What an incredible turnaround it has been for this team. The Edmonton Oilers have proven they are true contenders for the Stanley Cup with how they have impressively turned their season around and now sit a few points behind 1st place in the West.
Is this finally going to be the Oilers year?!?!
In spite of having one of the worst starts in franchise history, the Edmonton Oilers have completely turned their season around to not only cement yet another playoff spot, but to also be within striking distance of the 1st overall seed in the Western Conference. And, like I said, the Oilers place in the standings is a great testament to the characters of the guys in that locker room.
I thought this team was dead. I truly did.
In truth, this team SHOULD have been dead and buried for a potential playoff spot, let alone the 1st seed in the Western Conference, with the start they had to the season. They lost 13 of their first 18 games and sat in the Bottom-5 of the NHL by the end of November. Leon Draisaitl wasn’t scoring, Connor McDavid looked all out of sorts, there was NO secondary scoring to speak of, the defense was a complete disaster, and the goaltending was one of the worst performing duos I’ve ever seen.
Moreover, the team was so bad that Ken Holland, who was the main reason why this team was in such a horrible place early in the season, was forced to fire then-head coach Jay Woodcraft…even though HE came in to replace Dave Tippett two seasons prior and had even led the Oilers to the Western Conference Finals in 2022. All in all, the team was a dumpster fire, and I thought they needed to make a huge move to shake up the mix of this franchise.
And then they won 16 games in a row in December and January to make me look like a complete idiot. But how did that happen? Well, it’s because of two main things: Ken Holland actually did his JOB to make this team better, and McDavid and Draisaitl started scoring again.
Obviously, McDavid and Draisaitl were not going to stay beneath the Top-10 in scoring for too long just given their natural abilities to create and blow past the very best defenders in the NHL, but just how relentless their climb atop the scoring standings of late has been incredible to watch. McDavid, despite having the single worst start to his NHL career in terms of goals, assists, and points, now is only two points (125) from being the NHL’s leading scorer…again.
Even though has “only” scored 29 goals (which is still very respectable amount…although substantially less than his 64 goals last year), he is now within the Top-3 in scoring with under a dozen games left due to his massive, league-leading 97-assist tally. Yes, McDavid has gone from being the league’s leading scorer with 64 goals last season to now being the league’s leading creator with 97 (and counting) assists this season.
There’s really nothing this man can’t do, and his flexibility on the score sheet proves it. And the same goes for Draisaitl.
Like McDavid, Draisaitl had a poor start to the season amidst the 13 losses in 18 games streak the Oilers embarked upon. Yet, since December-January time, Draisaitl has been one of the league’s most ruthless scorers as he now has 38 goals (he’ll almost certainly hit another 40-goal season again) and 60 assists (tied for 8th most in the NHL) for 98 points (7th most in the league).
Again, these two players are the greatest duo in the NHL and a Stanely Cup victory this season will make them one of the most legendary tandems ever.
But that’s not the biggest reason why the Oilers turned around their season: it’s because of Ken Holland.
I was SUPER critical of the Oilers GM earlier in the year for all the reasons I listed above; but since December-January, it’s almost as if he’s been a whole new GM. First, he made the tough but right call to fire Jay Woodcraft and hire the team’s minor league coach Kris Knoblauch, who has overseen the team’s rise from the ashes with their 16-game winning streak, 6-place division rise to now sit in 2nd place, and most of their 94 point total that only submits to the Canucks’ 100-point tally (but the Oilers also have two games in hand on their Canadian rivals).
However, Knoblauch’s arrival also saw the DRAMATIC improvement of the Oilers defense and most especially their goaltending with Jack Campbell, who was stupidly signed to a 5-year deal, replaced with journeyman Calvin Pickard, who is having a great year with a .915%, a 2.25 GAA, and an 11-5 record as the backup.
But it was Holland’s ability to go into the trade market and actually bring in pieces to HELP THE TEAM’s depth scoring that impresses me the most. First signing the much-maligned Corey Perry on a 1-year deal, and then bringing in defensive center Sam Carrick, then-Ducks leading scorer from center ice Adam Henrique, and defenseman Troy Stecher for practically just a 2024 1st round pick (which they hope to be in the early 30’s if everything goes as planned) were great moves.
And this scoring depth has helped the likes of Evander Kane (21 G, 18 A, 39 PTS), Ryan McLeod (12 G, 14 A, 26 PTS), Zach Hyman (52 G, 22 A, 72 PTS), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (17 G, 44 A, 61 PTS), and Warren Foegele (17 G, 20 A, 37 PTS) to tally up the point totals they have and relieve the pressure from McDavid and Draisaitl a little.
So, I don’t know if the Oilers will win the Stanely Cup this season or even make it out of the West, but I now know this team has the resilience and character to fight for their wishes and hopes given the results of this season.
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