Oilers Player Power Rankings: Reunited top line climbing the ranks

Our Edmonton Oilers player power rankings are back. Twice a month throughout the schedule, we will be ordering players based on their contributions and value to the club, taking into account recent feats, statistics, failures and some of the more intangibles. Here is our list this week:

1. Connor McDavid (Last week’s rank: 1)

As a team, the Oilers might have middled their way through the first couple months of the season, never really being able to escape the grasp of a .500 record by more than three games, and never earning more than two wins in a row. But their captain and biggest driving force has had no problem excelling.

Sure, it started out a little slower than he would like with just one goal throughout his first 10 games of the year, but he has come on strong with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in the past four games. He sits second overall in the scoring race with 48 points (16 goals, 32 assists) in 31 games.

He is on pace for 127 points at this rate, which would be a top-three performance in his career. No one else on the team comes close to touching this guy. But that’s to be expected at this point.

Unfortunately, one guy can’t do it alone.

2. Leon Draisaitl (Last week’s rank: 2)

The No. 2 player on this team leads the way with 17 goals, good enough to crack the NHL’s top 10, on the heels of winning his first Maurice (Rocket) Richard trophy with 52 goals.

He continues to sit solidly in second place in team scoring with 40 points, an even dozen ahead of third place.

The fact that he is closing in on the 1,000-point milestone on his career — needing just four more with only 821 games played — is a testament to his importance to this roster and his willingness to play the role of right-hand man to McDavid. Chances are he’s be the No. 1 guy on any other team he played for (OK, except maybe Colorado).

3. Zach Hyman (Last week’s rank: 8)

You don’t need to look at Hyman’s stats line to understand his importance to this team.

Since he debuted from a holdover injury from last year’s playoffs that kept him out of the lineup for the first 19 games, the Oilers have gone 6-4-2.

He started out lower in the lineup. Since moving his way back up to the top line to resume his regular role alongside McDavid, the Oilers have looked much more like their former selves, winning by scores of 4-0, 9-4, 6-2 and 4-1, while their last two losses have come by one goal apiece.

4. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Last week’s rank: 5)

Ditto for Nugent-Hopkins.

He started the season as the third-line centre, a role head coach Kris Knoblauch said he wanted to see happen more this year. But that was before the team realized Andrew Mangiapane and David Tomasek went from studs to duds, quickly going from first-line options to bottom-six placeholders simply waiting for fresh blood to develop on the farm in Bakersfield, Calif., to ripen.

At the same time, Matt Savoie and Jack Roslovic started finding instant chemistry on the second line with Leon Draisaitl, which saw Nugent-Hopkins back on the top line by necessity.

His response was to put up 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 22 games so far, returning from recent injury to post eight of them (two goals, six assists) in his last six games next to McDavid.

Funny how the team has started to look more like its former self at the same time the top line began looking much more familiar.

5. Matt Savoie (Last week’s rank: 4)

If this is what it looks like after spending an entire season on the farm, then Oilers fans better hope the services of Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson (currently leading the way at more than a point-per-game clip) aren’t going to be required here so they can continue developing down in the American Hockey League.

Because that’s where Savoie was before joining the show this season, and while it was slow going as he found his footing early on, the payoff is starting to become apparent.

He’s played all over the lineup, working his way from the bottom six all the way up to the top line, and seems to have settled in quite nicely on the second line next to Draisaitl.

The question of what’s going to happen once Jack Roslovic returns from injury is a good problem to have for the Oilers. Which brings us to No. 6.

6. Jack Roslovic (Last week’s rank: 3)

He’s only slipped because he hasn’t been playing lately, missing the past half dozen games since blocking a shot in a blowout loss to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 25.

With 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in his last 14 games, Roslovic’s torrid pace continues to make the late roster addition the biggest bright spot among the many new faces at forward. Four of those goals came on the power play, giving the Oilers nothing but options once he gets set to return around Christmas.

7. Stuart Skinner (Last week’s rank: 6)

Well, we can safely say this is Skinner’s last time appearing on the team’s power rankings. We had to go back in and delete everything that was here since the Oilers up and traded their netminder, along with defenceman and fellow Edmonton product Brett Kulak, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in return for Tristan Jarry in a Friday morning announcement.

None of that matters anymore.

Now we’ll have to wait and see where the former Edmonton Oil Kings Memorial Cup champion nentminder fits in with his new team once the next rankings come out.

Stay tuned.

8. Vasily Podkolzin (Last week’s rank: 7)

He continues to lead the team with 89 hits in 30 games. And while the stats sheet isn’t necessarily showing much else, with just 13 points (six goals, seven assists), he’s got to be doing something right to hang onto a top-six role while the other wingers keep playing musical chairs up there.

One thing’s for sure. Draisaitl loves having him there. He said as much this week already. Someone’s got to be doing all the digging, after all. It would be nice to see one  start showing up more on the scoresheet. And a couple of them have ended up getting dug right into the back of the net already this month.

9. Mattias Ekholm (Last week’s rank: —)

The Oilers defence appears to finally be turning around. The blowout losses are hopefully part of a November to anything but remember. Ekholm remains the Oilers staunchest and most reliable defensive presence, while also being a points machine with two goal and seven assists in his last eight outings.

Now that is Edmonton’s idea of the perfect defenceman.

10. Evan Bouchard (Last week’s rank: 10)

And then there is Bouchard.

His offensive numbers say he is elite.

His defensive gaffes? Those are simply epic.

How much bigger does a player have to be than 6-foot-7 Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson before Bouchard sees him and decides it might be better to avoid retrieving the puck from behind the net with a little stickhandling instead of just getting rid of it?

Yet again, Bouchard proves he can be dangerous at both blue lines, and every time he touches the puck it has a chance to end up in the net. Which net, is what keeps Oilers fans on their toes.

The only reason he remains in the Oilers top 10 power rankings is because he’s got 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 30 games to sit right behind Edmonton’s two top guns in team scoring. And that’s exactly why Oilers fans find the enigma that is Evan Bouchard so terribly frustrating. (And why he was never really in the conversation to play for Team Canada in February).

Runner-up:

Darnell Nurse: Tied for sixth overall with 69 blocked shots. But the recent offensive burst has dried up.

The fallen:

Darnell Nurse (Last week’s rank: 9)

Disagree? Have your say over who belongs where by sending your submissions to:

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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