This year, the Edmonton Oilers should have ideally exhibited the greatest urgency to be their best, not only to redeem themselves from two consecutive Stanley Cup failures, but also because it has no other choice but to be at the top of their game, because captain Connor McDavid could simply leave otherwise, his two-year contract extension being nothing more than a warning issued to the Edmonton front office.
Except for brief flashes of brilliance, the team has not had much to offer to fans at Rogers Place. Instead, it fell to the Colorado Avalanche by a substantial 9-1 margin. Obviously, no critique of the Oilers’ play is complete without dissecting the team’s awful goaltending. However, Elliotte Friedman has decided to look beyond Stuart Skinner to hold more members of the team responsible for the current state of the team.
Elliotte Friedman Offers Scathing Criticism of the Edmonton Oilers
Of course, there is no room to deny that the Oilers’ netminding situation needs to be addressed. Despite the abysmal save percentages of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard in the showdown against the Avs, Kris Knoblauch refused to see it as a big enough problem. Now, Friedman has come forward with his brutal views about the team amid its questionable season.
At the 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman stated that while it is evident that Skinner can improve, Edmonton’s defense does little to intimidate opponents, leaving them room to do as they please. “In the Oilers zone, opponents are getting anywhere they want to go to. They can basically do whatever they want,” Friedman bluntly stated at the podcast.
Friedman further added that there is a feeling that resonates with every NHL team at the moment: they can penetrate Edmonton’s blue line with apparent ease. “They have blown, what, six two-goal leads this year. Nobody is scared of the Oilers’ defense. There isn’t a single team in the league that does not think right now that no matter how much we are down, we can get where we need to in their D-zone,” Friedman stated in a further blow for Edmonton’s fans.
According to the insider, while goaltending has sufficient room for improvement, it is unfair to constantly shift the blame to Skinner’s and Pickard’s shoulders while letting the team’s defense go scot-free. “Yes, Skinner could be better. Yes, Pickard could be better. But you know what? So could the group in front of them. Right now, their defense is atrocious. I think it is just extremely lazy and extremely convenient to say goaltending is the problem; it is much bigger than that.”
Friedman did not mince words to expose what seems to be a more pressing issue than simple goaltending woes. As the men in blue and orange prepare to face the Columbus Blue Jackets, it remains to be seen if the Oilers’ defense can finally prove Friedman wrong.
