The Oilers need Viktor Arvidsson to show up

Viktor Arvidsson was the Edmonton Oilers’ biggest free agent signing of the off-season. He inked a two-year deal worth $4 million annually, but through 55 games (he’s played 40 due to an injury) he’s yet to be the player that the team was expecting.

Arvidsson has logged 532 minutes at 5-on-5. He’s played 289 minutes with Leon Draisaitl, 44 with Connor McDavid, and 11 minutes with both of them. That’s 65 percent of his 5-on-5 time with top players, yet Arvidsson is on pace for seventh-lowest point production of his career.

He’s averaging 1.58 points per 60 minutes thus far. He’s been over 2.1 five times in his career, peaking at 2.52 in 2018-19 with the Nashville Predators. Arvidsson’s overall 5-on-5 play this season has been disappointing. This is his 10th NHL season, and his production, giveaways, takeaways and hits are all near the lowest of his career.

• His 1.58 points/60 ranks seventh out of 10 years.
• His 0.68 goals/60 are eighth.
• His 0.90 assists/60 are sixth.
• His 0.56 penalties drawn is the lowest of his career. His previous low was 0.87 and he’s been above 1.00 six times in his career.
• His 3.94 giveaways/60 is also the worst of his career. His previous worst was 2.93, and he’s been 1.57 or lower in seven of his 10 seasons.
• His 0.79 takeaways/60 is also the lowest of his career. His previous low was 1.06 and five of his 10 seasons were above 1.48.
• His 1.24 hits/60 ranks sixth out of 10 seasons.

His production is down. He isn’t as physical as he’s been previously. He’s giving the puck away at the highest rate of his career, he’s creating the fewest takeaways and he’s barely drawing any penalties. That’s a bad combination.

They need Arvidsson to get going. Get involved. Increase his intensity and be more engaged. When he was in Los Angeles, he was involved way more. He’d be in scrums, he was around the net pestering goalies, but we’ve barely seen any of that this season.

He’s playing for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-off and maybe pulling on their iconic Yellow and Blue jersey will ignite him, because his first 40 games as an Oiler have been very underwhelming. He and Draisaitl haven’t meshed offensively, which seems odd considering how well Draisaitl is playing. In 300 minutes with Draisaitl, Arvidsson only has seven points and a 1.4 P/60. It is likely why Kris Knoblauch tried him with McDavid in the last few games.

The Oilers desperately need some consistent production from a winger on the top two lines outside of Zach Hyman. Hyman has 13 goals at 5-on-5, which is a 1.04 goals/60 pace, the second-highest of his career. Yes, he isn’t producing at 5-on-5 like last season, but that was a once-in-career type of season for him. He scored 36 goals 5-on-5 — the only players with more in the salary cap era are Steven Stamkos (41 in 2012) and Auston Matthews (38 in 2022 and 2024).

Hyman’s 13 goals have him on pace for 20, which would be the second-highest of his career. He’s had a solid season, but he’s the only top-six winger producing. Arvidsson needs to do more, and the lack of 5-on-5 production from top-six wingers is a concern that GM Stan Bowman might have to address before the trade deadline.

When Arvidsson returns from 4NF he needs to play with more energy and tenacity. I don’t think it is a coincidence that his offensive numbers are down and so are his hits and takeaways. He’s best when he’s engaged and playing with an edge. He needs to find it for the stretch drive and the playoffs.