The 2018/2019 WHL season was a much-needed resurgence from the Edmonton Oil Kings. Their regular season run came to a close after a 3-1 win over the Calgary Hitmen. The Oil Kings put together an Impressive 42-18-4 regular season campaign. Edmonton is primed for their first playoff run after back to back sub 25-win seasons.
The League
The WHL was very competitive this year, with nine teams earning 40 or more wins. The Oil Kings made the list and they barely made it in a year where the Prince Albert Raiders posted 53 wins this year. In total, the Edmonton Oil Kings placed fifth in the league overall and third in their conference.
The Central division was fairly weak when compared to the top-heavy East division. Edmonton has had their way the entire year and had minimal problems within their own division. Their games against the Kootenay Ice and lesser opponents have been almost guaranteed wins for them. However, they have had some issues outside of their division early in the year but it had no lasting effect.
The majority of the Edmonton Oil King’s losses were in October, where they had an eight-game losing streak which totaled a 3-7-1 record in total, with the three of those wins coming at the very end of the month. Since then, the Oil Kings have been nothing short of stellar. A 6-3-3 record in November helped the Oil Kings to bounce back and get their game back on track for the playoffs. Edmonton went to town on the rest of the WHL finishing strong with a 15-3-0 record in February and March with a 11-game winning streak to close out the season.
The Roster
Edmonton have had a very strong scoring presence that stepped up massively this year, especially when their defense was gutted to injuries. Trey Fix-Wolansky has been one of the best players in the league. Producing a career high 37 goals and 65 assists to reach the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. Fix-Wolansky was also the only Oil King to reach triple digits since Michael St. Croix did it in the 2011/12 season.
There is a giant drop off in offensive production after Trey Fix-Wolansky. The next in scoring for the Oil Kings is Vince Loschiavo with 62 points. A 40-point drop off is very concerning how large of a drop off there is in point production. This can often lead to disastrous results in the playoffs when teams start to allocate more attention to the star player. In the 68-game regular season, Fix-Wolansky was the only point per game player on the team.
The depth scoring for the Oil Kings has been solid, most forwards have at least 10 goals and the top four defensemen have been doing well production-wise. Goaltending has not been much of an issue. Dylan Myskiw is 28 -11 with a 2.53 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Despite dealing with a lot of shots, he has been good in a very high scoring league. Out of all goalies, Myskiw is sixth in GAA and ninth in save percentage for the season.
Playoffs
In theory, the Oil Kings have one of the easiest roads that they have had in a long time. The Medicine Hat Tigers limped into the playoffs with a 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games. The Oil Kings have been perfect in their last 10.
Assuming everything is not a complete dumpster fire, the Oil Kings have every opportunity to win this series. Lethbridge has also been on a tear, but it is far too early to talk about the second round.
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