Oilers Have Effective 2nd Line With Draisaitl, Foegele, and McLeod

The Edmonton Oilers have kept their top line of Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins together for most of the season. However, they have frequently experimented with the second line, typically centred by Leon Draisaitl. Out of all the wingers featured alongside Draisaitl this season, none have been a more unlikely duo than Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele.

Before this season, Foegele had eclipsed 30 points just once in his NHL career, and McLeod had never done it. Despite lacking a proven track record of producing offence, both players have surprisingly held their own in the top six this season. Is this a line the Oilers should keep together long term?

Ryan McLeod‘s Strengths & Weaknesses

Often criticized for a lack of offensive production, McLeod doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the best defensive forwards on the team. He ranks first among Oiler forwards in fewest goals-against per hour (GA/60). While you need players who can score the win hockey games, having guys who can prevent them is also crucial. McLeod utilizes his speed to retrieve loose pucks and transport them out of danger. Take a look at his percentiles compared to the rest of the league in some key retrieval and exit stats:

• Retrievals per Hour: 82%
• Exits off Retrieval percentage: 85%
• Exits With Possession percentage: 84%

The trend continues with zone entries, where McLeod ranks in the 83rd percentile in controlled-entry percentage and 68th percentile in controlled entries per hour. Simply put, McLeod is fantastic at getting the puck from the defensive zone to the offensive zone with possession.

Maintaining puck possession and offensive zone time has also been a strength for McLeod. He Ranks third among the Oilers’ current forwards in on-ice shot attempt share and unblocked shot-attempt share. So, if he drives puck possession, why hasn’t this translated to consistent offence? Unfortunately, McLeod’s game has a few significant flaws. Most notably, he doesn’t go to the net nearly enough. How often have we seen him fly into the zone with possession only to circle the net instead of driving to the slot? It happens all the time, and that’s a bit of an issue since he doesn’t possess a lethal shot. He seldom scores from long range, so he must go to the net to be productive. Take a look at this chart, which maps the location of his goals this season:

As you…