3 Reasons for Edmonton Oilers Elimination From the 2021 NHL Playoffs

Heading into the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers were in a great spot, and appeared to have a legitimate chance of advancing out of the North Division. What most saw as the biggest threat to doing that was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who almost everybody thought they would end up facing off against in the second round. However, they had to first knock off the Winnipeg Jets, a team they went 7-2 against in the regular season.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, the regular season dominance meant nothing, as the Jets not only eliminated them, but did so in just four games. Taking a deeper dive into this series will show that despite a sweep, these games were very close throughout. In fact, over the course of the four contests, Edmonton led in games for a longer period than Winnipeg did. However, moral victories were not what this team was looking for, and at the end of the day they were not able to put up a single win in the 2021 playoffs. Here are the 3 main reasons why.

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3. McDavid & Draisaitl Appear Human

After a ridiculous 2020-21 season, one which will result in a Hart Trophy for Connor McDavid, the Jets were somehow able to shut them down throughout the series, particularly in Games 1 and 2 where they held both off the scoreboard entirely. Considering the two combined for 189 points in the 56-game shortened season, it was both very surprising and impressive to see them get shut down the way they did.

By the time their short four game playoff had wrapped up, McDavid had just a goal and four points, while Draisaitl had two goals and five points. Those numbers aren’t bad by any stretch, but they are certainly capable of more, and that played a big reason as to why the Oilers season ended so abruptly.

2. Special Teams Struggle

For the last two seasons, a big reason the Oilers have been so successful in the regular season is their special teams. Their powerplay has been the top in the league two years straight, while their penalty kill was second in the 2019-20 campaign and ninth this season. Unfortunately, neither were at their best against the Jets.

They converted on just two of 11 powerplays, which translates to an 18.2 percent success rate. This was a significant drop off from the regular season, where they converted on 27.6 percent of their opportunities. As underwhelming as they were on the man advantage, their penalty kill was even worse. In the regular season, they managed to kill off 82.5 percent of their penalties, but in the playoffs that number dropped down to an ugly 70 percent. For a team that relies on their special teams like the Oilers, this hurt them in big way.

1. Not Enough Depth

If one thing was made clear in this series, it was how much more depth the Jets have in their forward group than the Oilers. Sure, having a goalie like Connor Hellebuyck in net helped, but Mike Smith was arguably just as good at the other end. As far as the bluelines go, many would say that Edmonton’s was just as good if not better. Up front, however, it wasn’t even close.

Many detractors of the Oilers have argued for years that aside from Draisaitl and McDavid they have no other talent. That certainly looked accurate in this series, as no one was able to step up and score a big goal to help their superstar talents who at points struggled. The one other offensively gifted forward they have who often fails to get discussed is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but he wasn’t at his best either with just a goal and an assist in their four games. Depth scoring is an issue that will need to be addressed by general manager Ken Holland this offseason.

Not Your Typical Sweep

While a sweep normally means one team was dominant over the other, that wasn’t exactly the case in this series. These two teams appeared to be quite even throughout the majority of their four games, and the fact that the final three went to overtime helps prove that theory. Still, this was another upsetting end to the season for the Oilers who were also upset by the Chicago Blackhawks in the play-in round last year. Thankfully, they will have plenty of cap space this offseason, so hopefully they are able to fill out some holes to help their two superstars out going forward.

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