Down The Middle

It’s no secret that the Edmonton Oilers have had poor depth at center for a very long time.

But this year, the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers will be comfortable in the options he has available down the middle. Despite the fact that they are aged 19, 20, and 23, the trio of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins offer a much more competent top-three than years past.

Last year the Oilers started with the Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid, and Anton Lander. The year before it was Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl, and Marc Arcobello. And the year before that it was Taylor Hall, Marc Arcobello, and Boyd Gordon.

For each of the past three seasons, the Oilers have began the season with at least one starting centre playing his first NHL game at the position. Last year it was McDavid, year before that it was Draisaitl, and the year before that it was Taylor Hall (playing game #1 as a centre in the NHL, and Arcobello played game #2 overall in the NHL).

Draisaitl will be looking to bounce back after his slow second half, but if he plays softer minutes behind McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, there is no question the Oilers can put him in a position to succeed. With that consideration, even taking into account the combined NHL games of the trio, the centre depth heading into this season is far superior than years past.

We know, as does the rest of the NHL, what Connor McDavid can do. He will play the top offensive minutes for Todd McLellan and he will probably be given the best wingers available. Seeing what McDavid did with Benoit Pouliot and Nail Yakupov only makes me wonder how well he’ll perform on a line with Milan Lucic and Jordan Eberle. Is there a worry that McDavid will struggle against the best defencemen in the league. I don’t think there’s a chance. There will be nights where his line is shutout and has nothing to show for on the stat sheet, but there won’t be a single night where McDavid won’t have scoring opportunities for the Oilers.

When Todd McLellan has his choice for who to put out against Joe Pavelski, Anze Kopitar, Ryan Getzlaf, and Henrik Sedin, he will go with Nugent-Hopkins. Nuge and Pouliot have been the Oilers best combination for recovering the puck for the past two seasons. It’s not certain yet who plays in the right side, but if it’s a skilled forward that is also responsible without the puck, this line can be successful at least at keeping other teams top lines in check.

Leon Draisaitl is a complete hockey player that is highly skilled. If McLellan chooses to use him as third line centre, which I think he will unless Anton Lander has a standout training camp, then this line will be used by McLellan for around 15 minutes a night. Draisaitl creates a lot of space for his linemates so he can even play with less skilled linemates. As with the other lines, the right side may not be certain, possibly seeing Yakupov or Puljujarvi. Does McLellan trust a Maroon-Draisaitl-Yakupov line? Probably.

If the Oilers explored veteran free agent options over the off-season, Draisaitl could have played the wing, and played centre as necessary. This may have put the Oilers into a better situation for the season. Perhaps Pete Chiarelli didn’t want to sign a third-line centre to a multi-year option, perhaps he tried and wasn’t able to.

The best centre depth the Oilers have had in recent years was in 2006-2007 when the Oilers started the season with Shawn Horcoff, Petr Sykora, and Jarret Stoll, or the season before that where they started the season with Horcoff, Stoll, and Michael Peca. Sykora and Peca were both veteran options that could handle responsibility if the younger centres needed it.

This year, Nuge is that veteran option, but Connor McDavid is also not comparable to Horcoff or Stoll. Neither is Draisaitl, whose ceiling is also higher than what Stoll and Horcoff achieved. Though they are young, the three centres are well-rounded and far more skilled than any of the previous centres the Oilers have employed in the last decade. It has been a while since the coach would have been this pleased with his options down the middle.