How the Edmonton Oilers are diminishing criticism that they lack a rugged edge

For several years running, there have been whispers (some louder than others) suggesting the Edmonton Oilers can be distracted from winning games with rugged play and heavy hits. It’s a criticism that arises specifically when discussing defensive retrievals and outlets after opponents dump the puck in and race for possession.

How rampant is the belief that Edmonton can be intimidated in this area? Last spring, an anonymous scout informed Harman Dayal and Chris Johnston at The Athletic about a key area his team could exploit: “The easiest way to shut down the Oilers is preventing McDavid from picking up steam in the neutral zone. The way you prevent McDavid from picking up steam is to mess with the way they do their breakouts and (defensive zone) exits. That starts with their retrievals. Ekholm, good f—-ing player, but he can’t make plays on his backhand and Bouchard won’t retrieve the puck (in the corners).”

That quote is over a year old. Does it still apply?

The organization addressed the need for puck movers during the winter. General manager Stan Bowman added a veteran defenceman, John Klingberg, via free agency in mid-January and traded for another, Jake Walman, at the deadline in early March. Both men are solid at retrieval and outlets.

The Oilers are improved in this area, with Evan Bouchard’s recent performance in the series versus the Vegas Golden Knights suggesting the offence-first defender is maturing into a more complete player. He’s making good decisions and using the time available to settle things down. It’s helping the Oilers stay organized and means less running about in panic mode.

Bouchard is improving in coverage. That includes winning battles along the wall. A recent example came during overtime of Game 2 against Vegas. Bouchard made an exceptional defensive play that involved a rugged physical exchange (ending Mark Stone’s progress down right wing and into the Oilers’ zone). He separated player from puck and rang it around the boards; Corey Perry retrieved, sent a deft pass to Connor McDavid, and the winner in overtime came seconds later.

That kind of play, using physicality and skill long before the Oilers have to defend the net, is more common this spring with Bouchard. It’s an emerging story, and if Bouchard delivers another quality series in this part of the game, he will be something close to complete as a player.

Another quote from the Dayal and Johnston article, from the same scout: “We had a good meeting about that before we played Edmonton. We executed that strategy perfectly and we just abused them. If I’m going up against the Oilers and I identify that vulnerability, that is what I’m going after.”

In this year’s playoffs, the defensive tandems are showing impressive ability to retrieve pucks, get a quick pass to safety and then outlet through the neutral zone for offensive opportunities at the other end.

Same as it ever was

Years ago, then-Los Angeles Kings coach Daryl Sutter said, “The big thing in today’s game is you have to be able to forecheck and backcheck, and you have to have the puck. You can’t give the puck up. We don’t play in our zone, so there’s not much defending. I’ve coached in three decades now and this stuff where they said Marian had to play in Jacques’s system is a bunch of bull-crap. The game’s changed. They think there’s defending in today’s game. Nah, it’s how much you have the puck. Teams that play around in their own zone think they’re defending but they’re generally getting scored on or taking faceoffs and they need a goalie to stand on his head if that’s the way they play.”

That’s the template for these Oilers, with Bouchard and his partner making that retrieval/outlet sequence consistently. The second pair of Walman and Klingberg has also been an effective tandem in moving the puck quickly.

As has been the case forever, when the Oilers defend, out come the snow angels, the trips to the penalty box and fishing the puck out of the back of the net. This Oilers team is doing less of it, and those battles won, followed by expert passing, are a big part of team success.

Expected GA-60

Using expected goals-against per 60 at five-on-five, we can compare Edmonton’s defence from a year ago (the defence that inspired the quotes above) to this year’s team. Here are the numbers year over year. Notice the marked improvement for Darnell Nurse:

All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick

These are the numbers for the first two rounds (12 games) from one year ago, and all of this year.

Looking at 2024, it’s easy to spot the top pairing (Ekholm-Bouchard) as it delivered strong GA-60 and expected numbers. The second pairing (Nurse with Cody Ceci) had some troubles in the postseason one year ago, with Nurse’s actual GA-60 (4.35) an outlier compared to the rest of the group. Brett Kulak played well and ran some luck, as evidenced by the difference between expected and actual goals surrendered. Vincent Desharnais earned a better fate than the hockey Gods allowed in the first two rounds last spring.

Looking back at last year, coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff had a clear first-, second- and third-pairing rotation, but it’s worth noting even the fifth and sixth defencemen played a significant amount last season.

This season, the coaching staff has been less democratic in ice time usage, with Ty Emberson being faded far more than anyone in the top six one year ago.

The overall impact of the puck retrieval/winning battles model employed currently by Edmonton is an improvement in the expected goals number defensively. Part of the new structure involves the centre coming down deeper into the defensive end to offer an attractive outlet, and these tweaks are working.

Expected goals (all numbers five-on-five) give us some idea about where things are trending. Oilers defencemen delivered solid expected GA-60 versus Los Angeles, but the actual GA-60 was much higher for several feature defenders. Bouchard’s GA-60 (5.44) in that series was miles past expected (2.11 GA-60); Nurse’s GA-60 in the series against the Kings (4.33) also ran out of time with expected (2.55) results.

In the series against the Golden Knights, Bouchard’s gap (1.17 GA-60 compared to 2.03 expected) showed regression (the good kind) as the young puck mover showed calm feet and good decisions. Nurse’s totals against Vegas (2.25 GA-60 to 2.31 expected) were close enough to perfect as a match.

The second pairing this spring (Walman and Klingberg) owns a 1.98 expected GA-60 and a 1.27 actual GA-60. If that continues, the Oilers will be a load in the conference final at five-on-five.

Bottom line

The Oilers are moving the puck quickly, winning more battles and spending less energy chasing. Management added a completely new pairing (Walman-Klingberg), and it has helped Bouchard find his way in recent games. If those calm feet and renewed maturity are real enough to last the spring, Bouchard will receive Conn Smythe Trophy consideration at the end of the day.

The Dallas Stars offer a new challenge. These Oilers have adjusted from one year ago, and the team’s most recent series is a shining example of a team adjusting by playing less defence. It’s an important improvement for the Oilers.

Can these defencemen sustain the effective performance in puck retrieval? The “Bouchard won’t retrieve the puck in the corners” verbal is giving way to talk of Bouchard’s impressive elusiveness in getting pucks out without taking the big hit.

Narratives are fashioned to support evidence. As long as Bouchard continues his impressive play with and without the puck, the storyline will be about progress, maturity and impact in all areas of the game.

(Photo of Mark Stone and Evan Bouchard: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)