Edmonton Oilers: How Many Points Do You Think Each Oiler Will Have in 2019/20?

I’ve gone ahead and gather four different resources to preview the upcoming 2019/20 NHL Season for the Edmonton Oilers.

• The Hockey News Fantasy Guide
• Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide
• The Sports Forecaster NHL Preview and Fantasy Guide
• McKeen’s 2019-20 Yearbook

So below I’m going to post what those outlets have predicted with regards to how the individual players on the Oilers will perform in terms of points. Not every player has projections and it changes from each publication to the next as you will see. My predictions will follow and underneath everything, I’ll try to explain my reasoning for my numbers.

Bon appetit!

You might be shocked to see that I’ve got Leon Drasaitl outscoring Connor McDavid and that’s because I believe that McDavid’s knee isn’t as healthy as we’re being told. The way I’m reading things is that if everything was sorted, the team officials would say it and they’re not. They’re saying there’s a month left to evaluate and even after that is done, he still might not be ready… So if this PCL injury is at least a 6-month layoff, are we including rehab in that time frame? I just think he won’t be back to himself until the latter half of the year if at all this season.

Leon, on the other hand, is looking beastly by all reports… So I’m expecting a great season out of him and as a result, the same out of James Neal.

Nuge will be Nuge and get his 60-some points. He’s good for that but will it be on the wing or at center?

I am projecting a breakout season for Zack Kassian though. I like what I saw from him last year and I believe he can continue that effort. He might be McDavid’s only consistent linemate all year.

Remember when Mark Letestu was the Oilers triggerman on the PP? Well, that’s going to be Sam Gagner in 2019/20. He’s going to rack up some serious PP points this season in the same way Letestu did as the Oilers 4th line center when he played in Edmonton. Dave Tippett knows this player and he’ll know where to put him in order for him to succeed.

One problem the Oilers won’t have this year is scoring from the bottom-6. Adding Granlund, Archibald, and Haas to Gagner, Chiasson, and Khaira is going to pay dividends in my opinion. There’s a bit more speed, tenacity, and skill this year and I’m hoping a bit more patience on the coach’s part so that we don’t see the return of the McBlender.

When I heard that the Oilers were going to put Larsson and Nurse together I cringed… But then I thought to myself that perhaps this will lower the workload on Oscar Klefbom and MAYBE he’ll stay healthy this year. Do you remember the last year that he had a healthy season? Yes, the year they went to the playoffs and he scored 38 points that year in 82 games if you recall. He’s older now and a better player, so 45 points isn’t out of the question for me on Klef.

Oscar’s potential partner on defense might be his countryman, Joel Persson. He’s known as a player who can really move the puck. He’s been racking up points in the SHL for a few seasons now and he’s keen to show what he can do at the NHL level. I can’t really think of a better person to pair him up with to be honest and his point totals might reflect that.

Conversely, if Nurse is being groomed to be a shut-down defender, his offensive totals will suffer. Hence why I think he’ll return to being a sub-30 point defenseman.

The low point projections for the Bakersfield kids (Benson, Jones, Yamamoto, and Bouchard) are simply because I don’t think they’ll be spending much time in Edmonton. Ken Holland has set his team up so that there’s no pressure to bring along a young player before they’re ready.

What do you think? What are your point predictions for the Oilers in 2019/20? How bad are mine? Let us know in the comments below!