Points don't tell us anything. They don't tell us that Maroon played on your top line most of the year, or that Lucic and Letestu played on your top PP unit most of the year. They don't tell us that Versteeg missed 14 games last year. They don't tell us that a forward may not get a secondary assist on a team with a more offensive blue line.
Here's what we know:
Goals Draisaitl and McDavid both got a point on: 42
Goals McDavid got a point on without Draisaitl getting a point: 58
Goals Draisaitl got a point on without McDavid getting a point: 35
So that's a total of 135 goals created by your top two. Oilers scored 247 goals. That means without your big two getting a point, you scored 112 goals.
Goals Gaudeau and Monahan both got a point on: 35
Goals Gaudreau got a point on without Monahan getting a point: 26
Goals Monahan got a point on without Gaudreau getting a point: 23
That's 84 goals created by our top two. Flames scored 226 goals. That means without our big two getting a point, we scored 142 goals. That's 30 more goals than the Oilers.
And considering Monahan played half of last year with a bad back and Gaudreau played half of last year with Chiasson going offside every shift, our top line will probably get back to producing like they did the year before. I'm not pulling this out of my ass here.
In 2015-16:
Goals Gaudeau and Monahan both got a point on: 38
Goals Gaudreau got a point on without Monahan getting a point: 40
Goals Monahan got a point on without Gaudreau getting a point: 25
That was 103 goals between those two. Flames scored 231 goals. So that was 128 goals scored by everybody else.
In 2014-15:
Goals Gaudeau and Monahan both got a point on: 23
Goals Gaudreau got a point on without Monahan getting a point: 41
Goals Monahan got a point on without Gaudreau getting a point: 39
That was 103 goals produced between those two. Flames scored 241 goals. So that was 138 goals produced by everybody else.
Call me crazy but 103 goals two straight years from those two, and then 19 less goals? Sounds like an outlier season. One that was already corrected about when Ferland was added to the Gaudreau line, and Monahan finally got healthy.
For the last three seasons, our roster has averaged 136 goals without our big two point producers having a point. Which is 24 goals more than you guys got last year from not-Draisaitl/McDavid, and I'm not sure replacing Eberle with Strome made your depth any better, since Strome's career high is less points than Eberle scored last year. I guess we'll see though, on the ice.