KLEFBOM’S VALUE ON THE RISE AS SEKERA STRUGGLES

The Edmonton Oilers have five wins, but seven losses since the all-star break. Nonetheless, the team remains firmly on track for a playoff spot, with more strengths than weaknesses in the lineup.

Here are the latest Cult of Hockey power rankings for the team, a rating of each player’s overall performance this year, with more weight given to their recent play in the month of February.

Connor McDavid, even — In 63 games, his average Cult of Hockey game grade is 6.8 out of 10, which is significantly higher than any other average game grade we’ve handed out in the past decade.

Cam Talbot, even — Talbot has been human in a few recent games and his save percentage has dipped from .921 a month ago to .919 now, but he has been in the conversation as the Oilers’ most valuable player, so enough said about his value to the team.

Adam Larsson, up three — He’s up three spots in the rankings. He has become more confident and effective moving the puck, while his defensive play is marked by skill, tenacity and aggression.

Leon Draisaitl, up one — His average annual game grade this year is 6.2, which is around what Taylor Hall used to get. Impressive.

Patrick Maroon, down 2 — His attacking game exploded in January only to fall off in February, but he still works well as McDavid’s attacking winger and bodyguard, as Brandon Manning of the Flyers can now attest.

Andrej Sekera, down 2 — Sekera slumped badly in February, his average game grade falling from 6.4 per game to 4.8 in the past 12 matches. Sekera has started to leak Grade A scoring chances against far too often. All that said, he’s done a good job overall against tough competition this year.

Oscar Klefbom, up five — His average game grade is 5.4 for the year, but with some excellent passing, shooting and scoring he boosted that to 6.2 per game in his last 12 matches. His defensive play still needs work, though.

Kris Russell, down 1 — Russell is a poised and gritty defenceman, but he has had an inconsistent season, with strong runs of play mixed with weaker runs.

Brandon Davidson, up seven — He’s back to where he was last year: a smart, steady defenceman who can be relied on in his own end.

Matt Benning, down 1 — He’s played effective two-way hockey all year, but seems to have hit a wall in the last two weeks and is starting to make unforced errors.

Zack Kassian. He skates hard, hits hard and is starting to protect the puck exceedingly well in the offensive zone on the cycle.

Darnell Nurse, new ranking — Nurse looked rusty and got walked on one goal against in his first game back, but he also flashed the speed and aggression that defined his game earlier this year.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, even — In the last few games we’ve seen more of the effort and speed he exhibited at his best in 2014-15, but that only came after an ugly slump in early February where he looked like he’d never put up major points again.

Jordan Eberle, down six — Not yet finding a way to consistently close the deal on the attack.

Mark Letestu, down one — He needs to keep playing physical hockey at even strength. Has been surprisingly strong on the power play, but unexpectedly weak recently on the penalty kill.

Milan Lucic, down five — Too many nights he’s done little to help the Oilers win, but the strength and power he’s flashed when he’s on brings hope for this major Peter Chiarelli gamble.

Jujhar Khaira, new ranking — He’s not getting much ice time, but when he does he looks like a big, fast, skilled keeper of a player.

Eric Gryba, up one — Has thrived for the Oilers in a depth role, providing physicality and decent two-way play.

Drake Caggiula, down nine — Fast, aggressive and skilled, but the results aren’t yet coming.

Iiro Pakarinen, new ranking — Another role player who is earning his way to a new contract with solid play.

Anton Slepyshev, down three — Plenty of size and speed, but not yet putting up positive results consistently.

Laurent Brossoit, down five — Has hung in during his limited opportunities to date.

Matt Hendricks, down two — He and Benoit Pouliot have the lowest average player grades on the team, just 4.7 out of 10 per game. Hendricks is all effort, but struggles to keep up with the speed of the game.

Benoit Pouliot, down four — Before he got injured, he was having one of his worst runs of play in a season where he hasn’t had many good ones. He’s not the physical player that he was in New York in 2014, when he impressed the Oilers enough to be handed a five-year, $4-million per year deal.