CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 08: Cam Talbot #33 of the Edmonton Oilers follows the action against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on November 8, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Oilers 4-2. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Another year, another struggling Oilers squad

The Edmonton Oilers entered the season on a positive note. They lucked out and won the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, gutted management by bringing in Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli, and addressed the gaping needs in goal and on the blue line by bringing in players like Cam Talbot and Andrej Sekera. Analytically, they’ve showed better results than last season, yet through 22 games, the Oilers have only won seven times, sitting last in the league with 15 points. There was plenty of reason for optimism going in 2015-16, but it’s all dried up. While the team has had plenty of issues, here’s three reasons why the club is struggling.

Goaltending has bombed 

Edmonton had two new faces between the pipe this offseason, both acquired via trade. Cam Talbot was expected to be a number one, after posting great numbers as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup, and Anders Nilsson surprised Oilers brass after stealing the number two spot from Ben Scrivens in training camp. While they’ve shown flashes, neither goalie has taken the starting job and run with it. The club has given up 3.09 goals against per game, and the goalies haven’t helped.

Talbot has been a disappointment in 11 starts with the Oilers. Although the 28-year-old started strong, he’s been lit up recently, allowing a staggering 20 goals in his last five starts alone, along his way to a 3-8 record. He’s dead last among goalies who’ve played at least 500 minutes, with a .891 even strength save percentage. It’s not what the team was expecting when they acquired him.

Nilsson has faired better but isn’t a starting goalie. He’s won four games in 11 starts, posting a .914 even strength save percentage. He’s facing almost four more shots per sixty minutes than Talbot. The 25-year-old has been inconsistent, but he’s shown to be adequate between the pipes – but he’s still probably not the solution in goal.

The club has been ravished with injuries 

This is an easy excuse to use, but Edmonton fans had their soul ripped out when the future of the franchise, Connor McDavid, went down with an injury. He was living up to the hype, producing at near a point-per-game pace with 12 points in 13 games, when he was sandwiched against the boards earlier this month against the Flyers, and now he’s going to be out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.

The team is 2-6-1 without him.

That’s not the only injury Oilers fans have dealt with. Jordan Eberle missed the start of the season following a shoulder injury. Justin Schultz has missed the last month with a back issue. Nail Yakupov is set to miss the next 2-4 weeks after getting taken down by a referee. Impact Oilers have been getting hit hard with the injury bug. Depth players like Matt Hendricks, Lauri Korpikoski and Rob Klinkhammer are also among the players who’ve missed time.

The squad simply hasn’t been healthy, and it’s impossible to be fully realized when you don’t know what you have collectively.

Issues among depth players

Edmonton hasn’t been atrocious offensively, but their bottom-six haven’t helped the cause. Anton Lander, Anton Slepyshev, Luke Gadzic, Iiro Pakarinen, Hendricks and Klinkhammer – all of whom have appeared in at least seven games and make up the Oilers bottom-six – have combined for a whopping three goals and five points. Lander, who’s an excellent penalty-drawer, hasn’t scored a single point in 21 games. With the injuries, the team needs the group to step up.

The Oilers defense has been markedly improved from one season ago, yet there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Offensively, they’re not doing too much, and the pairing of Eric Gryba and Griffin Reinhart haven’t contributed much in the way of anything. They’re a young group who are going to go through struggles, so I’m not too worried about them – although with Justin Schultz returning from injury it’s going to be interested to see what they do with a surplus of defenceman.

Given we’re only 22 games into the season, it’s a small sample and the Oilers still could improve. However, with the slow start and the McDavid injury, the playoffs probably aren’t in the cards. That doesn’t mean development still can’t happen and the ship can’t be righted. Despite similar results, the Oilers are heading in the right direction – even if their record (and problems) don’t reflect that.

About Liam McGuire

Social +Staff writer for The Comeback & Awful Announcing. Liammcguirejournalism@gmail.com

Quantcast