The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid takes a picture on the red carpet on Thursday, February 1, 2024, during 2024 NHL All-Star Thursday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. BRUCE BENNETT PHOTO/Getty Images
content of the article
Nothing demonstrates how the best players on the Edmonton Oilers are still the best players on the team like NHL all-star weekend.
The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid takes a picture on the red carpet on Thursday, February 1, 2024, during 2024 NHL All-Star Thursday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. BRUCE BENNETT PHOTO/Getty Images
content of the article
Even though Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl didn’t finish first and second overall in points last year, respectively, they are still the best players to represent the team in the NHL’s showcase event.
Nothing demonstrates how the best players on the Edmonton Oilers are still the best players on the team like NHL all-star weekend.
After having a 29-14-5 record with a.914 save percentage and a 2.75 goals-against average in his rookie NHL season, Stuart Skinner was voted to travel to Sunrise, Florida, for the previous year’s all-star festivities. This accomplishment made him a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy.
Even though Skinner has a 23-9-1 record, which ties him for the third-most victories of any goalie in the league, a.910 save percentage, and a 2.44 goals-against average, he has not been invited to the all-star activities in Toronto this weekend.
Although there are goalies with better numbers who are more deserving than Skinner, none have been hotter than Skinner going into the break, given his flawless nine-for-nine record in games along with a 1.33 goals-against average and.953 save percentage that earned him a spot on the NHL’s monthly honour roll for January.
He has contributed more than any other player to the Oilers’ amazing 24-3 run, which has seen them go from pretenders to contenders. Despite the humiliation of losing their head coach early in the season, the team has climbed all the way from 30th place overall to third place in the Pacific Division.
The fact that the always deadly combination of McDavid and Draisaitl is among the Oilers players participating in Friday’s skills and thrills should come as no surprise.
Last year, the two were unbeaten. McDavid finished first with 64 goals, 89 assists, and 153 points, while Draisaitl was close behind him with 128 points (52 goals, 76 assists).
With 67 points in 43 games, McDavid is tied for fourth place in the league overall, and they continue to lead the team in points scored (1 and 2). Nonetheless, with his current mix of 20 goals and 47 assists, he has little chance of winning the league’s top goal scorer award two years in a row.
With 57 points (23 goals, 34 assists), Draisaitl is currently in 14th position overall. This is because he has primarily played as the Oilers second line centre rather than as McDavid’s winger up on the top line as he did the previous season.
Of course, on Edmonton’s first-unit power play, the two best players still unholster together. However, even that hasn’t worked as well as it once did.
At 26.95%, it’s still in the top five, but that’s far from the 32.36% that they set a new NHL record with the previous season.
Rather, the team’s penalty kill has taken centre stage in their comeback, moving up into the top five at 83.06% after finishing the previous season in ninth place overall in the league at 75.56%.
The squad has been winning, that’s the thing. Even though the same two men are the focus of attention this weekend in Toronto, they’ve been doing it in a more nuanced manner than the previous punchline, which reduced them to nothing more than two people and a power play.
In his native country, Zach Hyman is leading the team with 30 goals and 17 assists in 44 games, enough for 47 points. Hyman is on track to record his first 50-goal season in his nine-year NHL career.
With ten goals less than league leader Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he is presently ranked eighth overall.
While the entire league is focusing this weekend on individual achievements and celebrating the who’s who, the Oilers are on a 16-game winning streak in Edmonton, just one game short of the league record 17 straight wins set by the 1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins. This is due to a more traditional team-first mentality back home.
And after the all-star break, McDavid, Draisaitl, and company will try to match that accomplishment against none other than the reigning champion Vegas Golden Knights.
against a Golden Knights team that, as it turned out, didn’t send any players to the all-star game and is one spot ahead of them in the Pacific Division.
Emoji shrug to this.
Postmedia welcomes comments from all readers on our articles and is dedicated to preserving a vibrant, yet polite, conversation forum. Before being posted on the website, comments may need to be moderated for up to an hour. Please be considerate and relevant in your remarks. We’ve activated email notifications, so you’ll now get an email whenever someone replies to a comment you left, updates a comment thread you follow, or leaves a comment. For additional information and instructions on modifying your email settings, see our Community Guidelines.
