Season ticket holders for the Edmonton Oilers were invited to a breakfast event with team management this week, and amid a tumultous season on the ice, ticket holders were able to voice some of their concerns directly to team CEO and vice chairman Bob Nicholson and his staff.
There were a lot of questions about the missing components from this current Oilers roster, and to his credit, Nicholson was open about the team’s need for skill. However, he also singled out forward Tobias Rieder as a player who hasn’t delivered in that department and consequently will not be re-signed by the Oilers.
Some fans felt that Nicholson’s comments crossed a line, and TSN's Darren Dreger followed up with a report that Nicholson had spoke with Rieder personally to apologize for his comments.
It’s true that Rieder hasn’t offered much in the goal-scoring department this season — through 59 appearances, he remains goalless and has just 11 assists — and to hear Nicholson, or any GM, speak so candidly about the state of the team is refreshing. However, the concern here is that Rieder is being scapegoated for a greater share of the blame than just his.
The Oilers have allowed 39 more goals than they have scored this season, and not just one player, not even if Rieder had scored the additional “10 or 12 goals” that Nicholson had mentioned, can really make that difference alone. It takes a broader team effort, and for that to happen, it takes skill players, plural. Just one player overperforming or underperforming has rarely swung a team’s successes in hockey.
The Oilers have Connor McDavid, which is about as good of a starting point as you can have, but the team will have to prove to ticket holders and to its fanbase at large that they can build around him effectively. The team isn’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, but let’s just say that fan confidence isn’t high over in Edmonton.
