The Edmonton Oilers entered the 2017-18 as plausible contenders for the Stanley Cup. That may still come to pass, but with 10 percent of the schedule in the books initial optimism has cooled, replaced by unease as a disproportionate number of the team’s summer decisions misfire early on.
At the team level, the overarching concern is the record. At 2-5-1 Edmonton sits second-last in the West, ahead of only the winless Arizona Coyotes. To hit 94 points (the number required for the final wild card berth last season) the Oilers will need to go something like 41-26-7 the rest of the way.