Oilers Management Reportedly Pointing to One Reason for Slow Start
TSN insider Darren Dreger reveals on a recent edition of Insider Trading that the Edmonton Oilers management are pointing blame towards the offensive players rather than the defense for their slow start.
»I think that rather than point the finger at the 5, 6, 7th defence, they're looking at the larger group. Their top players have not performed up to their ability to this point. But there's no sense of panic»
- Darren Dreger, TSN Insider Trading
- Darren Dreger, TSN Insider Trading
He explained that Oilers management likely feels the top players of the team including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have not performed up to the level that they are capable of especially after showing a great resolve during the second half of last year and throughout their Stanley Cup playoff run.
Some pundits and Oilers fans have been perplexed on how the Oilers dismantled a portion of their defensive core throughout the summer and feel that this may be the reason why the team is struggling early on. Since the season has begun, they have gone 0-3 and have been outscored 15-3 which points to an overall issue throughout the entire roster.
Dreger also mentioned that the team is not in panic mode and management is not interested now in making a knee jerk reaction just for one win. It's likely the team will need to work through its issues much like they did last year after they had another slow start where they went 2-9-1 through their first eleven games and there will be no coaching firings this year.
McDavid has no goals and two assists and is a - 5 through three games and Draisaitl
have only one goal and is a - 4.
The team will have a chance to grab a win at home as they conclude their homestand with the Philadelphia Flyers and head coach John Tortorella coming to town. It's safe to say the message will be clear that they'll need to buckle down and play the game that they can with a calm and patient way.
The game will happen today on October 15th and puck drop will be at 10:00 PM eastern.
| POLL | ||
Where do you point the blame to the Oilers slow start this season? | ||
| Offense | 7 | 4.7 % |
| Defense | 25 | 16.9 % |
| Goaltending | 23 | 15.5 % |
| All of the Above | 93 | 62.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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