Are the Edmonton Oilers a one-line team?

The Edmonton Oilers find themselves in a predicament. They have the NHL’s top-two point leaders in their lineup — Connor McDavid with 34 and Leon Draisaitl with 24 — but beyond their linemate in Vasily Podkolzin and defenseman Evan Bouchard, the Oilers have no one with more than five points.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton are joined by former NHL video coach Steve Peters to discuss the Oilers’ start to the season and how long they can find success without any depth in their lineup.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Is there any signs of the Oilers not just being a one-line team? Is there any depth? Or do we have to wait for injuries? I know Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is back in the lineup, as was Zach Hyman, but it’s got to be concerning. Is there potential for growth or do they need to make trades and move people?

Steve Peters: Luckily for them, they’ve been able to hold the top spot, even with all these injuries and they’ve been able to push their way through with the top of the line scoring. But it’s not sustainable. You cannot continue to count on those two … I mean, they can, they’ve done it year after year after year, but you see how they start to get tired in games. Man, it’s hard to put that much pressure on those guys.

You need secondary scoring. Hyman came back into the lineup, then he’s out again. Jason Dickinson is a guy they need in the lineup, Matthew Savoie is a guy they need in the lineup. They need these depth guys to be healthy, but they’re not coming back anytime soon.

Can they get by and put the band-aid on it while they have these injuries? Clearly, they’ve shown they can, so you can’t hit the panic button. But there’s going to be a time in November and December when if you still have these big holes in the lineup, it’s a concern.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…