With the schedule easier, excuses vanish. The Oilers will now face tough decisions and a 30-game audit, with player performance dictating management's next moves.
The Edmonton Oilers finished a long seven-game road trip and will play a game Tuesday versus Dallas before one more on the road, then a longer homestand. The schedule seems to get a bit easier, which will give the organization time to take stock of where they're at when the team runs out of excuses.
To be fair, it's not so much that the Oilers are making excuses, but they know that a tough schedule, tons of travel, and tired players from years of additional playoff hockey games have taken their toll. Mattias Ekholm said on Tuesday after practice: "I think you have to somewhat have some respect for the amount of hockey we've played in the last two years as well." He added, "You got to make sure you stay in it."
The Oilers, for the most part, have done that. Now comes the tough stuff.
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Suppose the Oilers were waiting for this stretch to pass and just trying to get out of it alive. In that case, the players need to pull up their collective sleeves because management is ready to start making tough decisions.
As per TSN insider Pierre LeBrun:
“Sense is the Oil want to reach the 30-game mark to take stock, hopefully have a healthier roster by then, examine their needs, decide where to focus on in terms of the trade market, etc.”
In other words, this team got a pass because of their tough schedule. That's no longer going to be the case. Analysis and assessment of where this team is really at begins now. Games are at home, the roster is getting back to a mostly full squad, and October and November are done.
Any narrative that this is a team that starts slowly has to be thrown out the window. A second gear needs to be found and it needs to be shifted into immediately.
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The team is currently without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jake Walman, Kasperi Kapanen, Noah Philp, and Curtis Lazar. Nugent-Hopkins and Kapanen are close. The Oilers got Zach Hyman back and the team has a chance to make up some ground and move up the standings. Failure to do so will and should result in changes.
Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now recently reported, “I think ultimately the play of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard likely over the next month is going to decide the course of action that Stan Bowman is going to have.” This is just the start of where Bowman will start dissecting what he's got and what needs changing.
The forwards will be fighting for spots, and ultimately for jobs. The defense will be playing to stay in the lineup and avoid being moved. Even coaches will have to get this team on the same page.
The brutal schedule is done, the narrative is changing and the 30-game audit is a real thing. The Oilers need to start playing as though they understand things are different.
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