Who made the best grades among Oilers?
To rebuild the Edmonton Oilers, new general manager Peter Chiarelli will have hard decisions to make on which players to keep and which to let go.
With that in mind, here are the final grades on the Oilers for the 2014-15 NHL season:
B+ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has become a capable two-way player, even against tough Western Conference opponents. His presence will help shelter Connor McDavid next season. B - Jordan Eberle had his worst season since he was a rookie when it comes to two-way play, but his performance picked up considerably under interim coach Todd Nelson. Eberle led Oilers wingers in even-strength scoring chances plus-minus at a modest plus-1.8 scoring chances per game. C+ Anton Lander put up a decent number of points and a decent scoring chances plusminus of plus-1.5 per game, second only to Nugent-Hopkins’ plus-1.7. Lander should be able to hold down the third-line centre slot. C+ Taylor Hall’s rate of scoring and scoring chances plusminus were both way down. Much of his trouble was due to injury. C Justin Schultz isn’t as great as former Oilers GM Craig MacTavish made him out to be, but he’s not as bad as many of his critics suggest. Schultz moves the puck well, but struggles one-on-one defensively. He had an OK scoring chances plus-minus, minus-0.04 per game, second best to Jeff Petry for an Oilers defenceman. C- Benoit Pouliot started out strong, but got injured and had a rough stretch when he returned. C- Oscar Klefbom, 21, started poorly under former head coach Dallas Eakins, came on strong when teamed up with Schultz under Nelson, then fell flat after Petry was traded and he was asked to do too much, facing off against tough competition. C- Leon Draisaitl, 19, and his linemates had bad luck shooting, which is partly why the big kid scored just nine points in 37 NHL games. He’s a strong, smart forward and an able puck protector. C- Derek Roy is 32 years old, small, a defensive liability and well past his “best before” date. At the same time, he remains an able attacker. He chipped in on 3.6 scoring chances per game, fifth best on the team after Hall (5.1), Nugent-Hopkins (4.9), Eberle (4.8) and Schultz (4.0). C- Andrew Ference and Matt Hendricks actually get a D+ on pure performance, but both are fierce competitors and strong leaders. D+ Boyd Gordon centred the Wagon Line, which many in Edmonton were infatuated with, but he doesn’t come cheap salary-wise and provides little on the attack. He’s like an extra defensive defenceman who can also take faceoffs. D+ Nikita Nikitin moved the puck OK, but for Oilers Dmen, he had the secondhighest rate of mistakes on scoring chances against at even strength, 2.3 per game. Keith Aulie led the way at 2.8 mistakes, Schultz and Klefbom were both 2.1, Ference was 2.0, Mark Fayne and Martin Marincin were each 1.9 and Petry was 1.8. D+ Mark Fayne had solid defensive habits, but his weak puck-moving skills were exposed in the tough Western Conference. D+ Martin Marincin, 23, started out OK, but he was another D-man asked to do too much after the Petry trade. D+ Nail Yakupov started to attack more decisively under Nelson, but he’s still prone to defensive miscues, fanning on shots and turning the puck over when he rifles passes. D+ Teddy Purcell plays a finesse game, but didn’t offer enough on the attack or defensively. D+ Rob Klinkhammer is another Wagon Line player who hustles and hits, but who provides almost no offence. D Luke Gazdic is a fearsome fighter and improving hockey player, but he’s still not an adequate one at the NHL level. D- Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth had it tougher than most goalies due to the Oilers’ porous defence. Scrivens’ save percentage of .890 was the second-worst for a regular NHL goalie while Fasth, at .888, was the worst.
How bad was Edmonton’s defensive play?
In total, 719 of the 2,460 shots against the Oilers were Grade A scoring chances from the inner slot.
That’s 29.2 per cent of all shots against. By comparison, just 581 of the Oilers’ 2,329 shots were Grade A scoring chances (24.1 per cent).
The Oilers were killed on both shot differential and shot quality and that doesn’t help a goalie’s save percentage, either.