McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers show the level of dominance of the Gretzky era so far in 2021-22

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Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers are showing a level of dominance from the Gretzky era so far in this young NHL season.

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Of course, the season is young. Of course, the sample size is small. Of course, things could fall apart as fast as it takes a key player or two to get injured.

But the greasers of the McDavid era have become more and more like the real business in recent years and there are many positive indicators that this team is real.

Here are the five reasons that stand out:

1. Differential of objectives. The best regular season team of the Gretzky era, the 1983-84 Stanley Cup champion team, had a goal differential of +1.7. Two other teams from the Gretzky area had goal spreads of +1.5. In seven games this year, the Oilers have a goal differential of +1.4 per game, tied for fourth-highest in Edmonton Oilers history. These Oilers may not be able to maintain that level of differential dominance, but it’s worth noting that last season’s Oilers had a +0.5 goal differential, the ninth highest in Oilers’ history. This year’s excellent goal differential doesn’t come out of nowhere, it’s based on what happened last year.

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2. Goal scoring . These Oilers are averaging 4.1 goals per game, the eighth best in franchise history and a number higher than that seen in Gretzky’s first two seasons with the team, as well as higher than the winning team’s 4.1 goals per game. of the 1989-90 Cup, not to mention the goal of 3.1 per game for the 2005-06 Cup finalist team. That great 1983-84 Oilers team scored 5.6 goals per game, so the current team is a long way from that, but not that far from the 4.5-per-game average in Gretzky’s last season with the team.

3. Depth of scoring. For the first time since 2005-06, this team has depth scoring, but unlike that team, it is led by two attacking superstars in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. McDavid is first in the NHL in points per game, at 2.29 per game, with Draisaitl third with 1.86 per game, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ninth with 1.43 per game, Jesse Puljujarvi in ​​19th place with 1.29 and Zach Hyman tied for the spot. 38 with 1.0 per game. . On defense, Tyson Barrie, Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard show considerable offensive ability and the Oilers could also have a third line that will score something in Derek Ryan, Zack Kassian and Warren Foegele.

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4. Solid analysis. Edmonton’s score doesn’t come out of nowhere. It is not the product of crazy good luck. This Oilers team drives 13 Grade A shots at the net per game, an increase over the past two seasons when they had 11.3 and 11.6 per game respectively. His Grade A shooting differential is up to +2.4 Grade A shots per game this year, compared to just +1.8 per game last year, and just -0.2 in Tippett’s first season with the team. Before McDavid’s arrival, that differential was -1.6 per game in 2014-15.

5. Improved attack. All kinds of attackers from Oilers are driving that strong attack, increasing their main contributions to Grade A shots per game. compared to last year. McDavid is averaging major contributions at 5.9 Grade A shots per game this year, up from 5.4 per game last year. Others with year-on-year improvements include: Draisaitl, 4.3 per game to 5.6; RNH, 2.9 to 4.0; Puljujarvi, 2.0 to 2.6; Nurse, 1.4 to 1.9; Bouchard from 0.9 to 1.9; and Kassian, 1.1 to 1.5. Adding Hyman, with 3.4 major contributions to Grade A shooting per game, is an added bonus. With Bouchard stepping up and at the same time scratching the surface of all he can bring to the attack, as well as Puljujarvi playing with more confidence, Edmonton appears to have added three vital new pieces to his offensive arsenal. It’s that kind of depth of attacking excellence that helped define the Oilers of the 1980s, but we’re starting to see signs of it here again.

More than 30 years was a long time to wait. But it’s starting to look like it was worth the wait.