Tonight Taylor Hall and Adam Larsson will go head-to-head for the first time since the big trade.
With the Edmonton Oilers on pace to make the playoffs and the New Jersey Devils struggling, some have been quick to suggest the Oilers won the trade. I wouldn't say that's the case, though. Far from it.
Hall leads the Devils in scoring chances for per 60 minutes and is producing at a 70-point pace over 82 games. He has also driven possession and been above average defensively relative to the team.
Meanwhile, Larsson is 4th among Oilers blueliners in time on ice, is negative in possession relative to the team, and is on pace for 12 points. Larsson has played better than those numbers make it sound, but it's not as if he's been an impact player and is at the top of the list of reasons Edmonton is winning games.
Hall is a more impactful, and better, player than Larsson and I continue to believe the Devils were very smart to make the trade despite their defensive problems.
Don't let the records of each team sway you to thinking otherwise.
Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:
Mike Cammalleri - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri Taylor Hall - Pavel Zacha - P.A. Parenteau Sergey Kalinin - Travis Zajac - Nick Lappin Miles Wood - Devante Smith-Pelly - Beau Bennett
Damon Severson - Kyle Quincey Jon Merrill - Ben Lovejoy Seth Helgeson - Steve Santini
Cory Schneider/Keith Kinkaid
And the expected lines for the Oilers (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Patrick Maroon - Connor McDavid - Leon Draisaitl Milan Lucic - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Zack Kassian Benoit Pouliot - Drake Caggiula - Jordan Eberle Anton Lander - Mark Letestu - Jesse Puljujarvi
Andrej Sekera - Matt Benning Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson Kris Russell - Eric Gryba
Cam Talbot
A few notes:
1) I'd be looking to get Hall out there against the Russell - Gryba pairing as often as possible. At 5v5 the Oilers have been caved in with Russell on the ice, and neither player on his pairing is a very astute puck mover. Take advantage of that.
2) As I said before last night's game, the Devils are going to need great goaltending in order to have a shot in this one. The defense won't hold up, so the goaltending has to.
3) One area where the Devils may be able to make some noise is on the power play. Edmonton is bottom-6 in terms of both suppressing shots and chances on the penalty kill.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern and can be seen on SN and MSG+
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