Written by Liam McGuire at Bloguin
The Edmonton Oilers entered the season on a positive note. They lucked out and won the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, gutted management by bringing in Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli, and addressed the gaping needs in goal and on the blue line by bringing in players like Cam Talbot and Andrej Sekera. Analytically, they’ve showed better results than last season, yet through 22 games, the Oilers have only won seven times, sitting last in the league with 15 points. There was plenty of reason for optimism going in 2015-16, but it’s all dried up. While the team has had plenty of issues, here’s three reasons why the club is struggling.
Goaltending has bombed
Edmonton had two new faces between the pipe this offseason, both acquired via trade. Cam Talbot was expected to be a number one, after posting great numbers as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup, and Anders Nilsson surprised Oilers brass after stealing the number two spot from Ben Scrivens in training camp. While they’ve shown flashes, neither goalie has taken the starting job and run with it. The club has given up 3.09 goals against per game, and the goalies haven’t helped.
Talbot has been a disappointment in 11 starts with the Oilers. Although the 28-year-old started strong, he’s been lit up recently, allowing a staggering 20 goals in his last five starts alone, along his way to a 3-8 record. He’s dead last among goalies who’ve played at least 500 minutes, with a .891 even strength save percentage. It’s not what the team was expecting when they acquired him.
Nilsson has faired better but isn’t a starting goalie. He’s won four games in 11 starts, posting a .914 even strength save percentage. He’s facing almost four more shots per sixty minutes than Talbot. The 25-year-old has been inconsistent, but he’s shown to be adequate between the pipes – but he’s still probably not the solution in goal.
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