Maybe it's the nicer weather, maybe it's because I'm feeling all tickled from getting engaged, or maybe it's the three extra shots of rum in my work coffee this morning, regardless I woke up in a good mood this morning and I'm ready to talk positive about the Oilers today... mostly.

It wasn't a perfect win by any means for the Oilers but beating a divisional rival like that certainly could spark this team to more wins. One of the Oilers saving graces right now is their 9-2 record against Pacific Division opponents. Much of that came from their early efforts in October but regardless those are points in the bank.

Now Edmonton is slowly getting it's complete roster back. RNH will make his return tonight for the first time since being injured on Dec 31st and Zach Hyman should be available to play for Thursday. At this point almost the entire team has been put through COVID protocol which should hopefully reduce the chances of players testing positive later on.

Meanwhile the Canucks are currently in the throngs of COVID with Demko, J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat, Connor Garland and backup Spencer Martin all in protocol. Against the Blues, the Canucks had to rely on Michael DiPietro, a 22 year old AHL vet of 53 games. Right now it's unclear how many of the above players will be able to play tonight. With this personnel out, the Nucks have had issues scoring. It goes without saying the Oilers need to find a way to take advantage of this situation and not be slumpbusters.

Here is the Oilers lineup tonight:

McLeod-McDavid-Yamamoto
Foegele-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi
Perlini-RNH-Kassian
Shore-Ryan-Sceviour

Nurse-Bouchard
Keith-Ceci
Russell-Koekkoek

Koskinen

This is (almost) the best lineup I think the Oilers can run. While they haven't had success in terms of scoring goals, the McLeod-McDavid-Yamamoto, and Foegele-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi lines have posted some decent numbers. In a short amount of time, McDavid-Yamamoto-McLeod have not allowed a goal against at 5 on 5 and despite allowing 2 goals, the Drai-Puljujarvi-Foegele have much stronger underlying possession metrics. These trios deserve some more time together.

The most enticing thing about this lineup is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins being moved to be the third line centre with Perlini and Kassian as his wingers. After a quite and ineffective start to the season, Perlini has picked it up in a big way with 3 goals in his last 5 games. Nuge is a defensively sound and skilled forward but he has never been an elite producer at 5 on 5, even with the likes of Draisaitl or McDavid as his linemates. The hope here is that against lesser competition, Nuge and his linemates can outscore and out chance the opposition, something that the bottom six has struggled to do.

Tonight, RNH should be able to outchance a potential Canucks third line of Tanner Pearson, Jason Dickinson, and Alex Chiasson. "Should" being the operative word.

Nuge on the third line just makes sense and perhaps this is just the coach trying something he should have a long time ago but I wonder if there is something else going on. Evander Kane rumblings have once again picked up steam and we might hear an announcement as early as later today about the player and where he has signed. Could it be that the Oilers have moved Nuge back to centre because they want him to get more reps in there because they are about to bring in another top six winger?

Ryan Rishaug certainly seems to think so as he stated on TSN1260 yesterday afternoon. Whether you agree with him or not, Rishaug certainly is connected to the team. He was the one making noise about trading Ethan Bear a few days prior to the young defender being moved. If Rishaug is suggesting that Kane could be with the team as early as Thursday than there is likely something to that more than just a mere rumour.

Once again, a lineup with Evander Kane does not fix the Oilers defensive issues or goaltending, but it does make their forward group much more difficult to play against which in turn would result in fewer goals against. Seeing how the lineup has been put forward, here is a look at what that forward core could look like:

McLeod-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Kane-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Foegele-RNH-Hyman
Perlini-Ryan-Kassian

Add Dylan Holloway, who now has 3 assists in his first 2 AHL games and has been heavily praised by his coach and you have one of the deepest forward cores in the NHL. Somehow Holland needs to find a way to bring in a legitimate starting goaltender and perhaps the season can still be salvaged.

Thanks for reading

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