The Edmonton Oilers started the season 0-2-0, and many were panicking. The team is a Stanley Cup contender, but they did get blown out of the water in their season opener, the defense has looked shaky, the goaltending wasn’t good, and the five-on-five left much to be desired. But in the team’s third game of the season, they quieted many of the doubters with a convincing 6-1 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Yes, the Oilers have gotten the better of the Predators for a number of seasons now, but the Oilers also had the upper hand on the Vancouver Canucks in recent seasons, as well. Anything can happen, and I believe that the Oilers wouldn’t have come out as dominant in their third game of the season and get their first win of the season without the lineup changes made.
While many described it as a panic move by Jay Woodcroft or it was a bad sign that they were going nuclear by putting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line in just the third game, it worked.
What Changed & Why It Worked for the Oilers
McDavid started the season centering Evander Kane and Connor Brown on the top line. This then saw Draisaitl center his own line between Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Finally, the third line consisted of Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, and Dylan Holloway. These are three very solid lines, but only one goal was scored at five-on-five in the first two games of the season.
As Woodcroft and head coaches before him have done, when the team needs a goal or spark, the top line was loaded up. This means putting McDavid and Draisaitl together as they are unstoppable when this happens. Add in Kane as the third man like the Oilers had in their 2022 Playoff run, and there is everything on this line and nearly undefendable. While there was no mention by Woodcroft that Draisaitl would be playing on the top line for a long period of time, it still caused concern by many people on the outside.
The realistic reason is that the Oilers didn’t have anything going for them, and starting the season 0-3-0 wasn’t what they wanted to risk happening. While Draisaitl has knowingly dominated the Predators, it was every bit more of a reason to give him the best player in the world feeding him passes all game long.
As the top line was altered, so too, was the second and third line, but the fourth line remained the same. Nugent-Hopkins shifted over to center on the second line, Hyman stayed in his role, and Foegele was moved up from the third line to play with the two veterans. This line scored three five-on-five goals in the third game. Hyman had a goal and three assists, Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and two assists, and Foegele had a goal and an assist. While this line made a good first impression, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it stay together for a while longer until they stop performing, having McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice for 2/3 of the game playing on separate line is better than 22-24 minutes together in the long run. This allows for more uneven matchups in the Oilers’ favour and gets more players more involved in the offense.
The third line got Brown to join McLeod and Holloway. This remained a very fast line, and it could actually be good for Brown to get back up to speed on a lower line. He did miss all but four games last season. As they have in all three games to start this season, the chances were there, and the goals will start to come if the great work continues by this line.
There Isn’t Panic in Edmonton
The season didn’t start the way anyone envisioned and not how the Oilers wanted. It did give them the necessary jolt back to reality though. They have played better, and after four goals in two games to start the season, the expected goals that should’ve been going in, finally did.
Related: Edmonton Oilers’ Worst-Case Scenarios in 2023-24
Changing lines for what may only be a game, at any point in the season, should not be seen as a panic move. Woodcroft, despite some questionable decisions on the back-end and in net over his tenure, does own a very good record behind the bench since joining the Oilers. A change was needed, and it got the Oilers a win when they needed it. The start to the schedule for Edmonton isn’t overly challenging, so they have to take advantage before the games start to pick up.