As the Edmonton Oilers have stumbled out to a 3-6-0 start, fans and some media have been clamoring for coach Dave Tippett to reunite the second line of Leon Draisaitl centering Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto. So far, Tippett hasn’t budged. The veteran coach has Nugent-Hopkins skating on a line with Connor McDavid and, currently, Jesse Puljujarvi. Meanwhile, Dominik Kahun has joined the Draisaitl line to start the season.
While the goals haven’t exactly come for either line at five-on-five, both lines are doing a better job at preventing goals this season. A deeper dive into the numbers also suggests that both lines are due for a little ‘market correction’ and some positive results.
The Draisaitl line has 75% of the goals scored this season at five-on-five (3-1), while the McDavid line is getting 74.94% of the expect goals (xGF%) through their first few games together. The numbers are solid for both lines.
(All numbers via Natural Stat Trick)
With the numbers solid for the top two lines, don’t expect Tippett to load up. He wants to spread the wealth.
“We need balance in our lineup. You can’t just be a one-line team,” Tippett said on Friday. “That line played together a lot when Connor (McDavid) was not there. They got some points when they were the only line going. We’re trying to get three lines going, not just one line going. You got three lines you think you can get some kind of scoring balance from and then one line that can give you some energy and some penalty killing. That’s the goal but we haven’t found it yet.”
If the top two lines do remain intact, which should be expected, then Tippett can zone in on finding that third line. He’s settled on a veteran trio of Kyle Turris centering James Neal and Zack Kassian in the last two games. Kassian broke through with his first goal of the season on Thursday, and the numbers are actually solid for the trio.
In 18:09 together at five-on-five (small sample size alert) the line has a 57.14% Corsi For, a 58.33% Fenwick For, 51.58% xGF%, and 50% of the goals (1-1). Maybe Tippett is developing a successful veteran line for his bottom-six.
He’ll be hoping so, because at the end of the day he’s looking for depth and balance in his lineup. That’s why you aren’t likely to see Nugent-Hopkins back with Draisaitl and Yamamoto anytime soon.
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