Article content continued

A few others have helped picked up the slack as well, including Leon Draisaitl, who has not flopped without Hall as some feared would happen, but has raised his major contributions on Grade A even strength chances from 1.4 per game last year to 1.56 this year.

So Hall’s attacking is missed, and the Oilers would be more dangerous on the attack if he was still here, but the team has found a way to make do in this regard, thanks largely to McDavid.

Of course, the Oilers are only a good team with this level of attacking, not a great team. For Edmonton to take that next step, it will have to find a way to get more even strength attacking performance out of its forward group. Can improvement from the likes of McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Patrick Maroon, Milan Lucic and, especially, Jesse Puljujarvi be enough here?

Hall’s departure means the Oilers are going to need such improvement, especially from Puljujarvi, who has the most room and potential to grow as an NHL attacker, but is also likely the biggest question mark in this group.

Oilers forwards improved on defence

Aatacking is just one part of the game. Just as important is defending and especially defending the defensive slot, doing the hard checking and positional play that limits the most deadly of opposition scoring chances on the kill floor.

In this regard, the Oilers have taken a major step up from last year. On average, they have cut down on their overall mistakes on scoring chances against from 1.37 per game to 1.15 per game. More importantly, they have cut down their major mistakes on Grade A scoring chances against from 0.54 per game to 0.43 per game. Hall himself was a slightly above average defender on the Oilers last year, so it’s not like he was a huge anchor. But players who struggled more last year are doing much better this year, including McDavid, who has gone from 0.75 major mistakes on Grade A scoring chances against per game last year to 0.45 this year, Draisaitl, 0.71 to 0.54, and Mark Letestu, 0.73 to 0.32. Having such solid defensive play down the middle has been another huge factor in the Oil’s improvement, and it hasn’t just come from McDavid, it’s come from every Oilers centre.