The Edmonton Oilers’ depth forwards haven’t produced much offence this season.

Some have suggested it is due to a lack of opportunity or role. Is that true? I wasn’t sure, so I decided to compare the Oilers’ depth forwards time on ice and production to other teams in the Western Conference.

Let’s see how they match up.

I compared the Oilers to the other eight Western Conference teams with at least 60 points, and I included only forwards who had played 19+ games. Let’s start in the Central Division.

Avalanche:                                                 Oilers:
1st in the West with 83 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
1st in GF/GP at 3.84.                               4th in GF/GP at 3.41
1st in 5×5 goals with 157.                         14th in 5×5 goals with 119

Colorado has five forwards playing 18+ minutes a night and Edmonton has four.

Colorado has 10 forwards averaging 12+ min while Edmonton has 11.

The Oilers’ top six forwards in TOI have scored 125 goals, with 41 on the power play and 84 at EV/PK. Colorado’s top six have scored 129 goals with 23 on the power play and 106 EV/SH. Their top six has been much more productive than Edmonton’s.

Colorado’s remaining forwards have outscored Edmonton’s 43-28 at EV/PK and both teams have two PP goals. Colorado’s depth players have scored more goals, while averaging fewer minutes.

Kasperi Kapanen has produced very well in his 19 games, while rookie Matt Savoie has been solid. Curtis Lazar scoring three goals in 34 games while playing on 8:53 counters the argument you need to play more to produce more.

The Avalanche forwards have produced more 5×5 and EV than the Oilers’ top six and bottom six.

Stars:                                                          Oilers:
3rd in the West with 77 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
10th in GF/GP at 3.32.                            4th in GF/GP at 3.41
T-15th in 5×5 goals with 118.                  14th in 5×5 goals with 119

Dallas has three forwards playing 18+ min and Edmonton has four.

Dallas has 11 averaging 12+ minutes/game and Edmonton has 11.

The Stars’ top six in TOI have produced 113 goals with 44 on the PP compared to Edmonton’s 125 goals with 41 on the PP. Edmonton’s top six have 84 goals EV/SH to the Stars’69.

Dallas’ remaining forwards have outscored Edmonton’s 46-28 at EV/PK and 3-2 on the PP.
Jamie Benn has nine goals in 35 games, averaging 12:32/game, which is seven more than Adam Henrique, who has played 13:50/game. Justin Hryckowian is outscoring Andrew Mangiapane while playing slightly fewer minutes. Oscar Bäck has four goals to Mattias Janmark’s one and they’ve played almost identical minutes.

The Stars’ bottom six is producing more with similar or less TOI from their depth forwards.

Wild:                                                           Oilers:
2nd in the West with 78 points.            6th in the West with 64 points
11th in GF/GP at 3.31.                             4th in GF/GP at 3.41
T-15th in 5×5 goals with 118.                  14th in 5×5 goals with 119

Minnesota and Edmonton have four forwards playing 18+ minutes.

The Wild have 10 forwards playing 12+ minutes, and Edmonton has 11.

The Wild’s top six have 115 goals with 38 on the PP compared to the Oilers 125 with 41 on the man advantage. The Oilers’ top six have outscored the Wild 84-77 at EV/PK.

The Wild’s remaining forwards have a 37-28 advantage at EV/OK and 6-2 on the PP.

Vladimir Tarasenko’s 15 goals in 51 games are the big difference between the two teams. Kapanen is on pace for 13.5 if he played 51 games, but no other Oiler depth TOI forward was able to score like him when he’s been out. Yurov, Trenin and Foligno have combined for 19 goals while Savoie, Adam Henrique and Mangiapane have 17.

Janmark, Frederic, Howard and Lazar have eight goals, which is one fewer than Sturm, Hinostroza, Jones and Pitlick, but the Oilers’ four forwards have played a combined 159 games while the Wild’s bottom four TOI guys have played 136.

Minny gets more production from their bottom six, and Minny’s players average less TOI/game outside of Tarasenko.

