Oilers are dead-last in the NHL for this one important stat
This has once again not been the start to a season that the Edmonton Oilers have wanted.
After coming into the season pegged as a favourite to win the Stanley Cup, the Oilers have sputtered out of the gate with a 2-4-0 record and just four points through their first six games.
This has the team in the basement of the NHL standings once again to start the season, leavingĀ Connor McDavid and the rest of the Oilers with plenty of work left to claw themselves out of this early hole.
A 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday was the latest bump in the road and a game that has really summed up how the season has gone for the team. Edmonton dominated the first 40 minutes of that game in Dallas but was unable to get on the board.
It turns out that is part of a trend as analytics visualizer JFresh has the Oilers dead-last in goals-scored-above-expected at a dismal -7.6. The next closest team in this stat is the win-less Nashville Predators at -6.0.
Team Finishing – October 20 pic.twitter.com/4WzAgD197F
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 20, 2024
This says two things about how the Oilers are playing through the first six games of the season. On one hand, this indicates that the Oilers are getting good chances on goal and are generating quality chances. This would cause Edmonton’s expected goals to be high.
The problem is that the Oilers are not converting on those chances, which is creating a large disparity between their expected goals against their actual goals. Being last place in this stat means that Edmonton holds the largest disparity of all NHL teams so far.
It’s strange to see such an offensively talented team like the Oilers struggle so much to score goals, but a quick look at team stats will show you who is underperforming. Zach Hyman is coming off a 54-goal season last year and is still searching for his first. He’s been getting good looks but has not been able to find the finish that made him so successful last season.
In a separate post, JFresh also revealed that Hyman is among the players who have the lowest individual goals-scored-above-expected at -2.5.
Best and Worst Goals Scored Above Expected (Based on quality of shots) – October 20 pic.twitter.com/iQpqldHBXB
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 20, 2024
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has also been very slow to start and Viktor Arvidsson is still looking for his first goal of the season as well. When Brett Kulak is second on the team in goalscoring, something has gone wrong.
This isn’t all bad for the Oilers. This does suggest that they are getting their fair share of chances on opposing goaltenders. As it stands, Edmonton is currently second-last in shooting percentage at 6.19% as compared to the 10.55% they shot all of last season.Ā
That number is bound to go up at some point and, as long as the Oilers keep getting chances, the odds are that they will start scoring at a higher clip sooner rather than later.
Until that change occurs, however, it’ll be frustrating times for Oilers fans.