A season of high expectations will now be remembered as a season of disappointment for the Edmonton Oilers.
After being picked by many to go deep in the playoffs, the Oilers instead finished 17 points below the post-season cut line with a record of 36-40-6.
The Oilers power play was a major weakness all season. After finishing with the fifth best percentage on the man advantage in 2016/17, they plummeted to dead last this season.
“We have all the skill in the world on this team to have a good power play,” said centre Leon Draisaitl. “For me personally, I think I was a little too much on the perimeter and on the outside.”
“When it started to slide on us, I think you could just feel everyone getting tight. Guys stopped making plays. Guys were just kind of passing it around taking shots from the outside,” said captain Connor McDavid, who won his second straight Art Ross Trophy with 108 points.
Watch below: Connor McDavid talks about some of the hard lessons the Oilers learned this season.
The penalty killing was also head-scratching, though it did take huge strides. After being last for most of the season, it finished 25th. There was a dramatic turnaround in the final 27 games of the season. During that run, the Oilers killed off 90.4 per cent of their penalties, the best mark in the NHL during that time.
“We changed a little bit after some of those games, whether it be the forecheck or how we pressured,” said goaltender Cam Talbot. “Once we got the hang of that and everyone bought in, we were able to pressure a bit more. We were able to get clears. The other team wasn’t gaining the line as easily. We weren’t playing in our zone and playing tired as much.”
Many players weren’t able to perform as they had earlier in their careers. The poster boy for that was winger Milan Lucic, who scored only one goal in the final 46 games. Lucic, who was brought to the Oilers in the summer of 2016 to add size and toughness, is now being asked if he’s too lumbering to succeed in a fast-paced NHL.
Watch below: Edmonton Oilers forward Milan Lucic opens up about his confidence issues in the second half of the NHL season.
Hold the phone, says Lucic.
“I think one of the misconceptions can be at times that lighter automatically means faster. I’m a big person. It’s hard to say, ‘Oh, you just have to get lighter and automatically you’ll get faster.’ Sometimes if you lose muscle just to get lighter, you lose power, you lose strength,” said Lucic.
On the brighter side, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied a career-high with 24 goals despite missing 20 games due to injury.
“Individual success kind of just goes by the wayside when you don’t have a good team year,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “I think last summer I kind of regrouped and take a step forward offensively, be a little bit more aggressive, and just go for it a little bit more.”
Head coach Todd McLellan is expected to hold his year-end media availability on Monday. He visited Saskatoon on Monday to meet with victims and families of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
Watch below: Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan says defence is still an issue for the team
McDavid confirmed he will play for Canada at the World Hockey Championships in Denmark in May. Draisaitl will play for Germany. Nugent-Hopkins has already committed to Canada. Talbot declined his invitation.
The Oilers signed Cooper Marody, 21, to a three-year entry level contract. He spent the season at the University of Michigan.
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