What the Oilers’ lineup looks like after offer sheet fiasco
The Edmonton Oilers are looking a lot different than they did when they suited up for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final a few months ago.
After a busy free agency, it appeared that the team’s lineup was more or less set, but Oilers GM Stan Bowman and CEO Jeff Jackson altered it even further by making additional trades and losing both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to the St. Louis Blues on a pair of offer sheets.
Just about every single forward line and defensive pair will see something change compared to the last game of last season, and it’s going to take some getting used to for some Oilers fans.
Apart from Broberg and Holloway, a few familiar faces will be absent from last year’s team. Notable subtractions include Cody Ceci, Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, and Vincent Desharnais.
Those exits have been supplemented by the addition of players like Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Vasily Podkolzin, and Ty Emberson. It’s also expected that the team will be without Evander Kane to start the season due to injury.
Here is what the Oilers lineup could look like on opening night next season:
Forwards
L1: Jeff Skinner-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman
This trio seems to have remained static since Skinner was signed to a one-year deal on July 1.
We already know that the duo of Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman work very well together. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the third man on this line last season, but swapping him out for a pure shooter like Skinner makes a world of sense.
L2: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Leon Draisaitl-Viktor Arvidsson
Leon Draisaitl will finally have a pair of good, capable, proven wingers on his line, with Nugent-Hopkins sliding down and FA addition Viktor Arvidsson slotting in on the right wing.
The hope here is that Arvidsson and Draisaitl can spark some chemistry similar to McDavid and Hyman. The Swede plays a similar hard game as Hyman and has proven to be a capable scorer. RNH has also shown some good chemistry with Draisaitl in the past.
L3: Mattias Janmark-Adam Henrique-Connor Brown
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch caught lightning in a bottle during the Stanley Cup Final with this trio, and it won’t be surprising to see him go back to that well again to start next season.
Something just clicked with this veteran combination of Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, and Connor Brown, and it looks likely that they will get a chance to rekindle whatever they had in a regular season setting.
L4: James Hamblin-Derek Ryan-Vasily Podkolzin
Rounding out Edmonton’s forward group will be a hodgepodge of three players in very different situations.
James Hamblin seems to be hitting “tweener” status, as he split time between the NHL and AHL last season. Derek Ryan is likely about to play in his final season before retiring, and Podkolzin is looking to finally take that next step after being selected 10th overall in 2019.
Will they have chemistry? We’ll see.
Defence
P1: Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard
These two simply work.
Edmonton’s top pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard was among the league’s best last year, and with all the changes on the Oilers’ blueline, they will need them to be at the top of their game once again next season.
P2: Darnell Nurse-Ty Emberson
This is where Edmonton’s biggest roster question mark will be.
With Ceci and Broberg gone, the Oilers will have to experiment with a few different players with Darnell Nurse. Ty Emberson seems to be the favourite to win the spot, as he played a top-four role in the NHL last season with the San Jose Sharks.
It’s a risky gamble, but there is a lot to like about Emberson.
P3: Brett Kulak-Troy Stecher
Likewise, the Oilers’ third pairing will also have some eyes on when training camp opens up.
Brett Kulak has been a very dependable player for Edmonton over the past three seasons and has shown that he can carry this pair no matter the player. Troy Stecher seems like a likely candidate to play here full-time next season, as he showed well in his limited opportunity with the team late last season.