Among the most surprising aspects of the Edmonton Oilers’ poor start to the 2024-25 season has been the usually-dominant power play going completely dry.
The Oilers have had 19 opportunities with the man advantage this season and they’ve converted only two goals. Their 10.5 percent efficiency on the power play is tied with the New York Islanders for the fourth worst in the league, ahead of only the Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, and Buffalo Sabres, who have posted a goose egg through 22 opportunities.
During their 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, the Oilers had four power play opportunities and they scored once. The lone goal was the result of an impressive individual effort by Connor McDavid rather than effective play from the top unit as a whole.
Two years ago, the Oilers set an NHL record by posting a 32.4 percent efficiency on the power play. Leon Draisaitl led the league with 32 power play goals, McDavid scored 21, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman both scored 15. Last season, they scored on 26.3 percent of their chances, good for fourth in the league. Draisaitl led the way with 21 power play goals, Hyman scored 15, Evan Bouchard scored eight, McDavid scored seven, and RNH scored four.
The top power play unit has remained intact for over a year but this slow start has resulted in Kris Knoblauch and his coaching staff making some changes. According to Tony Brar of Oilers TV, Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman have been moved to the second unit and Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson have been brought up to the top unit in their places. Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm were also rotating on the blueline of both units, though Ekholm was the one with the top unit during initial line rushes.
Hyman has been a very effective net-front presence on Edmonton’s power play in the past but he hasn’t been able to convert a goal this season. It seems Arvidsson will move into Hyman’s spot as the scoring threat down low while Skinner will move into Nugent-Hopkins’ usual role as the puck-mover along the boards.
Bouchard scored a career-high 82 points last year and then added a whopping 32 points during the playoffs but hasn’t looked comfortable with the puck early in the season. The young defender has three giveaways on the power play this season and only three of his 11 shot attempts have resulted in scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. Ekholm has 11 power play goals in his NHL career and two since joining the Oilers during the 2022-23 season.