Oilers’ depth used to be a problem – but not anymore

For the longest time, the common knock on the Edmonton Oilers was that the team couldn’t win without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl playing like superstars every night.

However, heading into the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars for the second year in a row, that narrative ceases to exist.

While McDavid and Draisaitl are still game-changers, players like Connor Brown, Vasily Podkolzin and Corey Perry have all played crucial roles in getting this past the second round for the third time in four years. If the unheralded players continue to support the team’s top stars, the Oilers will be in good shape.

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Colby Cohen and Tyler Yaremchuk explain how the Oilers’ depth could be the force that tips the scales in Edmonton’s favor against Dallas.

Tyler Yaremchuk: If I was a Stars fan, that would concern me a little bit that, hey, the Oilers have been winning rounds with 97 and 29 being relatively quiet compared to their standard. 

Colby Cohen: The depth’s got to keep scoring because you know you’re going to eventually have breakout games. Connor McDavid usually has 15 points in a playoff series, right? So, let’s say you get 15 points from Connor McDavid this round. Well, what happens when Evander Kane scores a couple of goals and Corey Perry does? You get one from Podkolzin and [Viktor] Arvidsson. Now, you’re looking at a team that is nearly impossible to stop offensively.

We know they’re not going to be perfect defensively. They were really good defensively in those last couple of games against Vegas. So, let’s give them credit where credit is due, but if you want to look at that team…you might have to worry a little bit about the third pair. Maybe you get [Mattias] Ekholm back, maybe that pushes things down a little bit better. [Troy] Stetcher’s given you some good minutes since he started playing again for this Edmonton Oilers team. … I think those are real important keys for the Edmonton Oilers to win this series. 

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…