Oilers finally made strides, looking like a contender – and then it all got cancelled

The NHL season getting cancelled was a blow to all hockey fans, but especially for those upcoming teams finally seeming to reach their long-lost potential. The real surprises in the NHL regular season have been rare diamonds, but in the postseason it has been a different ballgame. Cutting the season short made the fantastic run by Edmonton Oilers and especially their super-duo NHL consensus pick all stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl a moot point.

At the time of cancellation, Edmonton were finally heading to the playoffs on the fourth spot in the Western Conference and Draisaitl was leading the scoring race with ridiculous 110 points in 71 games – a humble 1.55 points per game! After missing a couple games due to an injury, McDavid held the second spot with 97 points in 64 games, averaging also respectably over 1.5 points per game.

While Oilers heavy-hitters were performing admirably, the supporting cast was emerging as well. Having to divide attention to Dreisaitl and McDavid in different lines seemed to do the trick: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had already scored 61 points in 65 games, nearing his career-best of 69 points last season. Kailer Yamamoto, the first round pick from 2017 draft, broke through big time after getting a chance on the first line, scoring 26 points in 27 games. His +17 in the plus-minus category is astonishing, with only three other Oilers players in the positive, defender Matt Benning placed second with +8. Heavy handed Zack Kassian emerged as a legitimate power-forward, banging 34 points and making things increasingly uncomfortable for the opponent. And last but not least, James Neal was about to re-enter the 20-goal-scoring group, with 19 tallies, but more importantly outscoring his trade counterpart Milan Lucic by 11 points already. With both the starters and the supporting cast pulling it together this season the Oilers had started to turn things around. This season they even started to cover NHL spreads on a regular basis. Right before this season was put on pause the Edmonton Oilers were 39-30 against the spread.

It was not all fun and games for Oilers despite their surge towards the post season. Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom carried the load in the defense admirably, scoring 34 and 33 points respectively, but Klefblom was -17 and Nurse -2 in 5v5 play, which indicates troubles at the defensive end. Defensively Oilers did leave a lot to be desired for and the goalkeepers Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith never seemed like saviors of a contending team.

For what it’s worth Edmonton had already passed the point total predicted in Accuscore’s pre-season simulations and were within three points of their total line that the people who make NHL expert picks in Vegas placed at 85.5. With 11 games remaining, Oilers would’ve most likely finished up in top four of the Western Conference, heading to the playoffs for the 2nd time in the last 13 seasons. Maybe next season.