Edmonton Oilers reveal lines ahead of Western Conference Final rematch with Stars
The Edmonton Oilers are four wins away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight season.
Only the Dallas Stars remain in the way in the west as the Oilers prepare for a Western Conference Final rematch that starts on Wednesday night. The team is making final preparations for the series, having one last practice in the Alberta capital on Monday morning before flying off to Texas.
This was one of the last times the team would take to the ice before the series gets underway, and, with that, head coach Kris Knoblauch decided to get a good look at his lineup. The Oilers ran full line rushes at practice, giving fans a sneak peek at what kind of formation Edmonton could roll with when the puck drops on Game 1.
OilersTV’s Tony Brar shared the full lineup on social media, showing that the team is not straying away from what worked against the Vegas Golden Knights last series.
EDM lines – Monday skate:
RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Kane – Henrique – Brown
Frederic – Janmark – Perry• Arvidsson, Skinner, Ryan, Jones
Kulak – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Walman – Klingberg• Ekholm, Emberson
Skinner
Rodrigue#Oilers— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) May 19, 2025
This is a very familiar lineup and one that Edmonton has been running since Game 4 of the second round. Connor McDavid has been quiet of late for the Oilers, but he will remain the top-line centre with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman on his flanks.
Leon Draisaitl has taken on a bit of a shutdown role of late in that second-line centre spot, having been tasked with limiting Jack Eichel’s chances last series. We’ll see if that continues against Dallas with Vasily Podkolzin and, Game 5 OT hero, Kasperi Kapanen supporting him on the wings.
Depth scoring has been the name of the game lately in Edmonton, and Knoblauch isn’t about to change a winning formula in the bottom-six. Evander Kane will remain on the third line with Adam Henrique and Connor Brown rounding things out. All three of those players have come up big through the first 11 games of the playoffs.
Trent Frederic, Corey Perry, and Mattias Janmark will then make up the fourth line. Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Derek Ryan, and Max Jones were all skating as extra forwards.
On the blueline, Mattias Ekholm is back skating with the team and could make a return at some point in this series, though it’s probable that he will miss at least the first two games in Dallas.
In his stead, Brett Kulak and Evan Bouchard will form Edmonton’s top pair, with Jake Walman and John Klingberg holding things down on the second pair. Darnell Nurse and Troy Stecher are holding steady on the third pair.
Stuart Skinner remains the team’s de facto starting goaltender with Calvin Pickard still out with injury. The Edmonton native was excellent against the Stars last season in the West Final, posting a .922 save percentage and winning the series in six games.
Game 1 goes Wednesday night in Dallas with a 6 p.m. MDT puck drop.