Woodcroft confident amid Oilers' early-season struggles

It has been a turbulent start to the 2023-24 season for head coach Jay Woodcroft and the Edmonton Oilers from their 1-4-1 record to the injury of their captain Connor McDavid.

Tuesday night's 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild was the latest installment of the lopsided losses the Oilers have endured and the third loss of the season to have been by three or more goals. The first was an 8-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in the first regular-season game of the season and the second came three games later to the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-1 loss.

"I think things get magnified when your record is what our record is," Woodcroft said Wednesday. "If you're sitting at 4-1 heading into last night's game, you'd chalk last night up to a bad period," he said in reference to the five goals the Oilers surrendered in the final frame.

Despite their record, the third-year bench boss is not ready to break the glass and call it an emergency.

"We can get past the mad and be solutions-based or problem-solving based... We have to take a step, but talk is cheap. We have to show it," he said.

Woodcroft was also not ready to punt on the new systems the Oilers are implementing in the defensive zone, despite their Western Conference-worst 27 goals against.

"Through five games, I thought our play was better than our record shows," Woodcroft said on the play of his defence. "I thought there were individual errors within games that led to losses." 

"I think in game number five against Winnipeg, we gave up three goals; one was a shorthanded goal, one was a three-on-three overtime goal, one was a goal with one second left on a penalty kill...Any time you go to something new and you're working through something, there's growing pains."

Shifting to McDavid and the hole that the absence the three-time Hart Trophy winner has left in the lineup in terms of flexibility and roster construction, Woodcroft said that's still no excuse.

"You work within the parameters you're given," he said on the matter.

"Last game, we went 11 [forwards] and seven [defencemen]. But for me, my focus is not on what I don't have, my focus is getting the most out of what I do have," Woodcroft added.

The Oilers announced Sunday following their OT loss to the Jets on Saturday night that McDavid is expected to be out for one-to-two weeks due to an upper-body injury.

Woodcroft said Wednesday that he saw McDavid earlier and while the 26-year-old is in good spirits, there is no concrete timeline for his return at the moment.

"I would never want to put a timeline on him and his healing ability," he said. "He's (a) a pretty determined individual so we'll see."