Will the Edmonton Oilers’ depth get exposed against Dallas?

The Edmonton Oilers will face the deepest team in the NHL in the Western Conference Final. The Dallas Stars had eight players with at least 20 goals during the regular season and have continued to spread the wealth in the playoffs. 

The Oilers, on the other hand, have been one of the most top-heavy lineups in the league. They have Connor McDavid (21 points) and Leon Draisaitl (24 points), who sit first and second in points during these playoffs. They have Evan Bouchard (20 points), who ranks third. And they have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (fifth with 16 points) and Zach Hyman (leads the NHL with 11 goals). 

But what about after that? 

Looking down the lineup, the Oilers have a huge amount of disparity. During the regular season, they had only six players finish with 50 or more points. Even worse, they had a long list of skaters that barely contributed at all. 

In the playoffs, that trend has continued. Behind those top four names listed above, the Oilers have Evander Kane (seven points) and Mattias Ekholm (six points), followed by nine players who have played at least 10 playoff games with four or fewer points. That includes one of the better playoff performers in NHL history, Corey Perry, who has zero points in 10 games. 

This lack of depth showed itself a few times in the first two rounds. But will this be the series, against an incredibly deep Dallas team, that it will truly get exposed?

Colby Cohen: My head says the Dallas Stars are going to win this series. They’re too deep… Even with [Roope Hintz] out, you start looking down the middle, there’s [Wyatt Johnston], there’s [Tyler Seguin], there’s Sam Steel… My heart wants the Edmonton Oilers. I want Connor McDavid in a Stanley Cup Final on ABC for the world to see… But my head and my eyes tell me this is going to be a Dallas Stars win.

Frank Seravalli: I’ve watched Edmonton up close, and do they have their own issues and mistakes that they make? Yes. But that also would be glossing over the fact that the Stars haven’t exactly made life easy on themselves as well in these playoffs… There’s the potential for this to be legacy-defining (for McDavid and Draisaitl.)

Colby Cohen: I am worried about the depth of the Edmonton Oilers getting exposed in this series to a degree that they can’t overcome it. It’s not the top vs the top. It’s that there is nobody deeper than the Dallas Stars. 

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