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Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli heads into his second summer in Edmonton with one imperative: to acquire at least one right-shot defenceman who can play a leading role on the Oilers. But who should Chiarelli move to get that player and who should he keep? Here’s my own assessment, the final report card on the Oilers in 2015-16.

I rate the Oilers in large part on intensive video review of all scoring chances for and against, a project I’ve been at for nine years now. When it comes to analytics, gathering new information is crucial because the old shot metrics, such as goals or shots plus-minus (Corsi & Fenwick), fail to provide enough specific data about individual activities, such as how many scoring chances per game a player helps to create, or how often a player makes a mistake that leads to scoring chances against.

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Connor McDavid, A-plus.McDavid averaged more than a point per game, which exceeded expectations. Even better, he was solid enough on defence, generally making the right reads to cover the right man at the right time in the defensive zone. His scoring chances plus-minus at even strength, +2.6 scoring chances per game, was the best ever number I’ve seen for an Oilers centre. For comparison, Leon Draisaitl was at +2.3 this year, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins +1.0, Anton Lander +0.3, and Mark Letestu just +0.1.