gone pointless in three consecutive games. The streak remains intact tonight.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Kings allow a PP goal. The Kings have allowed a league-low 17 PP goals. The 2nd unit scores the PP goal for the Oilers.
GDB BROUGHT TO YOU BY COLLIN BRUCE MORTGAGE TEAM
Source: Jason Gregor, Verified Twitter Account, 01/02/2018 – 1:30pm MST
You mean to tell me that we have a fully healthy roster….and those might be the 4 lines we are able to roll against the LA Kings…seriously…we would do that? My goodness, it is worse than I would have ever thought.
Yah but, we got 3 pretty good looking centres there.
😉 Awesome!!!
They built a big team to match those of the ducks, Kings and sharks and now suit up a small line up if that is the case and they lose big time the coaching staff must go.
Hokey smokeys, you’re right! #becauseoilers
So it is just you and me who remembers that?
And the guy who built it should go.
It feels to me like they are gunning for a top 3 pick now. Khaira has been one of the best forwards, but put in Cammelleri. Why not, he’s freaking useless. Take Kassian out to piss him off I guess. Kings will probably score 4-5 PP goals tonight. Another Decade of Darkness is starting. Sorry Connor. And now the rumors that PC is moving Nuge. If he does he’ll get fleeced again. I hope then fans will demand he’s fired. Why are the assistant coaches still employed?!?
If they can scrape together 1 point tonight, it’s a win for this team.
I like Davidson going in, not sure I agree with Khaira and Kassian coming out. If anyone should be coming out and sitting in the press box it should be the special teams coaches.
They should be fired. But this organization rewards those that underperform and get rid of those that are competent. Weakins over Kruger, Strome for Eberle, sit Khaira? Why not bench Connor and Leon too then? Trying to understand their insanity.
Wow. Where to start?
Horawful was the sound of beer barfing out of me after the New Year’s Eve Massacre.
Hopefully we get it turned around tonight. Even if they show up every night, play hard and still lose, There’s enough Rough Rider fans on this Board that we could get behind that.
Best of luck Tonight Boys!
Goooooooo Riders!!!!!!
I count 10 home games where the Oilers have mailed it in. On the road maybe 1-2 games. There’s something wrong with this team.
Why sit Khaira? He’s been a bright spot this season.
It just goes to show you how smart McL is.
I really have to wonder if Lowe is upstairs pulling the strings
Oh God…. Not this again.
No need to wonder, nobody gets fired , just promotions and tenure for the failures. Doubt PC has autonomy. The entire gang that screwed this up to start with, all still are collecting a paycheque. Only watching tonight as I live south of Calgary, apparently the Flames fans are enjoying yet another epic failed season. I have 3 home theatre systems, so they can watch the game while I shoot pool and pretend to still give a rats ass.
I can sum up tonight’s game before it starts: Go down 0-1 within first 10 minutes of the puck drop. Get scored on within final minute of one of the periods. Go 0 on PP chances, well icing the same formations and me screaming at the TV the whole time- “Why don’t they ever **** change it up”. Get scored on 1+ goals on the PK. Score to bring it within one. 3rd period get scored on again to pretty well put the game out of reach. Pull goalie with 2 minutes left and they actually start pouring on some pressure, but they miss the lion-share of shot attempts wide. Get scored on with an empty net, lose 4-1. Todd steps up to do post game presser and continues with same sales pitch and analogies, such as “we didn’t bring our work boots tonight, we will park it and look towards the next one”. Rinse, repeat. Come on ON and read baggedmilk say it’s awesome to watch McDavid Nightly, the refs don’t like us. Go to comment section and watch us all dismantle every rotten aspect of this year and why it’s happening.
Well, now I can spend those 2 1/2 hours doing something productive!! This is probably more spot on than the whole article above!
It’s getting pretty predictable! I could to but I am strangely addicted to the pain of enduring this every second night during winter for the past 15 years.
Haha! Nailed it. But I still watch and I never lose faith.
If this is accurate you can guest write the GAME DAY PREDICTIONS on Thursday!!!
That sounds great to me!
Kassian out should deserve Tod a 10 misconduct. Trash me but to send the message I would rather bench Drai. Your best players need to be accountable. Your best player need to lead by example.
You would bench Draisaitl who has 10 points in the last seven games? Then you wouldn’t be a good coach. Draisaitl is tied for 16th in the NHL in EV points. His PP production, and where they use him needs to improve, no question, but benching your 2nd leading scorer is simply not a smart decision.
To send the right message yes. If we do need the two pts. Then you are right.
BTW. Thanks for theses articles. I get that you are paid yada yada but I enjoy them a lot. The time you take to read through comments and reply is also appreciated. Have a good game!
Kassian has hands of lead, couldnt score on his own net with the goalie pulled.
It will be open season for the fans on the old twitter box if they lay down another stinker tonight…
To be fair though, this team quit on the fans long before the fans quit on them.
I was actually shocked to see how many people stayed for the third period of the Winnipeg Game…but I guess when you lay down that much bread to go to a game, you want to get your money’s worth.
Why does this inept coach f up the lines soo badly. 19,97,29
27,93,98
16,55,44 awesome. When will the pain stop. 97 you deserve better. Go getter done McDavid!!!
Davidson deserves a long term deal. Give me 4 Davidson and I will fix the dam D. Oilers need life injection
Probably wanted to stay to see what a good team actually looked like.
“Horawful” props to the Big Aristotle
They take Khaira out for Avitu? That alone tells me that McLellan is clueless. What a moron
Once you clean house at the top, who would you bring in for GM and/or coach?
