One of the few wrinkles in a very successful 2016-17 Edmonton Oilers season was the team’s lack of secondary scoring. Only five players on the team topped 25 points at even-strength and only one of those (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) managed to do it without spending a big chunk of the year on Connor McDavid’s line.
Seven games into 2017-18, it looks like this is once again going to be a substantial problem.
It’s not a surprise, really. The team did nothing to augment its forward group over the summer. Jussi Jokinen’s even-strength totals last season were basically identical to those of bought-out winger Benoit Pouliot.