The last five games for the Oilers have seen them go 1-4, with Edmonton finally getting an 8-1 against the Kings yesterday. During that stretch of games, the same old problems are present; team defence, goaltending and bottom six deployment.
Team Defence
All of the rumours are pointing to Stan Bowman and the front office planing on adding another defensemen before the trade deadline. Honestly, I dont see what Edmonton could acciqure given their lack off resources. Mangiapane is the player the Oilers seemingly wish to discard, but given his 3.6 cap hit for this year and the next, finding takers appears to have been difficult (personally I would keep Mangiapane, more on that later).
They definitely need another dman, but at the same time, the team needs to play better overall team defence. As we have all seen, they bleed chances and turn the puck over too often in the defensive zone. They specifically have issues when opposing teams defensemen step uo at there blue line and the coaching staff needs to find a way to effectively counter act this strategy. Against the Panthers, the Oilers had no answers for this, and were grinned down in game 5 and 6 of last year's finals.
Goaltending
The jury is still out on the Jarry and Ingram tandem. They have had their moments, but goaltending remains a questions mark heading into thew playoffs. I like Jarry, but like Skinner, seems very hot and cold at the moment. There is still a lack of consistency between the pipes, leading to rumours that the Oilers have interesting in Jordan Binnington. Again, I don't see how the Oilers could swing this as they lack the resources onces again, and they already pulled the trigger on a goalie trade with Tristan Jarry. I'm fairly sure it will be Jarry and Ingram heading into the playoffs, should the Oilers make it. (McDavid and Draisaitl will most likely drag them there)
Deployment
I know I've spoken at length about this, but player deployment is a big issue for me. Now, I know the game was out of reach against the Kings yesterday, but looking at the game sheet, the ice time was well distributed. Mangiapane finished the game with 1 goal and one assists, with 12:11 of ice time. Now I know he's on the block, but to me he is the type of guy you want in your bottom six. However, in order for him to be effective, he needs 12-14 minutes of ice time, like I've always said. Yesterday was a good example. He's the type of guy you want in the playoffs as he disturbs the other team and he has scoring ability.
Furthermore, with the ice time being well distributed, the team came out with an 8-1 win, with 12 players hitting the score sheet. I know this game is an outlier, but for this team to have longterm success, they need to role the lines.
The Oilers next game comes tomorrow at 4pm vs the Sharks. Hopefully, Edmonton can continue their winning ways and solidify their playoff spot.
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