This question assumes they’re out of the playoffs and PC has to answer for his inept management. Todd McLellan may be the 4th highest paid coach, but he’s nowhere close to the fourth best.
The oilers need to go 30 and 13 to make the playoffs so the long and short is that they aren’t going to make it.
Last year the wildcard required 94 points to get in so with the 37 points they currently have means that they need approximately 60 points to ensure that they get in so the number of wins is 30 which means 2 wins for every loss. Playoffs are out off the picture at the beginning of January.
Tmc keeps talking about accountability and not good enough effort etc. On the part of the players.
Not once has he admitted that he or his coaches are failing or got out-worked. Drives me nuts.
Stubborn guy who thinks his the smartest guy in the room will never admit he is wrong.
If he really wanted to be accountable he would fire Woodcroft, then himself. Its crazy how this organization is so reluctant to do the right thing for the team and the fans at times. We had to rent billboards with “Lowe must go”, and had to throw thousands of hard earned $ in the form of jerseys on the ice for a couple of years before anything happened, It seems that Katz just juggled positions upstairs and we happened to have a good year on the back of McDavid.
Welcome to Todd’s world. Just about the most overrated coach ever.
Its not Todds fault Talbot is always on his knees and out of positon on rebounds….Who else are you gonna play?
Talbot has the 35th best save % in the NHL (min 10 games played). No its not all his fault either (they don’t have an NHL backup) Brossoit has the 56th best save %.
Chia, what was your plan for an NHL playoff goaltender again?
There is ZERO accountability with this franchise, As it has been for the last 12 years.
Go to hell dude(ette), the barn sells out every night, pi$$ off, are all of you here really that stupid? Shut up and get your name in on the season tix waiting list! (extreme sarcasm, not sorry if I offend)
He keeps saying a whole lotta nothin’
Based on the game at Winnipeg where the Oilers lost 4-3, I thought the fans would be treated to another good game on New Year’s Eve. I was wrong. This is one team that’s very hard to figure out. They looked to be coming on before the holidays, but now pretty much seem to be still on holidays. Will they get into the new year tonight? (even with that scary 4th line)? Or will they be crowned by the Kings? Stay tuned.
Who is the World Junior PP coach. Lets sign him. That is one dynamic looking PP
Last week every one of you morons was predicting playoffs and after one week you just gave up. How’s your ankles?
I wish I could trade fans! I would give 2 of you so called “knowledgeable’ fans for one clueless guy in south Florida.
Fact of the matter is, there is nobody that posts here that knows more than the coaches or the GM or the fricken stick boy. Not one! Focus on your own jobs and stop acting like beatches!
They need to win 30 of the remaining games to make the playoffs
Relax, we are barely out of the wildcard with a boat load of games to go, I will save my panic (not really panic, which would indicate I care about a children’s game being played by men) for game 75
Why do you read comments if you think no one is knowledgeable it makes your point counterproductive.
You’d be the first fan we would flush.
I am convinced TMac is here to sabotage the team. There is no other explanation for obvious stupid moves and non moves he makes. So, Drew Remenda is his San Jose sidekick in crime. .
Do yourself a favour and PVR the first 30 min of the game, that way you can fast forward through the PP and the PK, makes the game go faster, and you may feel better about being an Oiler fan
Too late to fix this PK mess. Should have already seen a turnaround but the PK has got worse. Maybe playoffs for 2018-2019. But key changes need to be made.
DEFENCE. Upgrade D and the rest will take care of itself. Oilers have McDavid.
Don’t under estimate the Kings.
Over the last couple of years, there’s been talk of how the Kings are old, slow, and over the hill. Time for the dreaded rebuild. This however is not what the Kings are. LA is an excellent club, as their record shows.
I’m a little surprised Kassian is not playing. His style matches up well against the beast from California. Oilers will need their A game to win this one.
As long as Remo Williams is head of the PK, and adult Cailou runs the PP…this team will wallow in the depths of sorrow.
Has the linesman NOT thrown someone out of the face off circle yet?
Apart from McDavid and Talbot, not much going for the team so far. Pretty sad.
I think I have a new appreciation for Big Rig….it’s nice to see the LW make and receive a few passes
Hows that appreciation going?
Why can’t this team score!!!!
Can you spell suspension?!
2-0 loss, empty netter. Go team…
Nope it’s not going to be that close
Im stuck at work what did Maroon do? don’t just say be stupid explain it please.
Targeting the head on dowdy five minute penalty
3 power play goals good thing they practice it
Gave doughboy a shoulder to the kisser
Don’t get me wrong, I like Talbot but Quick is a world better than Talbot. We need a true #1 goaltender
Yeah blame Talbot for the 5 minutes of 5 on 4.
Also the Oils attraction for goal post and missing empty nets don’t they?
Nope, look at the standings. I’m not just talking about this game.
Game over because Maroon takes a selfish penalty……for that matter the season is over….any momentum they had after beating Montreal is gone!
Out of the playoff hunt in January sad sad sad state of affairs
The game was over long before Maroon made an ass of himself. Blaming Talbot when the team cant’t score one goal a game is ridiculous. We have a good core of players but the housecleaning must start now and it must start with the two useless mouthpieces who claim to be asst coaches. If Todd won’t man up, say bye to him as well.
It was 1-0 after 40, how was it over? You can’t give up 3 goals on a 5 min pp. Till Maroon took the penalty it was a 1 shot game, then it was over cause the Oilers can’t kill a pp and Im not blaming Talbot.
Blaming Talbot is rediculous. They need to score more than 0 goals to win a game. At least 1 is usually needed.
Seriously, do these guys practice hitting the iron? It’s probably their best skill this year. Sigh
Yeah they got no puck luck