McDavid scoring climbs as power play stalls

McDavid holds 6 goals and 17 points through 8 games this season. He maintains a +19 rating. This production exceeds his 48 goals and 138 points from the 2025-26 season. He recorded 26 goals and 74 assists in 67 games during 2024-25. His current shooting percentage of 33.3 percent surpasses his 13.3 percent from the previous year. He recorded 306 shots in 82 games last season, whereas he has already fired 18 shots in his first 8 games this year.

Power play struggles continue

The Edmonton Oilers power play ranks 30th in the NHL after converting only 1 of 15 opportunities. This 6.7 percent success rate follows a season where the unit ranked fourth in the league. Kris Knoblauch remains cautious about changing the current personnel. He rejects the idea of a 50-50 split between the two power-play units. The primary unit contains McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard. The secondary unit consists of Corey Perry, Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Darnell Nurse, and Mattias Ekholm. Knoblauch notes that many teams with split units lack effective power plays. Evan Bouchard suggests the group must shoot more from the flanks. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins says the team must continue winning battles. You can see the frustration as the team struggles to convert. The team recently failed to score during a five-minute power play after a major penalty to Nicolas Roy at 5:37 of overtime. Zach Hyman hit the crossbar and McDavid hit the post at 13:18. The top line held no points through regulation in that contest. The Oilers’ man advantage efficiency compares to the Dallas Stars, who converted 11.1 percent of opportunities, or the Tampa Bay Lightning, which ranks 28th.

Draisaitl and McDavid connection

Leon Draisaitl has 6 goals and 8 assists through 8 games. He holds a +15 rating. This follows his 2025-26 season where he scored 35 goals in 65 games before a lower-body injury on March 15, 2026. Draisaitl recorded 11 goals and 22 assists in the 2025 playoffs. He also earned the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy after scoring 52 goals in 2024-25, a campaign where his 106 points tied him for third in the league behind Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov. He signed an eight-year, $112 million contract extension in September 2024. In a recent overtime victory against the Golden Knights, McDavid and Draisaitl broke their scoring drought. While the team faces offensive hurdles, McDavid and Draisaitl provided a moment of brilliance when McDavid slowed his pace to exploit a flat-footed Jack Eichel before passing to Draisaitl for a one-timer in overtime. This play allowed Corey Perry to assist the sequence after Evan Bouchard rimmed the puck around the boards to beat Mark Stone’s rush. Will the coaching staff finally alter the power-play rotation?