Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Unlike pregame articles in the past, this one will exclude a recap of the previous game. Not because it was a really bad loss, as I’ve never shied away from writing about ugly Oilers hockey.

The team announced that Connor McDavid is expected to be out for at least two to three weeks, as he suffered a lower body injury after being tripped early in the first period against the Blue Jackets. That’s a better timeline for return than most fans were fearing. Edmonton should’ve gotten a powerplay after the trip, but even if they did, it wouldn’t have erased the injury or the 6-1 final score. Maybe it would’ve ended 6-2 instead? Yay, big deal. Remember that McDavid also got injured around this time last season. He only missed two games and came back earlier than he should’ve because he didn’t want to miss the Heritage Classic against the Flames. McDavid, at even 50%, still beats more than half of the NHL, but you could tell he wasn’t close to 100%. He rarely played well enough by his standards before his team eventually made their enormous comeback in the standings. The decision to keep him out longer this time will be better for him personally, but how will his teammates respond?

Since this is the team I frequently write about, it’s hard not to type out the words “Connor” or “McDavid” at least once in every article. My last two before this one were such cases. I’ve done that more than once or twice; I don’t know if any of my readers have ever noticed. It’s my way of emphasizing that hockey is still a team sport, no matter how good your best players are. Not starting games on time, not playing the full 60 minutes, getting overconfident with a lead, and playing to the level of your opponents. These are traits you’d expect to see from a young, rebuilding team. They shouldn’t be expected when you’re icing a veteran roster that’s ranked the oldest in the league. But alas, here they are again. They got older but not wiser. It’s been frustrating to watch some of these losses because they still don’t apply the things they’ve learned in previous seasons. The constant need to relearn them looks like a sign of immaturity that’s never addressed. The problem isn’t the loses themselves, it’s how they lost. A non-biased fan will admit they’re not perfect, they just can’t forgive not showing up. Night in and night out, we never know what we’re getting. With many players on this team starting on cold scoring slumps, yesterday’s news is an early season test for them coming together and figuring things out AS A TEAM. The keys to the game…

Nervous First Impressions: In light of McDavid’s injury, forwards Noah Philp and Drake Caggiula have been called up from the Bakersfield Condors. A lot of Oilers fans feel that Philp should’ve made the team out of training camp even as the 13th forward. I don’t think they’d have expected Caggiula to be up with Edmonton, but he does have 5 points in 5 AHL games this season. These guys aren’t stars, but anything goes when you need help balancing all areas.

Mayor Of Nashville: Leon Draisaitl has put up 43 points in 25 career games against the Predators. He can’t count the number of times he’s been asked about those stats. He’s averaged a point per game so far this season, and he’s really picking up the pace now. Can we expect another largely productive game against his favourite opponents?

PP Creativity: Despite not starting the season with met expectations, Nashville are still the best penalty killing team in league. This poses an issue for a powerplay on our end that hasn’t been at all what we’re used to seeing. Former Pred Mattias Ekholm has 2 PP goals this season playing on the second unit, albeit both scored when games were out of reach. With McDavid out, giving him a look on the top unit wouldn’t hurt.