After pulling off a spirited Game 7 win against the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers find themselves half way to their ultimate playoff goal. It was a spirited series that had the Oilers looking their doom in the eyes, but the team managed to prevail thanks to some outstanding performances.
Now, the Oilers find themselves tied in their third round series against the Dallas Stars at one game apiece. The top players will need to remain their dominant selves, but the supporting cast will have to continue finding ways to chip in. With that in mind we polled our readers on which players will need to have some big moments for the Oilers to keep up their winning ways.
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Edmonton requires more from Perry
Finishing third in our poll is Corey Perry, a mid-season addition to the team following a controversial end to his time with the Chicago Blackhawks. Since being acquired, Perry has shown some ability, contributing 22 points over his 54 appearances as an Oiler. However, things have not gone as well for Perry in the playoffs.
With no points in 10 playoff games, Perry has become a scratch, on the outside looking in. By this metric, Perry certainly fits the description of a player that has been absent the first two rounds. Struggling to find offensive contributions from the bottom of their lineup, some production from Perry would be quite beneficial to the Oilers. Quite simply, Perry has not been given the chance to step up against the Stars, not dressed in the series so far.
A reason why Perry might not have received more votes here is that fans might not be expecting much more. Since leaving the Anaheim Ducks Perry has almost exclusively been used as a fourth line player. Into his late 30s, there isn’t much reason to think that a rise in effectiveness is on the horizon. Perry produced quite well during the regular season, at nearly half a point per game, but clearly Oilers fans aren’t placing their hopes on this level of production returning.
McLeod needs to step it up
Leading our poll with nearly half the votes is Ryan McLeod. The Oilers frequently use McLeod as a checking centre, a role he has played well the past few seasons. However, McLeod’s offensive game has stalled, a near non-factor for the Oilers offensively, a trend that has continued this playoffs.
Over his NHL career, McLeod has rarely been deployed alongside players who can offer high level offence. Instead, McLeod has been used with players who can more so help his defensive role. Once again McLeod finds himself on a line with Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan. Earlier in the playoffs McLeod was on a line with Evander Kane, and still was not able to generate offence. Clearly, voters are hoping for more from McLeod.
Despite this McLeod has played well defensively, though he has made some costly errors. Because of his role as a defensive presence, these mistakes are especially frustrating, and have clearly added to the vote total in this poll. Clearly he is an important part of the team, and the fans’ expectations are somewhat reflective of that. As the true leader of the Oilers third line, a strong performance punctuated by some offence would be a boon that could be the difference between winning and losing.
Foegele’s play has been underwhelming
Finishing second in our poll is Warren Foegele, often McLeod’s winger. While the two have spent a lot of time together as Oilers, on top of sharing a line of late, Foegele has had more of a chance to play alongside top offensive teammates. Much of this opportunity has come because of Foegele’s performance this season, playing what was probably the best hockey of his career throughout the regular season.
In some ways, this is what makes Foegele’s playoff performance so underwhelming, as it has been a drop off from his effectiveness this season. Perhaps, as is the case with Perry, Foegele not earning more votes is indicative of fans understanding that there is not much more to be expected from Foegele, that this regular season might have been the best he has to offer. McLeod is younger, and might still inspire hopes for a greater ceiling, while Foegele might have reached his peak.
Still, Foegele is capable of more than he has given the Oilers so far this playoff, and his sizeable share of the vote reflects this. His simple, direct, straight line approach would seem to lend itself to playoff effectiveness, but this simply hasn’t been the case.
Complaints about Nurse are far too common
Thanks to his cap hit, Darnell Nurse is always top of mind for those looking to complain about the Oilers struggles. On top of this, Nurse struggled alongside his regular partner Cody Ceci early in the playoffs. The Nurse-Ceci pairing has been subjected to its share of criticisms over the years, though the duo carried a heavy load in the past. As much as fans like to point out the inadequacies that have always seemed to follow the pairing, when the Oilers made the conference final two seasons ago it was still Ceci and an injured Nurse who led the blueline.
Since Mattias Ekholm was acquired and Evan Bouchard took off, the Nurse-Ceci pairing started to be relieved of this top usage. While they managed to hold up for a while, when push came to shove the Oilers were forced to realise that they could do better. An unlikely emergence, the late blooming Vincent Desharnais, has taken Ceci’s spot to great effect. In some ways, Ceci was weighing Nurse and the Oilers down, cast in such an important role for a team with championship aspirations. In other ways, Ceci has managed to play top-four minutes for the Oilers over the course of his UFA contract, helping the team to its most stable run of success in decades.
While Ceci’s performance is clearly not up to standard anymore, Nurse finishing last in this poll is indicative that fans can see his contributions are still vital to the Oilers success. It might also be indicative of how well he and Desharnais have played since being partnered together. Nurse might not be worth his cap hit, but he is still a player that makes the Oilers better, even if a few unfortunate bounces have ended up in the Oilers net off of his stick.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
