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The Edmonton Oilers are in the best position they’ve been in years to succeed and attempt to make the NHL playoffs.
The Oilers haven’t made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season when Edmonton went all the way to the Stanley Cup final, but ultimately lost in Game 7 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Since then Edmonton has struggled with everything from lack of scoring, poor defense and goaltending, and even management.
Edmonton has drafted a player in the top 10 since 2009, which includes drafting first overall four times taking Taylor Hall in 2010, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2011, Nail Yakupov in 2012 and Connor McDavid this year. The number of top draft picks Edmonton had has only made the team’s lack of success even more disappointing.
The incompetence of Edmonton’s management had been the real problem the entire time with poor development of prospects, terrible trades that accomplished nothing and an aimless approach to the team. This past summer Edmonton made sweeping changes to the entire management group starting with hiring Peter Chiarelli as the new GM and president, and then hiring Todd McLellan as the new head coach.
These changes have shown that Edmonton is now invested in winning and has a plan to make it happen, and with all the young players on the team it will only be a matter of time till Edmonton returns to success. But if Edmonton is going to succeed this season then it will be dependent on the team’s top five scorers.
Taylor Hall leads the team with 17 points in 16 games, but how well Hall does this year will depend entirely on whether he can stay healthy and not get injured. In the 2013-14 season Hall played 75 games (the most games he’s played in a single season) and finished the year with 80 points. Hall is one of the best players in the NHL, so Edmonton needs him to stay healthy and play a full season.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 14 points in 16 games and needs to continue to play well in order to show that his development hasn’t stagnated. The last two seasons Nugent-Hopkins put up 56 points, but for a former first-overall pick, that just isn’t good enough.
Nail Yakupov and Leon Draisaitl are also in the same position as Nugent-Hopkins after having disappointing starts to their NHL careers. Draisaitl only had nine points in 37 games last season, but has 10 points in just six games this season. Yakupov had a career high 33 points last season and has started this season with 11 points in 16 games.
If Yakupov and Draisaitl can live up to their expectations then Edmonton will have one of the deadliest offenses in the NHL.
But the player that Edmonton’s future relies on the most is McDavid. He was drafted first overall this past summer and is considered to be a generational talent, which would put McDavid alongside Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky in that regard. Before getting injured, McDavid had 12 points in 13 games; Edmonton needs McDavid to have a speedy recovery.
The Edmonton Oilers are going to rely heavily on those young players to lead the team to its first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 NHL season.
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