Who needs to improve after the Olympic Break
Trent Frederic!
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s keep going with the article and point out three more players who really need to step up in the last part of the season. The Edmonton Oilers have reached the Stanley Cup Finals in the last two years. Those teams were good enough to get there, but they couldn’t finish the job. The Oilers of 2026 still need to show they can compete like the past few teams.
The team has to get better at stopping penalties, reducing goals allowed, and scoring more from their other players. A team that wants to win the Cup shouldn’t be behind the league average in any of these areas, but the Oilers have given up 191 goals while the average is 174, they are below the league average in penalty killing by 2.25%, and they’re on track for only seven players, besides Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, to score more than 10 goals. This isn’t the weakest team the Oilers have had during the McDavid era, but it does feel like a rough season.
Some of these issues have led the team to bring back former assistant coach Paul Coffey to help improve their defense. Clearly, the Oilers need to do better in this part of their game.
How to stop a penalty
Edmonton Oilers forward Mattias Janmark and Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin
Mattias Janmark has been a useful part of the team during their last two playoff runs. He has scored important goals, helped kill penalties, and brought pressure during every shift. This season, though, he hasn’t contributed much offensively, and his advanced stats show he’s not performing well. It might be time for the Oilers general manager Stan Bowman to think about trading the “Janitor” as the deadline approaches.
Of course, one way for a team to improve its penalty killing is to commit fewer penalties. It’s important to note that Trent Frederic has 47 penalty minutes.
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