The Edmonton Oilers have lost two games in a row and now sit two points out of a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Tonight, the Oilers have a chance to go .500 on their road trip as they visit the Colorado Avalanche, a team that is built in a similar fashion as the Oilers.
Todd McLellan is shaking up the lines for the Oilers, essentially stacking the top line and gluing together three other lines made up of AHL call-ups, bottom six NHL’ers, a damn good sniper and a decent complimentary skilled winger.
Before I go any further, it’s worth pointing out that the Oilers have some key injuries right now, but you and I both already knew that. No Connor McDavid, no Nail Yakupov and no Benoit Pouliot has certainly impacted the forward unit.
That said, with so many key guys out of the lineup, shouldn’t the Oilers be looking to set up two solid offensive lines, not just one?
The New Lines:
The Oilers are, correctly, keeping Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl together on the top-line. That said, Draisaitl is now moving over to the right wing while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moves up to center the trio. That means Teddy Purcell moves down to line two, sliding in on the left side with Jordan Eberle on the right and veteran Matt Hendricks in the middle.
Interesting lines to say the least.
Why It could Work Well:
When Hall, Draisaitl and RNH played together briefly at the end of October, they had a nice chemistry together. They complimented each other quite well and created numerous scoring chances. To the surprise of absolutely no one, they were an extremely dangerous trio and they did some damage in their short time together.
Hall is a chance machine while Draisaitl is the big and skilled player that perfectly compliments a guy like Hall. The Nuge fits here because he has enough skill to ride with these two while also playing a strong two-way game. The three of them should work well together.
Matt Hendricks could work with Jordan Eberle and Teddy Purcell, too. Why? Well Hendricks does all the tough stuff, he wins battles, works hard and does the little things that allow you to succeed. That’s a good compliment to Eberle’s skilled game. Teddy Purcell works best as a complimentary player to skilled guys, so he should be able to feed off of Eberle.
In theory, when you look at it the way I have above, these lines have a good chance to work out quite well for the Oilers in Colorado tonight and beyond.
Why It’s A Bad Idea:
Hall, RNH and Draisaitl are the best three forwards that Edmonton currently has. With McDavid on the shelf, I’m very confident in saying that. Jordan Eberle is a very good player too, but he feeds off of guys like Hall and RNH and Draisaitl, he’s a great goal scorer but he isn’t the catalyst.
All three of the guys who can push the puck in the right direction are playing on the same line. They should, in theory, be a dangerous line and do some damage, but what happens when the other three lines are out there? I like Matt Hendricks a lot, but can he set up Eberle and Purcell? I have my doubts.
This also leaves next to no skill in the bottom six. Iiro Pakarinen and Anton Lander might be the most skilled guys in that group, and they aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire right now when it comes to registering points.
Sure, the Oilers could have one helluva line, but they’ll have three others that will struggle mightily to post offense. That makes them a pretty easy match-up for most teams, just load up against the loaded line.
One Last Thing…..
I actually think a line of Hall-RNH-Draisaitl can work for the Oilers in the future. That future, however, includes a healthy Connor McDavid. When he returns, the Oilers can have him driving a line with Benoit Pouliot and either Jordan Eberle or Nail Yakupov. That would give Edmonton two loaded lines, not one. That will make them a dynamic hockey team.
Speaking of Pouliot, he’s shooting to be back tonight. If he is, that would give Edmonton another solid player to move into the top-six, and it would make the topic of this post a lot less urgent.
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