The Edmonton Oilers are 18-7-2 under new head coach Jay Woodcroft and they’ve won their last nine games at Rogers Place. It’s a decent enough sample size to assume they’ll likely squeeze into the playoffs as Hockey Reference has the team at a 91 percent chance to make the postseason.
Edmonton is loaded with top-end talent that is paid handsomely to deliver and produce points — Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. We’ll also add Evander Kane into that category because if the Oilers didn’t luck out on the bargain deal for him, he’d likely be a $7 million player. That said, it’s assumed that these players should deliver in the postseason.
At this time of year, there are always discussions of who could be the next unlikely, but big playoff performer. In the Oilers’ case, it’s dubbed, the next “Fernando Pisani” — an unlikely hero, who isn’t amongst the highest paid on the team, but produces points, scores timely goals, and delivers an impeccable playoff performance.
Pisani scored timely goals and was an integral part of the Oilers reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2006. He finished the postseason with 14 goals and four assists in 24 games that year. So, the question is, which players on this current roster have the highest potential to be the next unlikely playoff hero this postseason? Let’s take a look at four potential candidates.
Ryan McLeod
Ryan McLeod has taken great strides this season (literally and figuratively). He’s grown as a player and legitimately, his skating stride is amazing. Aside from the hands and dangles, if he would’ve put on a jersey with the number 97 on the back on April Fools’ Day, there’s a chance he would’ve been mistaken for McDavid with his effortless skating. He’s excelling under Woodcroft and has been given more responsibility on the penalty kill, a task he didn’t have under his belt at the NHL level before the coach’s arrival. He’s only on pace for 25 points in an 82-game season, but he’s continued to look more comfortable as the season has progressed.
McLeod has five points in the last 11 games, but an example of his adjustment to the NHL level was the goal he scored against the Arizona Coyotes just over a week ago. He gained speed through the neutral zone, received a pass from Kailer Yamamoto, split the two Coyotes’ defenders, and tucked the puck five-hole on Karel Vejmelka.
Why does he have a chance to be an unlikely playoff hero? His speed. It makes him very dangerous and he’s now realizing its potential. At 6-foot-3, it’s truly amazing how well he gets around the ice. Now that he’s settled into his role as a penalty killer, his quickness makes him a threat to score short-handed as well, just like Pisani did in overtime in Game 5 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. He’s also versatile. He’s vital down the middle, but he’s shown he can keep up the pace in the top-six on the wing too. Now that he has newfound confidence to go along with his toothless grin, the puck has the potential to go in for him in bunches this postseason.