The Edmonton Oilers are one of the worst teams in the NHL right now. That is not by design either. They have no interest in the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery or tanking. They are in win-now mode with superstars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the mix.
One of the problems so far for them this year is that a guy like McDavid wasn’t taking over games like we know he can. He was still putting up points but not in the same way that he was every other year of his career.
It made you wonder what was wrong. Is he hurt? Is he unmotivated since his team stinks? Well, there are a lot of reasons for it. However, he seems to have broken out of that as of this past weekend.
Early in the day on November 24th, he was 59th in NHL scoring. Since then, he has played two games and now he is tied for 13th in NHL scoring. The jump has been incredible as he put up nine points in two games.
The Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid had a very big holiday weekend
On Friday, the Oilers took on the Washington Capitals by a final score of 5-0. McDavid had four assists in that contest. Two days later on Sunday, the Oilers took on the Anaheim Ducks and won 8-2. McDavid had a goal and four assists in that one.
These were the first two games this year that McDavid had more than two points in the same game. More than two points is an incredibly high standard but not for McDavid who eclipsed 150 points in 2022-23. He can do it with moderate regularity when things are going well.
With these two wins, Edmonton is now 7-12-1 with 15 points. That is only good for 7th out of 8th place in the Pacific Division. They are only five points clear of the San Jose Sharks who had one of the worst starts in NHL history.
McDavid needs to keep up his elite play. He is the best player in the NHL and he is finally playing like it again. The Oilers need him to be that guy to be a winning team. There were Stanley Cup expectations on this team coming in and it is mostly because of him.
When he is doing well, the rest of the team is able to play their game the right way too which is what made them so good in 2022-23. This little stretch of nine points in two games is a great start for him.
Edmonton’s next match is a big one. They are going to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night in a rematch of their 2023 postseason series. McDavid must show up big if they are going to win.