Edmonton Oilers 2020 NHL Season Analysis

No team would have wanted to face the Edmonton Oilers in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs because they have the most dynamic offensive duo in the league in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Will there be a postseason this year? That remains to be seen. Let’s take a closer look at their season along with NHL Odds and Stanley Cup Odds.

Edmonton Oilers 2020 NHL Season Analysis

Season Recap

Edmonton was second in the Pacific Division but in a mini-slump when the season was suspended, losing three of four. It closed the year with a 4-2 home loss to Winnipeg on March 11. Tyler Ennis and Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers. “That’s karma,” McDavid said. “We have had a couple of games where we have gotten points where we probably didn’t deserve points. I thought our game was pretty good (vs Winnipeg) and we don’t get any points. That is the way it goes.”

The goal brought McDavid’s season total up to 34, and combined with his 63 assists he now has 97 points in 64 games played. He currently has the second-most points and the second-most assists in the entire league, behind only his teammate Leon Draisaitl. McDavid has posted 1.52 points per game thus far.

McDavid is the best forward in the game according to 68.3% of his peers who participated in the NHLPA Players Poll recently released. The Players’ Association’s annual poll consisted of 588 NHL players casting their vote on a variety of on and off-ice topics, with the Oilers captain dominating the field in the top forward category. McDavid finished ahead of Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (15%), Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (6.7%) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (2.9%) to round out the top four.

Since McDavid entered the NHL for the 2015-16 campaign, he has recorded 469 points in 351 games to lead all scorers, edging out Chicago’s Patrick Kane (465 points in 397 games) and Kucherov (464 points in 381 games).

Draisaitl posted 43 goals and 67 assists for a league-leading 110 points before the NHL suspended its season. Draisaitl was the only player in the NHL to hit the century mark before the break, and he also leads the league with 67 helpers while turning in 1.55 points per game. He also registered 10 game-winning goals while totaling 16 markers and 44 points on the man advantage. Draisaitl already has career bests in assists, points and power-play points.

Mike Smith gave up two goals within seven minutes in the second period, and then later gave up the game-winning goal just under 30 seconds into the third. This loss brought his season record down to 19-12-6. Smith has a season save percentage of .902 and a season GAA of 2.95 in 39 outings. Smith agreed to a bonus-heavy deal with the Oilers last summer worth $2 million in base salary and another $1.75 million in performance money. He has earned $125,000 each for playing 20, 25, 30 and 35 games, but stands to lose over $1 million if the NHL doesn’t jumpstart the regular season.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also was having a career year. Nugent-Hopkins was the fifth-most productive forward in the NHL with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 30 games since Dec. 31. A 17-8-5 record for the Oilers during that span solidified the club in the Pacific Division playoff picture.

Nugent-Hopkins was behind just Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov, Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin in points since Dec. 31. He found another gear offensively after he was put on a line with Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto. He had 22 goals and 61 points in 65 games prior to the pause.

“He does everything for us,” McDavid said. “Penalty kill, power play, five-on-five – he plays lots of minutes. He’s definitely a huge part of our team. He pitches in offensively and his game overall is so solid.”