On Saturday night, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid reacted to a tackle from Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland with the game on the line and the clock running out.
McDavid’s cross-check to Garland’s face is exactly the kind of play the NHL is trying to get out of the game. Violence exists in the league, but targeting the head is punishable by suspension and McDavid will have a hearing about the incident on Monday.
The question for Edmonton Oilers management today: Is McDavid’s cross-check, and pending suspension, a bad thing for the team?
That might seem a peculiar question, but these Oilers have a reputation for being passive when the opposition gets filthy. The Oilers are viewed as a team that can be intimidated, and that liberties can be taken against them. In the playoffs, when the referees put the whistle away, there are those who suggest Edmonton becomes less aggressive and easier to play against when opponents bring the hammer.
The strategy by opponents has two possible payoffs: The Oilers overreact and get into penalty trouble, or lose focus on the game at hand.
It’s an interesting theory, but it doesn’t hold water.
Kris Knoblauch has this edition of the Oilers playing strong positional hockey and getting great results. The team isn’t chasing big hits and is taking fewer penalties. The team ranks No. 26 in penalties (averaging seven minutes per game) compared to nine minutes and 30 seconds one year ago.
In the last 25 games, Edmonton has scored twice short-handed and allowed 10 goals while killing penalties. The 17 percent goal share ranks No. 7, and the GA-60 (6.8) ranks No. 11.
In the last 25 games, Edmonton’s goal share on special teams (22-12, 65 percent) represents pristine discipline and execution. Those special teams results were key elements in the team’s 19-5-1 record during that time.
Opponents and commentators talk about the Oilers’ lack of pushback; the team plays a hard style from top to bottom, but that edge doesn’t get in the way of the final score. Positioning and closing gaps are the calling cards of the Oilers, and that includes fewer unnecessary penalties.
Intimidation?
McDavid was suspended in 2019 for a head hit to Nick Leddy (with the New York Islanders at the time) and it was an unusual event, an outlier. It did not represent his on-ice presence at that time.
There were whispers as late as last spring, before the Stanley Cup Final versus the Florida Panthers, that the Oilers could be intimidated by pronounced physical play.
It didn’t happen.
The Oilers lost a hard-fought seven-game series by one goal in Game 7. It was a physical series, but the Oilers gave as much as they got, and that included series against Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars on the way to the Florida series.
Intimidation is part of the game, and targeting the other team’s best players is a tale as old as time. What has changed in recent seasons is the Oilers’ reaction to physical teams.
This runs counter to his reputation, but McDavid has been bossing NHL defencemen for a couple of seasons now and Leon Draisaitl always owned that gear. The two men are the on-ice leaders and set the tone. It’s a decidedly physical approach compared to, say, the Oilers’ performance in the 2021 opening-round series against the Winnipeg Jets.
The current controversy about his physical play comes on the heels of a recent on-ice event against the Minnesota Wild on the same road trip that ended in Vancouver Saturday night. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman covered those items and the story overall this weekend.
McDavid never avoided the contact (see Brandon Manning in 20215-16), but a decade’s worth of NHL games have battle-hardened him. He now initiates it as a tool to separate opponent from puck and create scoring chances. This playing style is exceptionally effective.
McDavid, along with Edmonton’s other forwards, is relentless on the forecheck and in puck pursuit. His speed has always been a weapon, but liberal use of his stick means an added threat for turnovers.
In doing so, that stick work means more penalties, and in recent days more plays that draw attention from NHL Player Safety.
Additions?
Some Oilers fans are calling for a nuclear deterrent, but finding enforcers is problematic. Most power forwards in their prime are unavailable, and won’t be trade bait until the miles and years have worn their bodies down.
Edmonton’s roster houses a terrific enforcer/power forward in Evander Kane, but injuries have impacted him in the last couple of seasons. It isn’t known when or even if he will return during the regular season. He could be a strong playoff addition, but the long layoff will mean rust and injuries have been cropping up with increased regularity in the last 24 months.
On the trade front, Chris Johnston’s list at The Athletic shows some depth options (Trent Frederic, Mathieu Olivier) but a forward who can intimidate, hang with the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl and pop 15 goals in the second half isn’t available for trade.
The Oilers may make an addition at the deadline to add a tough forward (Frederic would be a good fit), but the Edmonton depth chart is unlikely to see a major physical player arriving via trade.
Is this going to happen again?
The NHL doesn’t protect the league’s best players, and in fact, franchise players have been targeted going back to the beginning of league history.
McDavid can expect to be targeted for the rest of his NHL career.
Long ago, Edmonton’s captain started taking things into his own hands and we’re seeing the results of those battles in real time. The 2019 suspension now has company on his resume. It won’t be the last.
Back to the question: Is McDavid’s cross-check, and pending suspension, a bad thing for the team?
McDavid’s physical edge buys him more room and leads to more turnovers, chances and goals. If he can cross-check a defenceman and remove the puck without taking a penalty (he does this routinely), it’s a net benefit for Edmonton.
There may be more suspensions during the rest of his career, as his reputation moves from needing protection (it’s been years since this was true) to being the aggressor on most plays. It’s the price he will pay in the NHL.
Avoiding injury will be key to his success. Edmonton’s pursuit of the Stanley Cup should benefit from McDavid’s physical approach, added to his enormous puck skills.
(Photo: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
