Oilers Grades at The Halfway Mark: Top-Sox Forwards

Saturday night marks the 42nd game of the season for the Edmonton Oilers. As such, taking a look at the roster and how they’re faring individually this season is an exercise I tend to partake in every season. This season it was an interesting look back. The Oilers started out incredibly bad, but have since picked it up, winning 12 games in a row.

Let’s start by taking a look at the forwards and getting a read on how the key names are factoring into the team’s overall success.

Connor McDavid Is Back to Normal: A

It was an odd start for Connor McDavid. Something looked off to start the year and while there wasn’t a lot of talk about a nagging injury, his game looked different. Still dominant, he wasn’t “McDavid dominant”. Then, around the same the head coaching change was made, he started to pick up steam.

Now with 59 points in 39 games, he’s done most of his damage since mid-November. He’s on a 12-game point streak and he’s, once again, making opponents look silly. More intriguing, he’s added an element of feistiness that didn’t seem to be there before. This is not to say that McDavid wasn’t engaged physically in the past, but this season, he’s initiating so much of the action, he’s dragging himself and others into the fight with him. That’s a good sign for the playoffs.

Leon Draisaitl Has Started to Find His Game: A-

Certainly capable of pushing the river on his own, as McDavid goes, often so does Draisaitl. It’s no coincidence that the two are on fire of late, even though they spend a lot of time apart 5-v-5. He’s got 50 points on the season and has really started to find another gear. Like McDavid, he started out slowly, but it will be interesting to see where he finishes the season.

Related: Oilers Showing Maturation Through Season Turnaround

Currently not in the top 10 in NHL scoring, it’s an odd place for Draisaitl to be compared to previous seasons.

Zach Hyman Having Another Career Year: A+

Zach Hyman might have been the easiest player to grade this season. He’s been the most consistent forward on the team and, in my opinion, he got shafted not being selected as an All-Star. Tracking at a pace for 55 goals, Hyman is poised to surpass his previous record of 36. That’s incredible when you think about how he’s learned to play with the Oilers’ top players and his previous production with the Toronto Maple Leafs before he came to Edmonton.