Mammoth:                                                 Oilers:
5th in the West with 64 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
14th in GF/GP at 3.21.                              4th in GF/GP at 3.41
2nd in 5×5 goals with 132.                       14th in 5×5 goals with 119

The Mammoth have two forwards 18+ minutes to the Oilers’ four.

Each team has 11 forwards with 12+ minutes.

The Mammoth’s top six TOI have scored a total of 113 goals to the Oilers’ 125. They’ve outscored Edmonton 97-84 at EV/PK goals, while Edmonton has outscored them 41-16 on the PP.

The remaining Utah forwards have scored 35 EV/PK goals and five PP goals compared to the Oilers 28 EV/PK and two PP goals.

Former Oiler Kailer Yamamoto has nine goals in 35 games while playing 11:38/game. Trent Frederic has two goals in 55 games while averaging 51 seconds less per game.

Brandon Tanev has zero goals in 44 games, playing 9:25/game, compared to Janmark’s one goal in 42 games, playing 12:05/game.

Michael Carcone has 11 goals and 21 points in 12:31/game compared to Mangiapane’s six goals and 12 points in 12:42/game. Both have scored 20 goals prior, but one has been much more productive this season. Trent Frederic plays a similar style to Carcone, and his production should be much closer to the two goals and three points he’s produced.

Utah is another example of a team getting more from their bottom six with similar minutes.

Golden Knights:                                        Oilers:
4th in the West with 68 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
9th in GF/GP at 3.33.                              4th in GF/GP at 3.41
12th in 5×5 goals with 125.                      14th in 5×5 goals with 119

Vegas has three forwards at 18+ minutes to the Oilers four.

Vegas has 10 forwards at 12+ min to the Oilers’ 11.

The Knights’ top six has been outscored by Edmonton’s 125-122, but Vegas is outscoring them 85-84 at EV/PK and is slightly below the Oilers PP at 41-37.

Vegas’ remaining forwards have a 38-28 advantage EV/PK and a 3-2 advantage on the PP.

Vegas does play their 10th-14th forwards a bit more, as only Cole Reinhardt is under 11 minutes, but Vegas’s group has 14 goals in 1832 minutes of TOI to the Oilers’ bottom four, having eight goals in 1692 minutes. The rate of production isn’t close.

Vegas does play their bottom guys an average of 35 seconds more per game.

Kraken:                                                       Oilers:
7th in the West with 63 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
23rd in GF/GP at 2.88.                            4th in GF/GP at 3.41
26th in 5×5 goals with 101.                      14th in 5×5 goals with 119

Seattle has three forwards at +18 minutes to the Oilers’ four.

They have 10 forwards at 12+ minutes to Edmonton’s 11.

The Kraken’s top six TOI forwards have only 83 goals to the Oilers’ 125. Edmonton has an 84-55 advantage at EV/OK and a 41-28 advantage on the PP.

The remaining Kraken forwards have outscored Edmonton’s 36-28 at EV/PK and 6-2 on the PP.

Seattle plays their third line a bit more, mainly because it doesn’t have a dominant first line. They have one 20-goal scorer and no players with 40 points. Edmonton’s top six TOI forwards have more EV/PK goals than Seattle’s top six have in total goals.

But their depth guys do produce more. Meyers has five goals in 31 games, and Nyman has four in 24 games, which is more goals than any of Henrique, Frederic, Howard, Lazar or Janmark.

Seattle’s depth produces more while playing 10-12 minutes.

Ducks:                                                         Oilers:
8th in the West with 63 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
15th in GF/GP at 3.20.                             4th in GF/GP at 3.41
17th in 5×5 goals with 116.                       14th in 5×5 goals with 119

Anaheim has three players at 18+ minutes, to the Oilers’ four.

The Ducks have 11 players with 12+ minutes. I didn’t include Viel, as he’s only played nine games, but since he was acquired in a trade, he’s played 13+ minutes. The only regular in their lineup who is under 12 minutes is Ross Johnston.

