The Edmonton Oilers are off to a 4-0-1 start and, for now, they’re the last team in the league without a regulation loss. People around the team have had theories about why: Babcock’s structure, better health, a new buzz in the room.
Those things may all be part of the picture. But the real driver is a little less obvious and a lot more revealing - the way Edmonton is handling its defence.
Compared with last season, the Oilers have changed how heavily they’re leaning on their top four. After five games last year, Edmonton was 2-2-1 and rolling with Bouchard, Ekholm, Nurse and Kulak as its main group.
This time around, the top four is Bouchard, Shea, Ekholm and Murphy, and Babcock and D.J. Smith are asking them to do even more.
Through five games, that group has logged about 455 minutes, up from 431 at the same point last year. That works out to almost five extra minutes a night.
What stands out most is that the added burden is not landing on Bouchard. His ice time is actually down by about 24 seconds per game.
The heavier load has shifted to the names behind him. Ryan Shea is sitting at a little over 23 minutes a night, which is more than Nurse was playing at this stage last season, while Murphy is around 21 minutes, up from roughly 19 for Kulak.
Every member of that top four is now above 21 minutes per game.
The flip side is just as important. The third pair has been cut back by a lot - more than five minutes a game.
Walman is averaging about 14:47, while Mukhamadullin and Emberson are both around 11 minutes. So despite the talk of spreading out the workload, Edmonton has not really gone deeper down the lineup.
It has become more top-heavy, with Shea especially stepping into a role that looks like a top-pair assignment.
There’s still plenty of context to keep in mind. Five games is a tiny sample.
The Oilers also allowed 13 goals in their first two outings, so nobody is confusing this with airtight defending. And there’s always a price for loading up four players this much, especially with injuries already stacking up elsewhere around the league.
Minutes in the 21-plus range can wear on a group fast over 82 games.
Still, early results point to a formula that’s working. Edmonton is keeping its best defenders on the ice more, limiting the weaker minutes, and stacking wins because of it. If that top four can stay intact and keep holding up, it may end up being one of the quieter reasons this start looks so different from last year’s.
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