Lately I've been writing about the Oilers and what they need to do in the future in order to maintain their position as a Stanley Cup contender. Now I want to make one things clear; I love the Oilers and I am frustrated that they haven't been able to get over the hump. In the last 20 years I've had to sit through two game seven loses and one game six loss in the finals. It really hurts.
In my previous article, several readers such as Itchynutitis, bigern and LordHumungous made several intelligent and well thought out points on the Oilers direction going forward, despite their questionable user names (lol). I agree with what they said but I also think the Oilers need to change their tune with how they utilize young talent and the bottom six.
Playing on a team with the likes of McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman and Nuge means you won't see a lot of PP time if you're a young offensive forward coming up in the NHL. Furthermore, playing with such talent, you're expected to put up points should you find yourself on their wing. Now this is a fair expectation but it must be measured with patience and empowerment.
I've talked about this before, but how they treated Holloway was a joke. They showed no patience, no confidence in the guy and this was reflected in his on ice play. A player, especially an offensive player, needs to feel a certain belief from coaches in order to go out there and perform. Holloway went to St-Louis and put up 63 points. Now some will say he needed a fresh start and he has different line mates and pp time. True, but he also has belief from the coaching staff.
Again look at Cole Caufield. With Ducharme, Caufield had one goal in 30 games with limited ice time and a demotion to the AHL. With St-Louis 22 goals in 37 games. Same season, same team, different coach.
Coaching is huge, and the Oilers need to find a way to coach young players. For the upcoming season, I have my eye on two young players who can make a difference if the coaching staff don't spaz out if they have three games with zero points.
The first player is Matthew Savoie. With all the turnover in the Oilers lineup and the cap being mismanaged, they need young guys on inexpensive contracts to play a role. Savoie is exactly the type of top six winger they need. Now they CAN'T play him 3-4th line minutes. He is a high end offensive talent, so play him with Leon or Connor 100% of the time 5-5. That is how he will learn, by getting touches, notably high offensive touches all the time. Not dump and chase or perimeter stuff. Throw him in the thick of things and see how he does for the year. Give him 82 games of this and see where you end up at the end. Empower his confidence, let him focus day in day out that he's in the show, we believe in you, use your talent and play hockey. If he's lazy, make adjustments, if he makes young mistakes, help him!
The second is Noah Philp. He only played in 15 games last year and was sent back down to the AHL after McDavid came back, but I would have kept him on the team. From the games I saw, I loved his quick, smart decision making and he seems to perceive the game with high hockey IQ. He's not the fastest skater, but he's really smart and stands tall at 6'3. In my opinion, he should be on the third line. I really think, given a chance and clear direction, he could be a really good player for the Oilers. But he needs empowerment and opportunity to use his strengths.
The high turnover in players is a reflection of player deployment. The lines changed each 2-3 games, and especially young players never know where they stand on this team. One night they are riding shot-gun with Draisaitl. The next, 8 minutes on the 4th. After healthy scratch for 4 games, the next on the 4th line for 8 minutes and after, AHL demotion. This is a recipe for utterly destroying confidence. See Jesse Puljujärvi as a perfect example of this. While he did not pan out as a top six guy, I still believe he could have done wonders on the 3-4th line with his speed, size and offensive talent. They did the same with Holloway and Broberg, but they were able to escape Shawshank.
I say again, empower your younger players and bottom six. McDavid and Draisaitl can't do it all themselves. Well maybe they can, but if you want to develop a dynasty, this is the way to go.