Knoblauch reveals plan for Edmonton Oilers lines to start the season
The Edmonton Oilers are barely into the preseason, but head coach Kris Knoblauch seems to have an idea of what his lines will look like on opening night.
There are still 53 players currently jostling for position at training camp, with the team set to play in its second preseason game on Tuesday night. The majority of those players will be cut between now and Oct. 8, when the Oilers open up the 2025-26 NHL season with a game against the Calgary Flames.
What the Oilers’ lineup could look like for that game is not yet known, though Knoblauch did give quite a few hints after Tuesday’s skate at Rogers Place. It sounds like he has a good idea of how Edmonton’s top-nine will look, starting with Connor McDavid playing on the top line with Leon Draisaitl and Trent Frederic.
“This is what our plan is right now, but obviously it could change,” Knoblauch said. “Without Hyman, we’re kind of a little slim on having top-six winger talent.
“When I know I have Connor and Leon together, you definitely have a line that you like, no matter whose on that line. Right now we’re trying [Frederic].”
"You always want players on the ice that make other players better."
Coach Knoblauch weighs in on Podkolzin’s contract extension & discusses potential line combinations ahead of tonight’s preseason clash in Winnipeg.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/BUCiTL5uY8
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 23, 2025
Not having Zach Hyman for the first month of the regular season has thrown a wrench into the Oilers’ plans. Usually, you would see McDavid and Draisaitl on separate lines to start a new campaign, but the injury makes that more difficult.
Knoblauch explained his reasoning behind reuniting the McDrai line.
“When they are playing together, you get a lot more of the [other] three lines,” Knoblauch said. “It allows those three lines to stay in the game, play their regular shift more often, and they also play more to their identity.
“We saw it last year with Nugent-Hopkins with Arvidsson and Podkolzin.”
With Draisaitl playing up on the top line, that will leave a hole in the second-line centre position. The Oilers coach singled out Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the guy who will take over that role in the meantime.
“I think you if [McDavid and Draisaitl] are on a line, Nuge is your next centreman up,” Knoblauch confirmed.
Moving down to the third line, there has yet to be a decision on who will be the centre in that spot. Knoblauch said newcomer David Tomasek will get a long look at centre, where he will likely be competing with Adam Henrique.
“In the Swedish league last year, he was one of the top faceoff guys,” Knoblauch said of Tomasek. “Looking at him playing centre the next few exhibition games… David is not reluctant [to shoot], he wants to score.
“I think it would be best for him to get used to playing the game here, playing in the middle.”
You also can’t count out Frederic as eventually being tried out in that spot after Hyman comes back, considering he prefers to play centre.
As for the middle-six wingers, nothing has been decided by the Oilers coaching staff. Knoblauch did talk about Matt Savoie potentially getting a look in the top-six eventually, but did not commit to anything.
The players who are likely battling for those four middle-six winger spots are:
- Vasily Podkolzin
- Kasperi Kapanen
- Matt Savoie
- Isaac Howard
- Andrew Mangiapane
- Mattias Janmark
We will have to wait and see how the rest of the preseason shakes out to see which players can find their way into the Oilers’ top six.