The Edmonton Oilers are as soon as once more Stanley Cup favourites, and with that comes the stress to carry out nicely. All people on this staff has a job to play, however just a few gamers particularly have to step up. Except for the apparent in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Zach Hyman, listed below are three gamers who want massive seasons if the Oilers are going to duplicate final season’s success.
Stuart Skinner
Stuart Skinner had a rollercoaster of a daily season. Similar to the staff, he had an abysmal begin to the 2023-24 marketing campaign, posting an .863 save proportion (SV%) in October and an .888 SV% in November. He recovered properly, ending the season with a .905 SV%. The 2017 third-round choose has room for enchancment, particularly within the consistency division. Your goaltender must be your greatest participant most nights if you wish to have success on this league.
Associated: Stuart Skinner Getting into Make-or-Break Season as Oilers Goaltender
Skinner will as soon as once more be closely relied upon this season, particularly with the preseason struggles of each Calvin Pickard and Olivier Rodrigue. Rodrigue has proven that he’s not fairly prepared to leap right into a backup position with the Oilers simply but. With that mentioned, if Pickard struggles, Skinner shall be pressured to play extra video games which isn’t superb.
Skinner is at his greatest when he’s well-rested. There are additionally main query marks on the blue line, so Skinner will doubtless must bail out his teammates on just a few events and make some massive saves to maintain them in video games. The group’s goaltending and defensive depth are severely underwhelming, in order that places an immense quantity of stress on Skinner to carry out nicely, as a result of if he doesn’t, this staff shall be in deep trouble.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Some could be stunned that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on this record, however he has excessive expectations to supply, particularly enjoying on a line with Connor McDavid. Aside from his 104-point anomaly marketing campaign in 2022-23, he has but to achieve 70 factors in a single season. He registered 67 factors final season, however solely 38 at even energy.
The longest-tenured Oiler must generate extra offense at 5-on-5, which is why a line shakeup could also be helpful. Nugent-Hopkins is a pure playmaker, much like McDavid, so placing him on a line with a pure shooter could possibly be the most effective plan of action. Due to this fact, placing him on a line with Viktor Arvidsson may assist his manufacturing.
Sure, his present linemate, Zach Hyman, scored 54 objectives final season, however generally change is required to get different guys going. A second line of Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl, and Arvidsson may present a spark. Nugent-Hopkins may use a change of tempo and totally different linemates in hopes of bettering his sport at even energy. If he’s firing on all cylinders, the Oilers are a extra harmful staff. The 2011 first-overall choose wants an important offensive 12 months.
Darnell Nurse
Darnell Nurse is in want of a serious bounce-back season. He’s obtained heavy criticism from followers, however many of the backlash is directed at his $9.25 million cap hit and never essentially the participant. He won’t ever reside as much as that ridiculous contract he signed again in 2021 and folks want to just accept that.
Nurse continues to be an integral a part of this blue line, particularly with the departures of Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais, and Philip Broberg this offseason. Nurse continues to be this staff’s third-best defenceman, behind Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. The 2013 seventh-overall choice was banged up on the finish of final season and missed the beginning of coaching camp, however he performed the final two preseason video games and appears to be at one hundred pc heading into the common season.
Nurse registered 32 factors final season which was his lowest level complete because the 26 factors he had through the 2017-18 season. The Hamilton, Ontario native was solely a plus-3 through the common season which was method down from the plus-26 he had the season earlier than. In 2021-22 he was a plus-18, and in 2020-21 he was a plus-27. This staff may have success if he can get again to these numbers.
An enormous query mark heading into this season is who will play alongside Nurse on the second pair. It’s going to doubtless be both Ty Emberson or Troy Stecher. Stecher is solely not a top-four high quality defender, and Emberson has the potential to be a top-four blueliner however has solely 30 video games of NHL expertise underneath his belt. Due to this fact, Nurse shall be relied on to guide his associate, so the Oilers are relying on him to be efficient.
If he doesn’t play nicely, this blue line shall be in worse form than we initially thought. Nurse is in want of an important season greater than anybody else on the staff, particularly with their present blue-line state of affairs. If he can play like he did through the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020-21, the Oilers may have success.
The Oilers are as soon as once more in Cup-or-bust mode, and something wanting the Stanley Cup shall be deemed a failure. With a purpose to attain these heights once more, they want everybody to step up and be at their greatest, particularly Skinner, Nugent-Hopkins, and Nurse. If these three gamers are contributing elements on a nightly foundation, the Oilers shall be in nice form to make one other deep run and hopefully carry Lord Stanley again to Edmonton for the primary time since 1990.
