Oilers Mistakes Provide Valuable Insights for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Edmonton Oilers remarkable playoff run was not devoid of mistakes during the Stanley Cup Final, which the Toronto Maple Leafs can learn from as the club looks to bring back the Stanley Cup to Canada for the first time since 1993.
The Toronto Maple Leafs can learn from the Edmonton Oilers.
Although it's too bad the Oilers lost, it's clear they had an amazing season and playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs, who have a very similar team, can learn a lot from their success.
The Edmonton Oilers valiant effort to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 is nothing short of miraculous. The Oilers pulled off the feat against the best defensive team in the league. Also, the Oilers faced a battle-tested Florida Panthers club that had already been to the Stanley Cup Finals the year before.
Despite the supreme effort, three particular mistakes played a significant role in keeping the Oilers from completing the ultimate comeback. So, let’s explore these mistakes and, most importantly, the valuable lessons the Leafs can distil from them as they approach next season with a long playoff run in mind.
Oilers Mistakes Provide Valuable Insights for the Toronto Maple Leafs
#1: The Oilers Lack of Depth Was Apparent
If you’re Kris Knoblauch, you want your top guys out on the ice when the game is on the line. There’s no sense in keeping them on the bench when the team is trailing. While that rationale makes sense, the fact is that the Oilers relied way too much on their top players.
In particular, Knoblauch loaded his top guns into one unit, deploying Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm on the same shift. During the Cup Final, that approach played perfectly into Paul Maurice’s strategy, as Maurice could use Sasha Barkov, knowing that McDavid or Draisaitl would be on the ice together.
Looking at it in hindsight, splitting up McDavid and Draisaitl would have made Maurice’s life much more difficult. But therein lies the issue. The Oilers didn’t have reliable wingers to play with Draisaitl. Assuming McDavid played with Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, there were no real top-six wingers to play with Draisaitl.
As for the Maple Leafs, this lesson underscores a mistake fromer coach Sheldon Keefe often made: Deploying Auston Matthews with Mitch Marner and William Nylander on the same unit when the game was on the line. That approach facilitated opposing coaches to focus their defensive efforts on one unit.
Moving forward, the Leafs must keep in mind that spreading out scoring into at least two lines, as the Panthers did, can wreak havoc on the opposition’s game plan.
#2: The Oilers' Top Guns Played Way Too Much
Down the stretch in Game 7, the Oilers players looked gassed. McDavid and company had essentially played the last six minutes of the third period, leaving them running on fumes during the last minute or so.
Meanwhile, the Panthers deployed defensive unit after defensive unit, keeping the Oilers in check.
All told, McDavid played over 25 minutes, Hyman 24, Draisaitl 22, Bouchard nearly 28, and Ekholm 26. In contrast, fourth-liner Derek Ryan played just a touch under seven minutes in the entire game.
Like the previous points, having more than one credible scoring line would have allowed the Oilers to rest McDavid and Draisaitl down the stretch.
That strategy would have allowed Knoblauch to load the top unit for a six-on-five empty net situation with a couple of minutes to go.
In Toronto’s case, the club must prioritize building a legitimate second line. Assuming that Matthews and Marner play on the top unit, the second line must be lethal.
The combo of Nylander and John Tavares didn’t seem as effective as needed. Perhaps the Leafs could target a solid second-line centre, moving Tavares to the wing. A second line of a legitimate top-six center, Tavares and Nylander on the wings, would be enough to keep opposing head coaches up at night.
#3: The Oilers Power Play Fizzled Out
Overall, the Oilers’ power play finished the postseason at a 29.3% clip. But that number includes the Cup Final.
When looking at the Cup Final alone, the Oilers’ power play went 3 for 22, good for a 13.6% rate. Specifically, the Oilers did not score with the man advantage in the four games they lost while going 0 for 2 in Game 6, which they won.
Beyond the loaded top unit, the Oilers’ second power play unit was non-existent.
No one beyond McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Bouchard, Hyman, and Ekholm registered a power play tally. Only Evander Kane and Darnell Nurse registered one power play assist apiece.
Similarly, the Maple Leafs top power play unit is as lethal as they come. But when the power play goes ice-cold, there is no one there to pick up the slack.
All too often, we have seen the Leafs fall short with the man advantage, giving other clubs an opportunity to neutralize the Leafs’ attack.
This postseason, the Leafs finished at the bottom of playoff clubs with a 4.8% power play percentage. Needless to say, that won’t cut it for a team looking to make a deep run. Moving forward, Craig Berube will need to balance both power play units to make life hard for opposing defences.
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Assuming the Leafs can improve their consistency on the power play, there is cause for optimism as the club hopefully makes the playoffs next season.