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Reading Between the Oilers’ Split-Squad Lines

September 13, 2013, 2:59 PM ET [775 Comments]
Ryan Garner
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
One glance at the Edmonton Oilers’ roster is all you need in order to see that there’s a noticeable talent and productivity disparity between the top six and bottom six. Everyone knows and loves the sextet of Hall, Eberle, Yakupov, RNH, Gagner and Perron, but after that we find Hemsky, Jones, Gordon, Smyth, Omark, Lander, Joensuu, Acton, Eager and Brown. If RNH is on the shelf it bumps Hemsky into the top six, which creates an even greater disparity. In fact the drop-off is so sudden, producing such a vivid contrast, that it reminds me of this haircut, which briefly came into fashion in the early ’90s.

I had a mushroom cut for about 24 hours when I was 10 years old. Hours after returning from the barber shop I was lying in bed, asleep, when my mom brought my dad into my bedroom to show him my new hairstyle. My dad’s response was swift and damning: “He looks like a fairy! His head looks like a penis!” The next day we went back to the barber shop and, like Lennart Petrell, the mushroom cut was gone forever. For the Edmonton Oilers, having depth-line forwards elevate their game and close the productivity gap will be a much more difficult than making a quick to the barber shop.

The lines for tomorrow night’s split-squad preseason games against the Calgary Flames were unveiled this morning. Each split squad is, by nature, a roster with a number of holes that need to be filled, and reading between the lines offers some clues into the coaching staff’s expectations for certain players. Injuries are an inevitable in today’s NHL, so the split squad gives us an early (very early) indication of the players you can expected to fill the gaps in the NHL roster when others hit the shelf. Here are the forward lines for the squad making the trek south to Cowtown:

Hamilton-Gagner-Eberle
Jones-Gordon-Perron
Eager-Acton-Pitlick
Bilcke-Ewanyk-Chase

If the unthinkable happens (avian bird flu, typhoid, zombie apocalypse) and half the organization’s forwards are wiped out, this would be the team’s forward lines. The one thing that stands out is having Ryan Hamilton – an undrafted left winger with 12 games of NHL experience – on the first line. Obviously Dallas Eakins has a huge man-crush on Hamilton, who was signed by the Oilers in July after leading Eakins’ Toronto Marlies in scoring last season (30 goals, 18 assists in 56 games). The Oilers’ bench boss can’t say enough good things about Hamilton, who displayed steady improvement each season and eventually took on a prominent scoring role with the Marlies.

That’s all well and good, and you have to be happy for a guy like Hamilton, who persevered and turned himself into a player when he could have given up and opted to sell used cars in Ontario. However, the leap from productive AHLer to everyday NHLer is a huge one, especially for a 28-year-old who was never projected to be anything but a minor-league grinder. It’s obvious that Eakins will give Hamilton every opportunity to win a job with the Oilers, but you have to worry a little that he might be letting allegiance to a former player cloud his perception relative to the current ones.

Either of the next two lines could take the ice for the Oilers at some point during the regular season. Jones-Gordon-Perron features a nice mix of grit and skill, and David Perron could easily slot into Edmonton’s third line depending on his performance (and ability to adapt to new teammates) on a scoring line. I fully expect Jones to impress this season, and if he can stay healthy he surpass his production from two seasons ago (17 goals, 16 assists in 79 games) and challenged the 20-goal mark. I’m not a fan of Pitlick, but when you’re as highly drafted (2nd round, 31st overall in 2010) as he was you get a long rope and several chances to prove that you don’t stink.

The other half of the split squad is just as interesting, featuring a few intriguing players who will be expected to prove their worth to the organization and their ability to compete at the NHL level. Here are the forward lines for the squad on display for the hometown crowd:

Smyth-Hall-Hemsky
Yakupov-Arcobello-Omark
Joensuu-Lander-Roy
Martindale-Platzer-Brown

Taylor Hall is learning the ropes at center between two veterans who can help him get acclimated to the position. There’s no doubt Eakins decided on the Smyth-Hall pairing because of Smyth’s own experience making the shift from left wing to center many moons ago, and he’ll be able to help teach the youngster about the differences in perspective and increased responsibilities that come from the center position. I’m sure Eakins is also hoping that Hall’s skill will boost the confidence and productivity of the veterans, who are both coming off disappointing seasons. It will be interesting to see how much this trio plays together during the preseason.

Mark Arcobello led the Oklahoma City Barons in scoring last season (22 goals, 46 assists in 74 games) and had one largely forgettable game with the big club. There’s a lot of Marty Reasoner in him, which could be a good thing if his puck possession skills translate to the NHL level, or a bad thing if he consistently gets knocked off the puck playing with the big boys. He might be centering the Oilers’ most intriguing line, especially considering the lofty expectations awaiting both Nail Yakupov and Linus Omark. I don’t think any line has the potential to display the same dazzling skill level as this one.

This training camp is a very important one for Anton Lander. Either he proves that he can stick in the NHL, or he should be relegated to the AHL forever, because he’s the type of tweener that the Oilers could waste a lot of time and effort futilely trying to develop. If he’s the second coming Marc-Antoine Pouliot it would be better for the Oilers to determine it right now and give the reps to someone with more potential upside. Centering Joensuu and Roy, this line has the look and feel of a duo that could be bound for Oklahoma City, with Roy returning to junior.

***

Quick Spills

-We've had a few weeks to get acclimated to one another, and I just wanted to thank everyone for reading. It's a joy writing about about the Oilers, and the fanbase is much more educated and passionate than anything I ever experienced in San Jose. That's not a knock on Shark fans at all, just the difference between a hockey-mad, media-saturated market and a fairweather, expansion market that's largely ignored by the media. Thanks for your response, both positive and negative.

-I'm working on a weekend Q&A blog for tomorrow morning, so if you have any burning questions about anyting under the sun (Favorite cheese? Old Amsterdam gouda. Bold prediction? Hemsky sticks and scores 60. Any children? None that I know of.) shoot an e-mail to the address below or ask me on Twitter. I'll answer as many questions as I can, so feel free to ask away.

[email protected]

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