Edmonton Oilers Drop Roster Hints Prior to Game Against Jets
After a sluggish loss Wednesday against Vancouver, the Edmonton Oilers are looking to fly into Winnipeg with a bang.
As they prepare to face-off against the Jets Friday, they are seemingly dropping hints about what their NHL opening night roster will look like. In fact, when you take a look at the forward lines for the game, they seem to be lines that you would expect for Edmonton when they begin the season.
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For those of you who don’t know, here are the lines for Friday’s matchup.
Forward Lines:
Milan Lucic-Connor McDavid-Jordan Eberle
Benoit Pouliot-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Jesse Puljujarvi
Patrick Maroon-Drake Caggiula-Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks-Mark Letestu-Zack Kassian
(Kris Versteeg-Anton Lander-Iiro Pakarinen)
Defensive Pairings:
Oscar Klefbom-Adam Larsson
Jordan Oesterle-Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart-Matt Benning
Starting Netminder:
Cam Talbot will be between the pipes for the Oilers tonight, making his preseason debut. Laurent Brossoit will back up, as NCAA signee Nick Ellis has been assigned to the Bakersfield Condors. That leaves Brossoit and Jonas Gustavsson battling it out for the backup spot on the opening night roster.
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In my opinion, the forward lines are pretty solid and show depth throughout the entire lineup. Though I do expect Versteeg to make the opening night roster, perhaps taking the place of Yakupov or Puljujarvi, what Edmonton has right now on offence works.
Leon Draisaitl and Andrej Sekera both returned to the team after impressive World Cup of Hockey performances. They got to meet their teammates; however, neither will be skating or playing Friday.
In Draisaitl’s absence, Caggiula has been dominant since slotting in as the third-line centre. If you ask me, he will fully crack the roster, and Draisaitl may just start the season on the wing with Nugent-Hopkins.
Speaking of Nuge, who makes his preseason debut Friday, Puljujarvi will get another chance to prove himself. He was quiet against Calgary and needs to showcase himself as he did during rookie camp.
With a playmaking centre like Nugent-Hopkins, Puljujarvi can perhaps make a bigger impact on offence and create scoring chances aplenty. It is obviously an audition for the second line spot on the Oilers, and if he proves himself worthy and provides chemistry, I don’t see why the Oilers would send him to Bakersfield.
In other news, Maroon will play and appears to be fine after an apparent leg injury following Wednesday’s loss.
The main line to watch tonight will be McDavid’s first line. Though the 19-year-old himself was great in his preseason debut Wednesday, creating plenty of scoring opportunities and setting up highlight-reel plays, Lucic and Eberle looked slow and couldn’t bank in. No doubt that McDavid and Eberle have chemistry, but Lucic’s role on the first line will be vital, especially if he’s expected to replace Hall.
The puck drops at 6 p.m. MT, and the Oilers are expected to improve from their lacklustre performance Wednesday. Sure, it’s still preseason, but this is a lineup that looks NHL-ready.
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