As the NHL leader in goals & EV points, Leon Draisaitl has been superb offensively. But, I'm even more impressed with the evolution of his defensive play. Using stats + video, here is an in-depth analysis of how Draisaitl has redefined his defensive game:

Who should the Oilers use as Connor McDavid’s regular linemates? Here's a closer look:

@sansFunkyBunch I would probably rotate Kapanen and Perry at 4RW, and keep Janmark for the PK. As for Kane, not sure where (if at all) he fits in this lineup.

RT @sunilagni: The Edmonton Oilers are doing that thing again where the defencemen are taking a higher proportion of shots. And it's having…

Obviously it won't happen, but I really wish McDavid and Ekholm would skip the Four Nations and take the rest. They could benefit a lot from it.

Brilliant play by Draisaitl through MacKinnon in the OZ on that goal, but it should also be noted that entire play began from Draisaitl intercepting a pass (also from MacKinnon) in the DZ. He probably prevented a goal as well on that shift.

@McCurdy1987 I'd still like to give Philp a longer chance, but yeah, I don't mind picking up a 4C at the TDL (granted they're cheap). That said, part of me is very interested about the idea of acquiring a defensive 3LD and then running 11/7 in the playoffs, so a 4C may not be a huge deal.

@Stevenbradleyb Podkolzin played plenty of RW in Vancouver, so I doubt it should be an issue. Not too sure about how much Arvidsson has played at LW though. You could swap Hyman and Arvidsson (Hyman mostly played at LW in Toronto and in his first year in Edmonton).

Arvidsson has played very little time next to McDavid, so I would like to see how Arvidsson - McDavid - Hyman fares over a larger sample. It could work. However, I also want them to try Henrique at 1LW at some point. 19 - 97 - 18 had very good results in limited TOI last season.

@HansDryden What? Per AllThreeZones, Bouchard’s rush chance prevention per 60 ranks in the 76th percentile in the past two seasons. Rush defence is a strength in his game.

@fivestargc At the very least, I feel he should have received a chance in the top-six when both Hyman & Arvidsson were injured, but yeah, that’s still fair. I hope he stays there for a while now.

Leon Draisaitl is officially the league leader in points.

@Asp0ilers Arvidsson has only played one full game with McDavid. Very interested to see how he fares on that line in a bigger sample.

@BobaTHEFett4 Unfortunately SportLogIQ is a private company, but I recommend checking out Corey Sznajder’s microstat tracking project. He tracks a variety of different microstats, including zone exits and DZ puck touches (though they’re behind a paywall).

@BobaTHEFett4 Yeah, that's fair. Also, I believe GSAx intentionally includes missed shots. @oilingoal can talk about this in much more detail than me, but according to him, it has to do with a theory that good positioning can cause opposing shooters to miss the net more often.

@BobaTHEFett4 ...CSA Hockey and SportLogIQ, both private models that do incorporate pre-shot movement, rate Edmonton roughly the same as public models. So at least in the case for the Oilers, the aggregate results should still be fairly accurate even if some individual shots have wonky values.