Oilers humming under Woodcroft, Dahlin's maturity, and Coyotes pick haul

Mike Smith, Mikko Koskinen, and Stuart Skinner.

Those have been the Edmonton Oilers' goalies through 61 games and, unless general manager Ken Holland is pulling a fast one on reporters and fans, those are the club's netminders for the rest of the season; Holland has said or inferred it's unlikely the team upgrades its goaltending ahead of Monday's trade deadline. It's a stick to the crotch for Oilers fans given Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the sport's best duo since Lemieux and Jagr, are in the prime of their careers but aren't being surrounded with enough talent.

But what if Holland acquires a defenseman or two? Would Edmonton be OK? Could they then go on a deep run in a relatively weak Western Conference?

The answer would have been, "Uh, no, you idiot," in the latter stages of Dave Tippett's time behind the Oilers' bench. The answer in the early stages of the Jay Woodcroft era has been upgraded to, "Hmm, maybe, yeah, just maybe."

Since Woodcroft took over as head coach, the Oilers are 11-5-1 for a .676 points percentage versus a 23-18-3 record and .557 PTS% under Tippett. The biggest strides have been made at five-on-five, where the Oilers' goals for percentage and expected goals for percentage have risen from middling to top 10 in the NHL. Here's the high-level breakdown:

(Advanced statistics source: Natural Stat Trick)

I asked Woodcroft on Thursday about the improvements and what kind of message he's been delivering to players with respect to playing at even strength. "I don't want to give away all of the trade secrets," he said initially.

"On our work back to our own end," he added prior to Edmonton's 6-1 beatdown of the Buffalo Sabres. "Understanding that to win down the stretch and to win in the playoffs, your five-on-five game comes down to how hard you're willing to work back to your net and how hard you're willing to defend."

Woodcroft then tacked on an interesting correlation: "There's a lot of side benefits to being organized and relentless ... A lot of the best offense in the NHL comes off of that." You saw the Oilers turn defense into offense countless times against the lowly Sabres. Devin Shore's shorthanded goal in the third period is a prime example:

Seventeen games is a small sample so it's important not to get carried away. However, the Oilers, winners of four in a row heading into a meeting with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, are humming under Woodcroft. And, to steal Woodcroft's terms, they look "organized" and "relentless" at even strength. With McDavid and Draisaitl back to terrorizing the league after a midseason swoon, I'd add "terrifying" with one or both of their superstars on the ice.

Sounds like a tough draw in the playoffs. If only Holland could find a goalie ...

Dahlin's maturity

After being spoiled by megastars like McDavid and Auston Matthews, we've recently been reminded that development is not always linear for No. 1 picks. There are, in fact, ups and downs. Nico Hischier, Rasmus Dahlin, and Jack Hughes have all needed multiple seasons to reach stardom, while Alexis Lafreniere is still trying to find his groove and Owen Power's still in college.

Dahlin, for one, burst onto the scene in 2018-19, mixing marvelous skating ability and puck skills with a firm handle on the position's subtleties. "He's been as advertised. He's been tremendous," former Sabres teammate Jack Eichel told theScore a month into Dahlin's NHL career. "If he's not one of the best defensemen in the NHL in a few years, I'd be extremely surprised."

Dahlin, then 18, went on to finish third in Calder Trophy voting. Now 21, he has yet to reach those lofty (and widespread) expectations Eichel mentioned. He didn't stumble through the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons but didn't take a gigantic step forward either. One contributing factor was poor defense partners. Another was former bench boss Ralph Krueger asking Dahlin to play too defensive. A third was the league adjusting to Dahlin and his tendencies.

This season, under head coach Don Granato, the smooth-skating Swede is inching closer to that elite-level status, maturing as a person and player as the Sabres continue to build around him and a handful of other under-25 pieces.

"We want our guys to play a competitive game - feisty, competitive, whatever you want to say - but with an element of being relaxed, being able to be themselves and not fearing a mistake or not fearing repercussions of a mistake," Granato said Thursday morning in Edmonton, characterizing Dahlin as a particularly "fearless" player at his disposal. "We wanted to make sure that became part of our culture. I think the guys have embraced that."

Dahlin, who skates for a team-high 23:45 per contest, is carrying Buffalo's defense corps night after night. And despite taking extra reps on the penalty kill this year, he's on pace to set new career bests in all offensive categories.

Forward Alex Tuch, whom the Sabres acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in February, has been impressed by Dahlin's "unmatched" work ethic. "He really tries to hone in on his craft, and he also expects a lot from himself. He really takes everything he does out there to heart," Tuch said.

Dahlin might not be at the level of Cale Makar, Victor Hedman, and Adam Fox - the truly elite of the elite - but he's muscling his way into that second tier.

"Sky's the limit for a guy like that," Tuch said.

Coyotes pick haul

A lot of digital ink has been spilled over the dysfunctional Arizona Coyotes, and rightfully so. For starters, an NHL team playing in a 5,000-seat college facility for several years is downright embarrassing on several levels.

Amid the soap opera, general manager Bill Armstrong has been quietly hoarding picks for the upcoming draft. A few days shy of the trade deadline, the Coyotes own 12 picks in 2022, including three in the first round and five in the second.

Let that sink in for a moment: Arizona owns 12.5% of the first 64 picks.

The haul should swell soon, too, with Jakob Chychrun, Phil Kessel, and Lawson Crouse among Coyotes players on the trade block. Arizona, a club $6.3 million clear of the $81.5-million salary cap, can also reel in picks by retaining salary on its own players or acting as a third-party broker in deals involving other teams. The club could easily have 15 picks by Monday afternoon.

How does this stack up historically? The NHL contracted its draft from nine rounds to seven in 2005, and in the 17 events since, the most players a team has chosen in a single draft is 13. It's happened four times, with the Florida Panthers' 2010 haul - including three first-rounders and three second-rounders - bearing the closest resemblance to the Coyotes in 2022.

Interestingly, the Montreal Canadiens already have 13 picks for the upcoming draft. Arizona trumps Montreal in quality, however. The Habs - also sellers at the deadline - are currently up to "only" two first-rounders and one second.

Parting thoughts

San Jose Sharks: I totally understand the Tomas Hertl extension ($8.14 million annually for eight years, starting next season). The Sharks want to lock up impact players, and Hertl certainly qualifies. It makes sense in a vacuum. But another big-ticket contract on San Jose's books? Really? For 2022-23, the Sharks currently have $68.5 million devoted to 13 players, eight of which are 27 or older. That's insane. They're just spinning their wheels.

Alex Ovechkin: Among the many factoids shared over the past week as Ovechkin surpassed Jaromir Jagr for third on the all-time goals list (he's now at 768), this one from the NHL PR team takes the cake: "Alex Ovechkin is the only player in NHL history who has played 1,000-plus career regular-season games without ever having a goal drought longer than 10 games." Amazing.

Defenseman market: Ben Chiarot is a No. 4 defenseman on a contending team, but the Panthers acquired him (and 50% of his salary) for a 2023 first-rounder, a 2022 fourth-rounder, and prospect Ty Smilanic. While Florida is all-in on chasing a Cup this year, and you can't fault them for going for it, that's a steep price. It should set the market for rental defensemen, which is good news for sellers (Seattle, Anaheim) and bad news for buyers (Boston, Toronto).

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).