Oilers built for deep run through Stanley Cup Playoffs, ESPN analysts say

The Edmonton Oilers might be a better team this season than they were last season, when they reached the Western Conference Final.

But do they have enough to take it even further this postseason?
Edmonton finished its regular season with its ninth straight win, 5-2 against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place on Thursday. The win was the Oilers' 50th, a number they hadn't reached since 1986-87. Their success rate on the power play (32.4 percent) was the best since the NHL began keeping the stat in 1977.
The Oilers have three players with 100 points (Connor McDavid, 153; Leon Draisaitl, 128; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 104), the first time that's happened since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins; they have four 30-goal scorers; and goalie Stuart Skinner is 10-0-1 in his past 10 starts and was named the NHL rookie of the month for March.
ESPN analyst Mark Messier likes what he sees and feels they may be equipped for an even better outcome this season.
"The Oilers made it to the conference final last year with a much weaker team than they are this year," he said Thursday. "They're much improved, deeper, bigger, heavier. The additions of [defensemen] Vincent Desharnais and Mattias Ekholm were huge pieces that were really needed to fortify the defense and give it some power. I keep going back to two months of playoff hockey ... you've got to have a big, strong, solid team to sustain that kind of play for two months. I think they're the hottest team going into the playoffs, which is always a great sign.
"I think their strongest competition will be the Colorado Avalanche, who, again, have made a lot of changes from the team they were last year so they're not the same team."

Colorado, the defending Stanley Cup champion, has had players in and out of the lineup all season because of injuries, including forward Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar, and forward
Gabriel Landeskog
will not play this season because of a knee injury.
"Makar (lower body) should be back [for the playoffs] and [forward Artturi] Lehkonen (finger) will be back," ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro said. "But they didn't replace their second center in Nazem Kadri, and I think that's a hole for them."
Kadri signed a seven-year contract with the Calgary Flames on Aug. 19, 2022.
Edmonton was swept in four games by Colorado in the Western Conference Final last season. It marked the first time the Oilers had reached the conference final in 16 seasons.
"The Oilers are certainly a lot deeper and harder to play against and they're less perimeter driven this season," ESPN studio analyst Kevin Weekes said. "They don't necessarily have to score and attack off the rush, and they have players not just … Draisaitl or McDavid, who can generate offense in the offensive zone, and it doesn't have to be off the rush, on the attack.
"Klim Kostin has been a nice piece for them to add to that, and Evander Kane is an X-factor for them because he can do things that nobody else on their team can do in terms of bringing the game into the alley, being physical, whatever it takes. You fear his speed and his skill. And Stuart Skinner was in the NHL All-Star Game this year ... he's taken over the No. 1 spot for Jack Campbell, so I like the way the Oilers look right now coming down the stretch. They could very much go on a deeper run. General manager Ken Holland has done a nice job there."

ESPN analyst A.J. Mleczko said she respects the way Colorado has battled down the stretch to earn its opportunity to defend its title but doesn't see a repeat championship in the cards.
"The questions is which teams are built for the two-month grind, because it is, right?" she said. "Look back at the Tampa Bay Lightning when they were rolling through the regular season in 2018-19 and then were bounced in that four-game sweep against the Columbus Blue Jackets, so you just never know. Not having Landeskog all year has been tough."
With one game remaining after a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Ball Arena on Thursday, Colorado has three players with at least 20 goals this season in Mikko Rantanen (55), MacKinnon (39) and Lehkonen (21). They had seven players score at least 20 goals last season.
"They just don't have the depth that they had last year," Mleczko said. "I never want to rule out the defending champion, it's theirs until somebody knocks them off. But I just don't see the pieces. I don't think goalie Alexandar Georgiev has been as good as maybe they expected him to be, or as consistent. I don't think they found somebody to replace what Kadri brought to their lineup last year in that playoff run.
"It's been impressive to watch them battle back in the Central Division and it does show they still have that championship pedigree and that that drive to repeat. But I don't see them going on as a deep run as they did last year."