Things went from bad to worse over the weekend as the Oilers not only lost on Saturday after being up 2-0, but Connor McDavid did not play in overtime and seemed to be grabbing his hip or back at the end of the game. It was announced shortly after that the captain would miss 1-2 weeks.
The Oilers now sit 1-3-1 to start the season. Teams go through rough stretches throughout the season and things can still easily turn around for this club but there is a concerning lack of effort going on here and Woodcroft needs to get a handle on it.
Let's take Evander Kane as an example. His first two seasons in Edmonton went fairly quiet in terms of the typical off-ice situations that have followed him around but we caught a bit of that during the Jets game. For those who missed it, Kane made remarks about his lack of ice-time after being demoted the the third line. Through the first four games of the season, Kane simply wasn't good enough, wasn't helping the team out much and Woodcroft tried something different. To see him publicly call his coach out after one game on the third line... not ideal.
There are far too many passengers on this roster and Woodcroft needs to start rewarding the guys who are performing and stay firm on those who are not.
I've liked the idea of keeping Holloway and McLeod together on the third line as I like that duo but right now I think it sends a better message elevating Holloway up the line.
Based on merit right now, here are the lines I would run:
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman Foegele-RNH-Lavoie Kane-McLeod-Brown Erne-Ryan
Nurse-Ceci Ekholm-Bouchard Broberg-Desharnais Kulak
Campbell Skinner
I really do not understand Woodcroft's obsession with Janmark. Not only did he take two penalties, one after the other in the second period against the Jets, giving Winnipeg all the momentum back, but he still hasn't even been on the ice for a 5 on 5 goal. If WC wants to play him over Erne than fine, but that is really the only other player that has been worse than Janmark.
As for Lavoie, we have no guarantee that he will come in and perform but so far the players who seem to care the most on this team are the young guys with something to prove. Holloway may not have found the scoresheet yet but he is relentless on the forecheck and looks like he is trying everything he can to win with every shift. Maybe this team needs some more of that injected into their system right now.
Last time the Oilers were without McDavid, Leon Draisaitl put this team on his back and proved to the NHL that he was more than just McDavid's winger. I expect the same from Leon but the rest of the team needs to use this as a massive wakeup call.
The Oilers look like a team that won't make the playoffs, five games into the season and now McDavid is going to miss a handful of games. The rest of this roster needs to be reminded that this team is more than Connor McDavid and waiting for him to do something incredible to score a goal. Edmonton has quite frankly been outworked in almost every game this season. If they want to win without Connor they need to double their efforts and continue that same level of play when the captain is back.
The Oilers face the Wild on the road before returning to Rogers Place to take on the Rangers followed by the Heritage Classic against the Calgary Flames. IF the Oilers find a way to win all three games, they will finish October 4-3-1. Not world beating numbers by any stretch but would go a long way in starting to right the ship and refocus this team going into November.
We will see Tuesday how the McDavidless Oilers are able to handle themselves.