Respectable. It’s a word that hasn’t been associated with the Oilers in a long time and still largely is not. The team mired at the bottom of the NHL barrel for years, collecting 1st Overall picks and high end prospects over and over without making any progress on the ice. There’s no debating that around the league the reputation of the Edmonton Oilers took a hit with both fans and those employed by NHL teams.
As the club ham-fisted their way down the standings they also managed to alienate a few players along the way too even, sending Souray to the farm and then buying him out while declaring his career (that went on 2 more contracts) dead. Then of course there’s coaches Renney and Krueger who the club shivved mercilessly for no apparent reason both times. It isn’t just mouth breathers and Toronto based media slagging the Oil, it’s legit Hockey people. Let’s not forget when Hextall used the thinnest veil possible to call out Edmonton’s methods. The entire philosophy behind what the Oilers have been doing for the past 5 years has made them seem lesser in the eyes of some.
Away from the philosophy of “The Rebuild… the Oilers have lost the respect of NHL coaches. Last year we had Barry Trotz effectively questioning what the heck Edmonton had done to poor Dubnyk and last night we had Ulf Samuelsson openly saying that losing to Edmonton at home is embarrassing. When Lars Eller said that Edmonton plays like a Jr team last season do we really believe that a depth forward on the Canadiens really watched enough Oiler hockey to form that opinion on his own, or is it more likely he was parroting something one of his coaches said? That’s the reputation the Oilers have in professional Hockey circles. Losing to the Oilers is a point of shame and the things they teach their players are questionable at best.
Simply put this franchise has shown an aptitude for making people think less of them.
But the Oilers are on the precipice of doing something that for many has been a long time coming. They are doing their best to regain some respectability on the ice. It’s obvious from the reaction of Ulf Samuelsson that many teams are still scouting the standings and expecting the Oilers to be a mess, but by eye and by number this team is better than its record.
The team paid for better defense and its there, even if it isn’t perfect. They paid for size up front and its there, even if they aren't dominating games through physicality. They have the best roster they’ve ever had since Pronger left town and their play on the ice is showing it, despite the fact that the wins aren't always coming.
Taylor Hall is out of the lineup but the club survived and has been .500 on this road trip and should probably have been better if not for a meltdown late in Boston. The team is 6-8-1 on a season where their starting goalie is sporting an .894 sv%. The room for improvement is significant with this team. They are currently sitting 12th in the Western Conference, which might not seem overly impressive but for the Oilers that’s moving in the right direction.
There are things that as hockey fans you can intuitively know by watching the games but you can doubt yourself about. Your brain processes all the things you see so efficiently that you might not even know why you think or feel something. I’m talking about those gut feelings you get when you watch a team and think to yourself “These guys are getting lucky… or “This team is better than their record…. The cool part about the fancy stats is that they can help inform you as to whether your gut instincts are right on or if maybe they’re fuelled by hope and fandom.
For the first time in probably since the 06 season (because the stats don’t actually go back that long) the Oilers are positive when it comes to Corsi and Fenwick. As of writing this the Oilers are 14th in the NHL with 51.4% CF and 18th in the NHL with 50.2% FF. We’re talking about possession and scoring chances when we talk about CF and FF. On a team level they are no longer being dominated by either and relying completely on high shooting percentage or a high save percentage. I would categorize the team’s schedule up to this point as being relatively easy (lots of Eastern teams) so you have be cautious with declarations like “The Oilers Are Fixed… but there’s a positive trend with the team.
The Oilers are playing good hockey. Not great. Not world beating. But they are playing good hockey, and that’s the path back to respectability.
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