In this writer's opinion, the Kahun signing likely is the last big addition that Ken Holland will make before the start of the season. That means over the next two months (or more) things will be quiet in terms of breaking down Oilers news bits. Over the next couple of months, expect more opinion based pieces from these blogs, projecting player numbers, discussing which prospects will or won't receive NHL time, discussing which players are likely to improve or regress from their last season totals, and more.
Today we will start by continuing our discussion about Dominik Kahun, where he fits in this lineup and what the overall top six should look like.
Dominik Kahun and Leon Draisaitl are good friends and by slotting Kahun next to the elite German allows RNH to continue producing at a high rate next to McDavid.
RNH-McDavid-Kassian
Kahun-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
There easy.
Just kidding.
While that might be what we see on opening night and what a number of media persons are suggesting there is so much more to this than "Kahun and Draisaitl are buddies." Do you know who else was friends with Leon Draisaitl?
Tobias Rieder.
Rieder and Draisaitl were linemates in 2013 at the World Juniors and played together for Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup. As we all remember, Rieder's time in Edmonton did not go as expected. This isn't to say the same will happen with Kahun; simply that being friends or having played together in the past doesn't automatically mean they will click now.
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Since we don't know have any numbers to show how Kahun played with McDavid or Draisaitl. let's look at the above combination, with RNH and McDavid together and Draisaitl with Yamamoto and talk about the success that those duos had.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid
Through the regular season, McDavid and RNH actually spent very little time together; a total of 65:49 at 5 on 5. McDavid played a total of 989:51 at 5 on 5 away from Nuge. Here are some of the notable numbers of how these two faired playing together and apart through the regular season.
Again we are looking at a very small sample size for how McDavid and RNH performed together but we can see that the duo did produce at a high offensive pace, generating above 50% in almost all categories of offensive output and shot generation.
Because it was such a small sample size however, I also looked at how the duo faired in the four post season games they played as well.
Again we are seeing some very high end offensive totals from this group. Edmonton as a whole was one of the most offensively successful teams through the post-season, mired only by their inability to defend. The RNH and McDavid duo came together to score 4 of the 10 even strength goals that Edmonton put up in the post-season. Allowing 5 goals in the 45 minutes they put up together was less ideal.
Overall these numbers all suggest that McDavid and RNH make for a very strong duo together. I see the goals against from the post-season less as an indication of their play together and more an outlier due to how unorganized the team as a whole was coming back after the suspension.
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Next we will cover RNH with Draisaitl, but for this group we need to also focus on Kailer Yamamoto; specifically how he faired playing with both Nuge and Leon and with Leon but no Nuge.
First let's take a look at the dynamic trio that was RNH with Draisaitl and Yamamoto.
We all knew how effective that trio was together but holy cow those numbers are absolute money. This was done in over 300 minutes of 5 on 5 play as well which is a fairly comfortable sample size to look at.
Take RNH away from that line and the numbers drop off severely. Again it's a smaller sample size but 74 minutes isn't nothing and yet the Draisaitl and Yamamoto duo away from Nugent-Hopkins only produced a single even strength goal over that time.
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From the end of December to the end of the season in early March, the RNH, Draisaitl, and Yamamoto trio was one of the most offensively dominant lines in the NHL as a whole. Part of the reason that line performed so admirably was Nugent-Hopkins defensive conscious, which ensured the trio could transition quickly back into the offensive zone.
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I believe there are some reasonable concerns about keeping Connor McDavid happy and giving him high level talent to play with but the evidence from last season makes it hard for me to suggest they should split up that line.
Dave Tippett should keep the RNH, Draisaitl, and Yamamoto trio together to start the season and try and create chemistry with McDavid and Kahun first. Kahun can be a very opportunistic player who can find himself in the right position and doesn't need to worry about carrying the puck.
Draisaitl and Kahun could be an effective pair but I have a hard time believing they could replicate the success of what that line did for Edmonton last year.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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