When the NHL season got underway in October, there was a distinct possibility that Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster could include up to five Edmonton Oilers players.
Connor McDavid has already been named to the team and while Evan Bouchard has struggled defensively this season, it seems like he should be a good bet to crack the squad as well. Yet, that only accounts for two of the possible five players who could make it on the team.
What happened to the other three? Well, a lack of production and a few absolutely brutal stretches may have resulted in them playing their way off the Canada roster. Let’s take a closer look at who those three Oilers are:
1. Stuart Skinner
At one point, Stuart Skinner appeared to be the frontrunner to grab Canada’s starting net for the upcoming tournament, but now he’ll be lucky to be on the roster at all.
The 25-year-old Edmonton native has had another brutal start to the season, posting a .881 save percentage and having an atrocious -8.9 goals saved above expected (GSAx), according to MoneyPuck, which is among the very worst in the league. He still holds a winning record of 6-5-1, but his play has not been encouraging.
Given Canada’s lack of goaltending depth, he still has an outside shot at cracking the roster, but it’s looking more and more like a longshot right now.
2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has built a career out of being a trustworthy two-way player who can reliably put up 50+ point seasons, but he just hasn’t been able to continue that trend this year.
RNH has struggled to put up points and has just two goals and nine points through 20 games, making it one of the toughest starts to a season in his 14-year career with the Oilers. He’s recently been able to rack up points on the power play, but even that has seen a fair dip to start.
He won’t be getting PP minutes in Canada or even a top-six spot in the forward group. If this lack of production continues, it’ll be tough to see where he could fit.
3. Zach Hyman
Nobody was expecting Zach Hyman to put up another 50-goal season this year, but the stark lack of scoring so far has been concerning.
His three goals are more than Nugent-Hopkins but he only has a total of eight points through the first 20 games. That is despite spending the majority of his time alongside McDavid on the top line and being on the top PP unit. Hyman is certainly still generating chances, but his shooting percentage has plummeted.
His biggest asset will be his familiarity playing with McDavid but with so many highly skilled players available for Canada, it may not be enough to make up for his slow start.