Stan Bowman's Edmonton Oilers sit first in the Pacific heading into tonight's game against Detroit. Darren Dreger still sees holes.
The Oilers are 8-2-1, and they haven't lost a road game yet.
Then Toronto came to town Saturday night and left with a 7-2 win.
Dreger zeroed in on the bottom of the lineup, and he didn't sugarcoat it.
“There's no shortage of will in the bottom six in Edmonton, but you have to have that combination to get the job done,” he said.
The numbers back him up. Kasperi Kapanen has gone minus-7 through 11 games.
Trent Frederic has one point in 10 games. Colton Dach and Max Jones are still looking for their first.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are hiding a thin Oilers lineup
Connor McDavid has 33 points this season, which is absurd.
Leon Draisaitl has 12 goals, six of them on the power play. When the top of the lineup produces like that, depth problems hide in plain sight.
Dreger also said Bowman went into the season looking for “a versatile younger forward, a kid who can play center, who can play the wing comfortably in the bottom six.”
“Maybe he revisits some of that stuff,” Dreger said. “You never stop looking or trying to upgrade or improve as a general manager.”
That's the right mindset, and it should be the default for every GM in the league. A first-place start in October guarantees nothing in the spring.
Injuries complicate the math. Jason Dickinson is on injured reserve, expected out until at least Oct. 28.
Mattias Ekholm is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Devon Levi sits on injured reserve until at least Nov. 9.
That leaves Tristan Jarry in the crease with an .851 save percentage, on a team that has already allowed 39 goals.
Winning this way is like acing exams by sitting next to the two smartest kids in class. It works great until one of them stays home.
Dreger's final line hangs over all of it: “You just hope that the reasons for having to do those things don't become more obvious, and maybe they are now in Edmonton.”
-
So does Bowman wait for Dickinson to get healthy, or does he start calling around before a road swing through Long Island and Manhattan exposes the same cracks Toronto did?
Should Stan Bowman trade for bottom-six help right now?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Calgary Flames face embarrassing scene against Maple Leafs as Toronto fans invade the Saddledome arena
