What a ride it’s been to be an Edmonton Oilers fan lately, right? With the team spiralling and countless issues to fix, it’s hard to feel hopeful about the direction the team is heading. In today’s edition of Random Thoughts, I want to talk about Leon Draisaitl’s dominance, the lack of fight when times are tough, playing a simple game, line combos, and more.

As much as I’ll spend most of this article complaining about the Oilers’ lack of goal scoring, those issues simply do not apply to Leon Draisaitl. Instead, our man is doing everything he can to single-handedly drag this team out of the mud. Draisaitl picked up goals 48 and 49 of the season against the Islanders on Friday night – he extended his point streak to 17 games (14G, 12A) – and that put him 13 goals ahead of William Nylander for second place. It’s almost like the Hockey Gords assigned him with all of the team’s aura points or something.

Regardless of where Leon is drawing his power from, his success has undoubtedly been the most fun part of the 2024-25 season so far. I wish we could bottle whatever magic he’s got running through his veins and pass some to the rest of his teammates because Gord knows we need some help. Having him perform this well in the season following his monster eight-year extension is so special, and while the rest of the team around him may be in offensive hell, nothing makes me happier than seeing our German king crushing it the way he has. Make it four straight 100-point seasons for Drai.

No, I’m not talking about actually dropping the mitts – a scrap here and there would be nice, though – but rather the fight in the lack of pushback we’re seeing when something goes wrong. When the Oilers are at their best, they’re a resilient group that can handle basically any challenge thrown at them, but that is simply not the case right now. Instead, if something goes wrong, the group often looks defeated and hopeless, which is tough to watch from a veteran group like this.

From my side of the TV screen, it’s painful and disappointing to see this group look as fragile as they have over the last couple of weeks. And what’s even worse is that no one seems to be overly mad about what’s happening. While I do not doubt that the players are pissed off about this recent run of losing, we haven’t seen any of that emotion come out on the ice. I know they won a scrappy game last night, and I hope that dub is the start of something beautiful, but I don’t think anyone will be hanging the “problem solved” banner until we see it consistently.

Look, we’ve been talking about how the Oilers can’t score repeatedly since the season started, and it’s almost incredible that nothing has changed as we enter the back half of March. And while the frustration keeps growing around here, what hasn’t changed is the Oilers’ approach to the game, and I think it’s time for a plan B. I think we need to look at what Edmonton’s attack should look like beyond the constant button hooks and shots from the point. At what point are we going to try and mix up the pitches?

Even though I know I’m no NHL coach, and no one at OEG ever asks my opinion, I’d love to see the Oilers take a few steps back and get back to playing a simpler game. I want to see the boys getting more traffic to the front of the net before those shots from the point come in. I want to see some low shots from different angles to try and fish for rebound goals. I guess what I’m saying is that I want the boys to get greasy. I want to see them shift their mentality from looking for the pretty plays to cherishing the garbage goals. I want to see the Oilers play simple, grimy hockey.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, then I think it might be time to pivot. At the very least, playing simpler hockey should be the focus at a time when no one in the lineup outside of Leon Draisaitl is feeling good about their game. Sometimes, you need to take a step backward before moving ahead, and this lack of scoring could be one of those situations. And maybe I’m oversimplifying the problem, but considering that the lack of goals has been an issue all season, it might be time to look for some new solutions.

We’re really spinning the lineups around these days, aren’t we? It seems like we’ve got new trios going over the boards every game (read: every period), and I wonder if those constant changes are preventing the boys from developing some chemistry. On the day Kris Knoblauch was announced as the Oilers’ new head coach, he talked about wanting his players to play freely and not worry about being benched.

What’s most interesting to me in hindsight is how Knobby’s philosophy seems to have changed in the last year. Take Jeff Skinner, for example. While I’m not suggesting he’s the perfect player – Gord knows he has some warts on the defensive side of his game – what’s confusing is how often he finds himself out of the lineup despite having more goals on the season than some of the guys playing ahead of him. I mean, clearly, Knobby has his reason for the scratches, but I find it interesting that Skinner is always one mistake away from the press box while others don’t face the same levels of accountability. Am I wrong? Am I crazy?

I was watching a replay of the game last night when I got home from Toronto, and all I want to say about Ilya Sorokin’s performance is… could you imagine? *dreams* That said, Calvin Pickard grabbed an assist on the OT winner against the Islanders, so it was fun to see him counter what was a stellar performance at the other end.

Sometimes stats can blow your mind, and I have an example for you. Before last night’s game against the Islanders, the Oilers were dead last in the NHL since the 4 Nations break with a putrid record of 3-7-0. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out why that’s a problem. Not only are they losing games, but they’re doing so at a rate higher than the teams at the very bottom of the NHL standings.

Courtesy of the Bruce McCurdy from the Edmonton Journal:

“Oilers have played 10 games since 4 Nations. At 3-7-0 they have posted the worst record of any NHL team for their last 10. Worst goal differential as well (-13). The 32 teams range from 6-16 points & average exactly 5-4-1 = 11 points.”

Those are mind-blowing numbers for a team with two of the best players on earth and a stable of other players who have hit 20+ goals on several occasions. And I know I’m ignoring Friday’s win over the Islanders as part of these numbers, but it’s impossible for me to understand how far the team has fallen since coming back from the 4 Nations break. Again, I’m pumped about the win last night, but I think a lot of us are going to stay skeptical until we get more than a game or two of consistent hockey.

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