How many Oiler fans remember the MacT Line Blender? Awful, wasn't it? What made it terrible was seeing inept players like Liam Reddox and Marc Pouliot getting shifts on the power-play over other players with more skill and ability.
The Oilers have hit the skids and all the talk now is around the potential Tom Renney (or RT for short) line blender. I've heard Renney would blender the lines frequently when he was the coach in New York. We haven't seen much of the TR line blender here in Edmonton yet, but word is, it's coming.
So if you were Renney, how would you blender the lines? Here's my take on the first possible new line combinations.
L1: Two Men and a Baby
Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Jordan Eberle
We saw this line a big last game, and I liked it. No one here is a speed demon, but Smyth is a greasy goal scorer, Horcoff does a little of everything, and Eberle is dynamic with the puck.
L2: Goals Galore (for either team)
Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky
Gagner is sleepwalking through the season, and both Hall and Hemsky are under-performing offensively. Either this experiment will get them all going, or blow up. It needs to be tried though. A few years ago Gagner was the next great hope for the franchise, and right now, we couldn't get a job working working the deep fryer at a Burger King. We need him to start producing, and moving him into the Top 6 is one way to do it.
L3: Paajarvi on Ry(an)
Magnus Paajarvi - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Ryan Jones
Who knows if this trio would have chemistry. Nuge is perhaps the slickest Oilers player. If Maggy could be convinced to drive the net along with Jones, all Nuge has to do is make some purty passes.
L4: True Grit
Ben Eager - Eric Belanger - Lennart Petrell
Eager needs to start showing his toughness or his signing will look like a total bust. Is he playing injured right now? I keep wondering, because he looks like he's avoiding physical play instead of embracing it. I wouldn't take Belanger or Petrell off the roster for anything. Love both these guys.
A few notes on the above listed forward lines:
- If Eager doesn't get his physical play happening, he comes out when Darcy Hordichuk comes back from injury. The Oilers need at least one guy who can play with a physical edge.
- It kills me to take Anton Lander out, but the Oilers need to get Gagner going, and he wasn't doing anything as a right-winger. Lander perhaps should go to the AHL so he can get Top 6 minutes and play 20 per game.
- The Oilers need to find a way to make room for Linus Omark, or they need to deal him. Two of Gagner, Hemsky and Omark shouldn't be Oilers by the end of the season. The entire roster needs to get bigger and tougher. If I was calling the shots, Omark and Gagner would be gone, Hemsky would be staying.
- Obviously, I am not touching on the defense. The Oilers are so hooped without Ryan Whitney, it isn't funny. When Whitney comes back, they still need one more quality body, and preferably, it would be a big one. Make my Top 6 Whitney, Gilbert, Smid, Sutton, Potter, and a player to be acquired. Barker can be the #7 guy, and Peckham and Petry can go to the AHL.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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