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Forward Depth: No More Passengers |
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I was pondering the idea of depth as it relates to playing time in the NHL, specifically to the Oilers. The Oilers have had woeful depth at both the forward and defense positions, which has been in many ways responsible for the team’s losing history. It turns out that there are about 40 minutes of the game where Taylor Hall is sitting on the bench and that’s more than enough time for the B team to mess things up. And when you’re the Edmonton Oilers, your B team is generally everyone else’s C team.
It’s no secret that the Oilers added a lot of NHL bodies to boost their D-Corps and middle 6 forwards. This newfound depth is designed, based on the comments of the GM, around the Chicago model where there is a shutdown line and 3 scoring lines (Or so goes the myth of the 3 scoring lines). Well it appears as though the Oil are determined to head down that route despite the questions from in and outside the management circle about their depth at Center.
So what is the most noticeable aspect of a Chicago’s forwards when it comes to playing time? There aren’t many passengers at all. If you’re going to play for the Chicago Blackhawks you are likely playing for more than 10 minutes a game. They had 2 forwards average TOI/G in the single digits: Jeremy Morin (9:09) and Matt Carey (9:38). Carey played 2 games with the team for a grand total of 30 shifts and Morin was far from a passenger in the minutes he played. Morin, in fact lead the team’s forwards in CF% (62.5%) and in points per 60 (3.13). In total that’s 26 man-games played at less than 10 minutes for the Hawks. Every other forward who suited up for the team averaged 10 minutes or more a night.
There’s an X factor when it comes to Chicago’s ice-time for forwards and that’s the safety net provided by their Defense. Even if you could make an argument comparing the Winger depth of the Blackhawks and the Oilers (iffy), you couldn’t even hope to do the same with their Defense. Even a much improved Oiler Defense is miles away from Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, and Leddy. That group provided the coaching staff with a lot of options for deployment that the Oiler group just doesn’t.
Nevertheless, the Oilers were a different kind of animal last year (a weak and sickly one). Edmonton had 9 forwards of the 23 that played for them average less than 10 minutes a night. That list is Jones, Pinizzotto, Joensuu, Omark, Pitlick, Acton, Eager, Brown, and Gazdic. In stark contrast to the 26 man-games averaging under 10 minutes a night for Chicago, Edmonton had 223 man-games in the single digits. Not just that, but Chicago’s 2 players were both at 9 minutes. Edmonton had 2 players average in the 5 minute range.
If the newly found depth is what we hope it should be then the Oilers are looking at a significant loss of passengers on the team. That is the what management had in mind when the team was designed. Whether they can accomplish that goal or not remains to be seen.
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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