Prominent Hockey Analyst Exposes Oilers Biggest Weakness This Season
It was revealed in a series of tweets by Jay fresh hockey that there is a significant weakness that the Edmonton Oilers face as the team prepares for the second half of the season.
The stats website explained how the goaltending for the Oilers their biggest weakness as the team is sits 25th in goals saved above expected as of January 5th. They currently put the Oilers at an -8.8 which is a troubling sign as the Oilers are expected to compete for the Stanley Cup again this year.
The site also tweeted out positive news where the Oilers sit 7th in five-on-five expected goals for over 60 minutes. This has been evident as the team has seen a surge in goals scored over the past several weeks and the team has risen in the standings because of it.
As for team defense, Jfreshhockey has put the Oilers in the eighth position with 2.25 expected goals against per 60 minutes.
This is attributed to the work of assistant coach and Oilers legend Paul Coffey who has worked hard with his defensemen and have reduced the goals against even with the goaltending being suspect at times.
Both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have had modest goals against average this year with 2.78 for Skinner and 2.47 for Pickard. The biggest factor is the save percentage where both men stand at .898 which many NHL pundits feel a team looking for a long run in the playoffs needs to be well above .900.
Skinner has had his question marks since becoming the number one starter for the Oilers. At times, he looks like a wall, and no one can beat him showing steady wins and excellent save percentage.
But other times especially in the second half of the seasons, his numbers continued to dip and his confidence tends to weaken at times which has caused his numbers to sag below .900.
There have been rumors that the Oilers may look at goaltending in the trade deadline with John Gibson as a potential trade target from the Anaheim Ducks.
It remains to be seen on what general manager Stan Bowman will do, and it remains tricky as Skinner has been on a hot run lately winning four of his last five starts.
If the Oilers were to make a change, it's likely it will happen right at the deadline as tandems seem to be the way teams are going for long playoff runs.
