American Thanksgiving is considered an important date for NHL teams.

Teams in playoff position on Thanksgiving night have reached the postseason 77.5 percent time, according to Sportsnet. If you're in a playoff spot on Turkey Day, you're probably playing hockey in the Spring.

With that in mind, we thought it'd be important to call together an NHL Roundtable to discuss which teams in a playoff position won't be heading to the playoffs. Which teams off to strong starts will falter down the stretch?

 

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers began this month having won seven of their first 10 games, sitting second in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference standings with 14 points. They've since lost six of their last nine contests entering their Nov. 23 game with the New York Islanders.

Their inconsistent play sent them tumbling down the standings to fifth place in the Pacific by Nov. 22, sitting just behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card berth in the conference. It will kill their playoff chances unless they can find a way out of this dilemma.

Several factors have contributed to the Oilers' erratic play throughout November. Left unaddressed, they will derail their postseason dreams.

Free-agent acquisition Jack Campbell was brought in to stabilize their goaltending. He's won six of 10 starts but has a lousy .873 save percentage, culminating in a 7-2 shellacking on Nov. 10 at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.

They've since gone with backup Stuart Skinner, who's won four out of nine starts but with a .921 save percentage. While Skinner's played better than Campbell, his teammates still haven't been able to string many wins together when he's between the pipes.

A lack of scoring punch beyond Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman is a longstanding issue. Losing winger Evander Kane to a wrist injury until February certainly hasn't helped. Wingers Warren Foegele, Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto and rookie Dylan Holloway have just four goals between them.

On the blue line, the Oilers could use a steady left-hand shot among their top-four defensemen to take some of the burdens off Darnell Nurse. Meanwhile, Evan Bouchard has just six points in 19 games after netting 43 points in his rookie campaign last season.

Add them all up and it doesn't look good for the Oilers' playoff chances.