Edmonton Oilers: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

2. Will the real Edmonton Oilers please stand up?

Through the first two full seasons of the McDavid-era Oilers, we’ve gotten two wildly divergent depictions of what they can be. The first saw them go on a playoff run longer than they could’ve expected and got Oil Country to believe in them as a real contender. The second saw them plummet back to the basement of the league which made everyone bemoan the team’s mismanagement.

There were a number of factors that contributed to the Oilers’ downfall last season. The biggest one was, arguably, injuries. They were torn apart by the injury bug after maintaining a relatively clean bill of health the season prior. Losing Adam Larsson and Cam Talbot at the same time in December was a killer, as was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ injury that wiped him out for nearly two months.

Aside from bad luck, their most glaring issue was the penalty kill. It was one of the worst in NHL history, and it got especially bad when they played at home. While they made some tactical adjustments near the end of the season, they had to address this during the offseason as well, and they did by signing Tobias Rieder. He ranks as the ninth-best forward in shots against on the PK, which should benefit the team greatly.

While Talbot’s performance last season suggested that his regression was real, the offense across the board should get better. The emergence of young, skilled players and an abundance of options when lineup juggling should see an improvement in that area. The defense is much better than they’re given credit for, and if they can stay healthy, that could be a position of strength for them next year.

In truth, the Oilers are not as bad as they were last season, and are not as good as they were 2016-17. Those were both outlier seasons, and just making the playoffs this year would be a success.