Edmonton cannot win on McDavid and Draisaitl alone, and the longer the Oilers pretend otherwise, the harder the problem becomes. Leon Draisaitl’s scoring run, nine goals in six games and a streak that reached 12 goals, has carried Edmonton through stretches when the rest of the lineup went quiet. That is a compliment to Draisaitl, and an indictment of the team around him. A contender needs its stars to be the difference. It does not need them to be the only difference.
The pattern was visible in Toronto’s 7-2 rout of Edmonton, a game in which William Nylander reached 300 career goals and Auston Matthews moved nearer 800 points. Toronto won because its depth scored, its stars scored, and its goaltending held. Edmonton, by contrast, has too often looked like a team waiting for its two centres to solve a problem that belongs to 20 players. When Draisaitl and Connor McDavid produce, Edmonton can beat anyone. When they do not, or when they are held to a single point between them, the margin for error disappears.
Depth is a roster choice
Depth is not luck. It is the product of drafting, development and cap management, and Edmonton has spent years paying a premium for its top end while searching for value underneath it. The result is a lineup that is top heavy by design, and therefore fragile by design. Injuries, slumps and matchups that neutralise one line expose the whole structure, because there is no second wave to absorb the pressure. Toronto’s rout was not only a bad night. It was a demonstration of what a deeper team does to a top heavy one over 60 minutes.
The solution is not to ask McDavid and Draisaitl to do more. They are already doing more than any two players should be asked to do. The solution is to build a third line that can score, a fourth line that can hold a lead, and a defensive group that does not need the stars to outscore its mistakes. That takes time, trades and patience, and it means accepting that some nights the stars will be quiet and the team must still win.
The season is still young
None of this means Edmonton’s season is lost. A scoring streak from Draisaitl, a healthy lineup and a run of home games can change the standings quickly, and the Oilers have the talent to recover from any single loss, however emphatic. But the question raised by the Toronto game will not go away with a win or two. It will return every time the depth is tested, until Edmonton answers it with a roster, not with a performance from its two stars. Championships are won by teams. Edmonton still needs to prove it is one.
