The Edmonton Oilers’ defensive corps has been far from perfect this season, drawing significant scrutiny—even from management. Oilers GM Stan Bowman has made it clear he’s actively seeking an upgrade on the blue line. However, one bright spot within the defensive unit has been their offensive contributions, which have served as a saving grace for the team.
So far this season, the blue line has scored 22.2% of all goals scored by the Oilers, which is the highest percentage in the NHL. Most would expect Evan Bouchard to hold a large chunk of the defensive goals, which he does, but Brett Kulak is right there with him. Just 25 games into the season, Kulak sits just a goal away from tying his career high of six goals. In total, the Oilers’ defense has scored 16 goals: Bouchard with six, Darnell Nurse with three, and Mattias Ekholm with two.
Defensive Production Puts Oilers Offensive Troubles Under a Microscope
The increased offensive production from the Oilers’ defense doesn’t just highlight their performance—it offers a glimpse as to how much the forwards are struggling. For context, the Oilers’ forwards have scored 57 goals this season, with 29 of those coming from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. This means the remaining 13 forwards have combined for just 28 goals.
In contrast, only four defensemen have contributed 16 goals, emphasizing the imbalance in scoring depth. Jason Gregor points out that the Oilers rank 28th overall in goals for in the league. Not to mention they are on pace to be shut out 13 times this season. Additionally, Gregor reveals his dislike for the term ‘goalied’, stating, “That’s the excuse every time. I never hear ‘Skinner and Pickard got ‘shootered’”.
In simple terms, Gregor is stating that the Oilers aren’t just unlucky facing a string of hot goalies. Instead, the Oilers are failing to get good quality shots on net and not testing the opposition’s goalie enough.
Importance of the Elevated Defensive Production
The Oilers understand that relying on defensive production isn’t a sustainable strategy, especially with a roster full of underperforming forwards. However, with everyone outside of McDavid and Draisaitl struggling, the defensive scoring has been crucial in keeping the team afloat. If not for the blue-line production, the Oilers wouldn’t be in a 5th-place position in the Pacific Division. Things could look much worse.
Many of their games have been incredibly close—eight have been decided by just one goal, with several more coming down to the final seconds. In such tight contests, a single goal can make all the difference, as it was in Edmonton’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Struggling to put pucks in the back of the net is a completely unexpected problem for a team known as a long-standing offensive powerhouse. But luckily, the defense has picked up the scoring, giving the forwards a little room to find their rhythm. They look to change the script and find some depth scoring depth to go alongside the defensive scoring in Thursday’s matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
