Oilers insider hints at new top six line combinations

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Liam McCormick
September 18, 2024 (9:51)

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Training camp for the Edmonton Oilers is set to begin today, and fans are thrilled to see their new additions join the team.

Jeff Skinner and Victor Arvidsson were the big-name signings for the Oilers this offseason. For the entire offseason Oilers fans have been making mock-lineups with the two new top six forwards, but now we'll soon see their actual combinations. Oilers insider Jim Matheson is proposing an interesting lineup for the top six.

Matheson suggests playing Jeff Skinner on left wing with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would play left wing with Leon Draisaitl and Victor Arvidsson. This combination would give Connor McDavid two passing options, and would give two playmakers to Draisaitl who's arguably the Oilers best shooter.

Many assumed that Skinner and Arvidsson would slot right next to Leon Draisaitl, but it may not work out in practice. A combination of those three may be seriously deficient on the defensive side of the puck, so Nuge may fulfill a needed role on that line. This lineup would be breaking up the best line in hockey last year of Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid, and Hyman - but you have to pursue every option to get the most out of the team.

Coach Knoblauch will surely experiment with the lines endlessly again this year before heading into the playoffs. At informal practices before training camp, the Oilers did run a second line with Skinner, Draisaitl, and Arvidsson. Knoblauch already had a serious reputation for tinkering the lines in the regular season - in preseason, he might go buck wild.

Whatever the lineups are in preseason are surely won't be the lines for game one of the playoffs. Nevertheless, hockey is officially back and Oilers fans are pumped for what could be a storybook season.