Scoring Chances Through 50: The Defence

For the second season in a row, Oilers blogger Dennis has taken on the mammoth task of charting scoring chances in every single Oilers game, and posting the data at mc79hockey.com. Earlier today, he posted the results for two missed games from earlier in the year, and now we have a complete set of scoring chance statistics for the Oilers.

Let’s start by looking at the defence.

A few points on the data:

Shawn Belle and Taylor Chorney are the only players on this list with less than 10 games played, so I wouldn’t read too much into one being at the top of the list and the other at the bottom.

Theo Peckham’s placement needs some context. He’s playing the toughest competition on the team and starting a lot in his own end. Tom Renney’s essentially throwing him to the wolves, which is an interesting development strategy (albeit one Peckham will be familiar with from his AHL days) and not something I’d generally recommend for a rookie defenceman. I like Peckham a lot, but he’s not ready for this role.

Jeff Petry has been very, very good. He had a bit of a rough start to his AHL career, so I’m glad the team gave him some time to adapt to the professional game, but he’s easily ready for NHL service now.

The big difference between Strudwick and Vandermeer is that Renney has repeatedly sent Vandermeer out for defensive zone faceoffs, while he’s tried to get Strudwick out in the offensive zone more often than the defensive zone. I remain hopeful that the Oilers can get some kind of minimal return for Vandermeer at the deadline.

Tom Gilbert, who has generally been paired with Theo Peckham against the toughs (and with Ryan Whitney against the toughs prior to that) looks very good here, and I don’t think that should surprise anyone. Gilbert takes a lot of flak from the fans for his playing style and occasional miscues, but the reality is that he’s one of the few blue-liners on the team not drowning – despite doing one of the toughest jobs on the team.