Edmonton’s offense has finally returned over these last few games. A lot has gone well for the Oil. They’ve faced some questionable goaltending and half-broken teams. These next three games wont be so easy. Edmonton will have to take on the Kings, the Ducks, then the Blue Jackets. The club shouldn’t start to feel good about themselves until they can challenge these teams.
That said, this RNH-McDavid experiment is going extremely well for Edmonton. It’s seen more than enough success that the ridiculous “Trade Nuge… rumours have completely shut down. Nugent-Hopkins was having a career year until he cracked his ribs. He was, as always, performing well in the center role but with Draisaitl making $8.5M the pressure is for the big German to finally become a full-time pivot.
Despite the club having success when they ran the three big centermen one-two-three down the middle, the reality is that they have been failed down the wings and the coaching staff prefers to have a defined top 6 and bottom 6. Ryan Strome is a bottom 6 forward. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is not. Thankfully, the coaching staff was willing to try Nuge at LW to see if he could fill the talent-void left by Draisaitl moving to 2C.
Nuge and McDavid have only played 117:48 together 5v5 this season, but Nuge already has 7 points, which translates to 3.57 P/60 over that time. I don’t expect that to stay so high, because that’s otherworldly. Draisaitl with McDavid was producing 2.87 P/60 with McDavid, so we expect that RNH – even after his production slows – can take over Draisaitl’s role on the top line with ease.
RNH is smart, fast, skilled, and never been asked to play a purely offensive role before. From the time he was 18 he was asked to be the defensive conscience of his line. Now at LW he has significantly fewer defensive responsibilities. He can play further up the walls and deeper into the offensive zone than he has at any time in his NHL career. This is still him adjusting to his new position.
I think keeping the trio of McDavid, Draisaitl, and RNH is important whether the team wants to run a defined top 6 or go to 3 scoring lines. The Oilers are ever just one injury away from need either Draisaitl or Nuge from playing center. Both can play the wing. Both can play the middle. That’s versatility that Edmonton doesn’t have if RNH is traded. LINEUP
RNH McDavid Rattie Caggiula Draisaitl Aberg Lucic Strome Puljujarvi Slepyshev Khaira Pakarinen
Nurse Larsson Russell Bear Auvitu Benning
Talbot OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) All About Auvitu. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – I love what Auvitu brings to the table as a bottom pairing defender. He is always going forward and it’s the right kind of wild for me. I bet McLellan is on pins and needles when he’s out there sometimes, but the guy is an up-tempo player and the Oilers need people on the back end who can instigate some offense. The Oilers score more goals per 60 minutes when he’s on the ice than with any other defender. Good things happen when he plays with the club’s top players.
2) Kopitar For Hart? Neither should he nor will he win the Hart trophy, but Anze Kopitar is LA’s MVP by a wide margin. He’s 6th in league scoring with 75GP 33-53-86. He has already set a new career high in points and he is one more goal away from reaching his previous career high there as well. After the brutal season he had a year ago, Kopitar is on a mission. Anze Kopitar is 31 points clear of the next closest Kings player (Brown). That’s a wider gap than McDavid has over Draisaitl. This guy is definitely the goods.
3) Rattie Fitting In. Ty Rattie was drafted for his offensive potential by the Blues. He showed incredible promise with the Portland Winterhawks going from 79 points in his draft year to 121 points the very next season. The sky was the limit for Rattie, but things stalled for him in his professional career. A very promising 31 goals in his rookie AHL season was to be his career high. He never had more goals or points than that first campaign. A year ago with the Chicago Wolves he had just 5 points in 22 games. He played 36 NHL games over 4 seasons and had just 10 points to show for it. Now, he’s been gifted an incredible opportunity and he has 5 points in 6 games as McDavid’s RW.
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