Oilers counting on better goaltending, depth scoring to turn season around

The Edmonton Oilers (2-8-1) are not off to the start they envisioned entering the season.

With reigning Hart, Art Ross and Rocket Richard Trophy winner Connor McDavid, along with Leon Draisaitl and the majority of their roster back from last season, Edmonton was expected to be a Stanley Cup contender.

Instead, the Oilers find themselves 31st in the NHL standings heading into their game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNW). The Sharks have three points this season, the only team with fewer than Edmonton (five).

Here are five things the Oilers need to improve to get back into the Stanley Cup Playoff picture:

1. Better goaltending

Goaltending has been an issue for the Oilers, and they attempted to address the problems by waiving Jack Campbell and assigning him to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League and calling up Calvin Pickard.

Pickard is expected to get the start at San Jose. He was 2-2-0 in four starts for Bakersfield with a 2.03 goals against average and .939 save percentage.

"Obviously, Jack's a popular teammate and maybe this serves of a little bit of a wakeup call for a lot of guys," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said Wednesday.

Pickard is in the second of a two-year contract ($762,500 average annual value at the NHL level) he signed with the Oilers on July 13, 2022. He has played 116 NHL games (35-54-10, 3.04 GAA, .903 save percentage).

"He's another good teammate, anytime he's been around our team he's fit in," Woodcroft said. "His numbers speak for themselves. … For 'Pick' to come up, it's a great opportunity for him, he has great NHL experience. I would say it's an opportunity for Jack Campbell too. It's an opportunity for him to go play a lot, refine some aspects of his game, get back to feeling confident and we'll see where he ends up."

Campbell, who is in the second year of a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million AAV) he signed July 13, 2022, is 1-4-0 with a 4.50 GAA and .873 save percentage. Stuart Skinner is 1-4-1 with a 3.99 GAA and .856 save percentage in seven games (six starts) this season.

2. Defensive awareness

The Oilers went into the season touting a new defensive system, focused more on zone defending than man-to-man play, but it is still a work in progress.

Edmonton has allowed 47 goals in 11 games this season (4.27 per game); only the Minnesota Wild (48) and the Sharks (55) have given up more, and only San Jose has allowed more per game (4.58).

Although Woodcroft said goals conceded on the rush, penalty kill, or following a turnover in the defensive zone are not considered defensive system related by him and his coaching staff, he admitted the Oilers need to play harder in front of their own net and have better awareness of opponents around them.

Evan Bouchard is one defenseman who needs to improve in that regard, as does Vincent Desharnais. Mattias Ekholm missed all of training camp with lower-body issues, which has him off to a slow start, but is starting to find his game.

3. More production from bottom six

Last season, forwards Warren Foegele, Janmark, Ryan McLeod and Derek Ryan all made significant contributions offensively, playing extensively on the bottom two lines. This season, they are all struggling.

Foegele has five points (three goals, two assists) in 11 games and has played well for the most part, but has been unable to finish off quality opportunities on a regular basis. Janmark does not have a point in seven games and is currently out with an upper-body injury. McLeod and Ryan each has one assist in 11 games. Second-year forward Dylan Holloway has yet to get a point in 11 games.

Edmonton was the highest-scoring team in the NHL last season (325 goals; 3.96 per game), and part of that was due to the contributions of those on the bottom lines. They had 11 forwards with at least 10 goals. Ryan and Foegle each had 13, McLeod had 11 and Janmark had 10.

Without any secondary scoring, most of the offense has come from the top two lines. The Oilers have 29 goals in 11 games, tied for 28th in the League, nowhere near what was expected heading into the season.

4. Special teams need to be special again

Edmonton set an NHL record on the power play last season, converting on 32.4 percent of its opportunities.

This season, the Oilers have scored on 25.6 percent of their opportunities, which is ninth in the NHL. A power play led by Draisaitl and McDavid is still potent, but has not been able to bail them out of games the way it has in the past two seasons.

Opponents are starting to anticipate what Edmonton is attempting on the power play and are taking away the cross-crease pass to Draisaitl at the bottom of the right face-off circle, which had been so effective. Draisaitl led the NHL with 32 goals on the man-advantage last season.

Bouchard's shot is still dangerous and he has one power-play goal this season, but it has not been enough for Edmonton's power-play unit to get back among the elite.

The penalty kill has struggled too; Edmonton has given up 14 power-play goals this season, tied for the most in the League with the Sharks, and its penalty kill (68.9 percent) is second-worst to the Wild (66.7 percent).

Penalty killing has never been a huge strength of the Oilers under Woodcroft, who took over as coach Feb. 10, 2002 -- it ranked 20th last season at 77.0 percent -- but it needs to be a lot more efficient in order to turn things around. Edmonton needs to do a better job of blocking shots, getting into lanes and winning battles in front of the net. Their goaltending has to improve as well if they are going to kill penalties on a regular basis.

5. McDavid, Draisaitl need to get back to full gear

McDavid is currently tied for 73rd in the NHL scoring race, which is unheard of for the five-time Art Ross winner as leading scorer. He has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in nine games. Although he missed two games with an upper-body injury and insists he is 100 percent, McDavid has not been as dominant on his return. He has not scored a goal in six games and has two assists in his past four.

McDavid won the scoring title last season with 153 points (64 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games, and many were expecting him to challenge those totals this season. He is on pace for a 91-point season, which would be his fewest since his rookie year in 2015-16, where he was limited to 45 games due to a collarbone injury and had 48 points (16 goals, 32 assists).

Draisaitl has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 11 games. He had gone seven games without a goal before scoring in a 6-2 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. Draisaitl is tied for 18th in the scoring race. Last season, he finished second behind McDavid with a career-high 128 points (52 goals, 76 assists). Draisaitl has scored at least 50 goals three times in his nine previous seasons but is well below that pace this season.

For Edmonton to get back in the playoff hunt, McDavid and Draisaitl will need to get back to scoring at the pace they are accustomed to in the past.