The Ducks’ top six are equal to Edmonton at EV/PK with 84 goals each, but Edmonton has a 41-21 advantage on the PP.

The remaining Ducks’ forwards have 40 goals with seven on the PP and 33 at EV/PK compared to Edmonton’s 28 and 2.

The Ducks’ third and fourth lines play more minutes, except for Johnson, and look at how well he’s produced. He has 3-10-13 averaging 9:41. He has more points than every depth forward except Savoie. He’s produced very well in his limited ice time.

Kings:                                                          Oilers:
9th in the West with 60 points.              6th in the West with 64 points
30th in GF/GP at 2.54.                             4th in GF/GP at 3.41
31st in 5×5 goals with 92.                         14th in 5×5 goals with 119

The Kings equal the Oilers with four 18+ minute players.

They have 10 players at 12+ minutes, but all of them are 14+ compared to the Oilers having seven at 14+ and 11 at 12+

LA’s top six has been outscored 84-62 by the Oilers at EV/PK, and even more so on the PP at a 41-13 rate.

The remaining Kings forwards have 51 goals with 13 on the PP and 38 at EV/PK, which is significantly more than Edmonton’s 28 and 2.

The Kings play their third line way more, because their top line guys don’t produce much. They traded Phil Danault and he had zero goals in 31 games at the time of the trade.

Perry, Kuzmenko and Armia have 34 goals themselves to outscore Edmonton’s depth guys. Jeff Malott has 3-5-8 while skating in 40 games and averaging 9:00/game. Even the big Samuel Helenius has 3-2-5 in only 29 games averaging 7:55/game.

The Kings third line plays more and produces way more, but even their fourth line guys, who don’t play much, are producing at a much higher rate than the Oilers.

I understand the theory that if the Oilers’ depth players played more, they would produce more, however, when you compare them to the other eight teams in the West with 60+ points, the Oilers’ depth guys aren’t getting significantly less playing time. In many cases, their TOI is very similar, and many Western Conference depth forwards are producing more goals with similar, and often fewer, minutes.

I believe Derek Ryan and others who are suggesting the coach is the reason the depth guys aren’t producing are misleading. Just compare last year’s depth forwards to this season.

Corey Perry had 19-11-30 (only 4 goals on PP) in 81 games and averaged 11:56 minutes/GP.

Jeff Skinner scored 16-13-29 in 72 games, averaging 13:00 minutes.

Connor Brown had 13-17-30 in 82 games, averaging 14:01.

Henrique had 12-15-27 in 81 games, averaging 14:39.

Podkozlin scored 8-16-24 in 82 games, averaging 13:13.

Janmark scored 2-16-18 in 80 games, averaging 13:18.

Ryan scored 1-5-6 in 36 games at 9:21 per game.

Any suggestion that the Oilers’ depth guys didn’t play decent minutes last season is categorically false.

The Oilers had four players with 18+ minutes a night and 11 averaging 12 minutes. Same as this year.

The difference was that last year the players produced more.

Henrique had 12 goals in 14:39/GP, while this year he has two in 13:50.

Mangiapane averages 46 seconds more per game than Perry did last year, but Perry had 19 goals, and Mangiapane is on pace for nine.

Savoie is on pace for 13 goals, which is the exact same as Brown had last season.

Frederic isn’t close to Skinner’s production, and while he is playing two fewer minutes per game, much of that is due to him not doing much early on in the season. Frederic had 2-0-2 in the first two months of the season while playing 12 minutes/game. Was the coach just supposed to keep playing him, hoping he’d emerge from his funk?

Producing in limited minutes is challenging, no question, and I think it is an underrated skill. Players who can consistently impact games in limited minutes are very valuable, and when the season restarts in two weeks, the Oilers’ depth guys not named Savoie, Kapanen, or Lazar need to be more engaged and find ways to be impactful, as many of the other depth forwards on playoff-contending teams in the West have been this season.

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