Line Combos: '15-16 Oilers Line Combos

[thadd]

so what do our lines look like when we're healthy?

I think it's safe to say Hall-Drai-Purcell is our first line.

Pouliot just hasn't been bringing it with Hopkins and Eberle this year... so I'm thinking Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov is our second scoring line.

If Kassian shows the team that he's ready to be responsible I'm thinking he gets moved to the LW to play with Hopkins and Eberle.

Which leaves the 4th line.

Lander, Gazdic, Letestnu, Hendricks and Korp are all on 1 way deals.

Someone's gotta get waived, right?

I'm pretty sure Letesnu and Hendricks are starters every night. Thinking that we give Korp the last spot and have Lander as our extra forward... so we crazy to waive Gazdic?

Hall-Drai-Purcell
Pouliot-Mcdavid-Yakupov
Kassian-Hopkins-Eberle
Hendricks-Letesnu-Korp
Lander
Waived: Gazdic

I can't imagine how nice it will be to have our d-men back and healthy.

Nurse-Sekera has been a pairing that's really come along. Took Sekera a while to get used to playing in our system, but he's really come around.

Klefbom really needs a better d-partner, because he's our best man for sure. I wonder if we could move him to the right side and let him play with Davidson. I'm not saying it's a great idea, but it's looking like a legit option because non of our right handed d-men are pulling their weight these days.

I suppose Gryba and Schultz are the 3rd pairing.

 

[McArthur]

All healthy...
can me crazy but...
and you can label them 1, 2,... whatever.
but i really think this would work on the road too.

Hall-Draisaitl-Yakupov
Pouliot-McDavid-Eberle
Purcell-Nuge-Kassian
Hendricks-Letestu-Korpikoski

Klefbom-Nurse
Davidson-Sekera
Gryba-Reinhart

We draft another center in the draft, and Nuge walks for what we need to shore up our blue line... or... hype up Yakupov with McDavid and package him off for what we need while rolling out 3-4 scoring threats.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Hall - Drai - Purcell
Blank - McDavid - Blank
Blank - Blank - Blank
Hendricks - Letetsu - Korpi

Blank - Blank
Klefbom - Sekera
Nurse - Blank

Blank Blank

Looks good.

 

[Mowzie]

Not sure how we get here, but...

Hall-Draisatl-Simmonds
Ladd-McDavid-Yakupov
Pouliot-Helm-Kassian
Hendricks-Letestu-Pakarinen
Lander- Gazdig

Klefbom-Byfuglien
Sekera-Hamonic
Nurse-Davidson
Reinhardt

 

[thadd]

Yak and Hall have never played well together... so I can't imagine them on the same line again.

 

[Draiskull]

Hall - Drai - Purcell
Blank - McDavid - Blank
Blank - Blank - Blank
Hendricks - Letetsu - Korpi

Blank - Blank
Klefbom - Sekera
Nurse - Blank

Blank Blank

Looks good.

Pouliot > Purcell and considering what Yak will fetch in a trade (Low 2nd rd pick) I would rather keep him around.

Hall-Drai-Blank
Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov

Also Korpi is pretty overrated IMO.. He is the weakest link up front and shouldnt be part of the solution.

 

[McShogun99]

To open next season;

Hall-Draisaitl-xxx
Pouliot-Mcdavid-Yakupov
xxx-xxx-Kassian
Hendricks-Letestu-Korpikowski

Klefbom-xxx
Nurse-Sekera
Davidson-xxx

xxx
Nilsson

Purcell, Schultz and Talbot get traded at the TDL. RNH, Eberle, Lander and Fayne get traded in the offseason

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Pouliot > Purcell and considering what Yak will fetch in a trade (Low 2nd rd pick) I would rather keep him around.

Hall-Drai-Blank
Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov

Also Korpi is pretty overrated IMO.. He is the weakest link up front and shouldnt be part of the solution.

In their career Purcell has been better then Pouliot and is much better then him this year. Pouliot was better last year I'll give you that.

Korpikoski is fine on the 4th line, its fine.

 

[McArthur]

Yak and Hall have never played well together... so I can't imagine them on the same line again.

I know. Yak and Draisaitl didn't really work either. But we have not seen any McDavid-Eberle connections, and Purcell has had far more success shooting from the left side. Hall-Draisaitl may not need Purcell and Yakupov is a more natural shot from the right side. Its a shame though, the writing is on the wall for an Eberle trade.

 

[Mr Positive]

Just because Hall and Yak haven't worked well together doesn't mean it will always be that way.

I still feel the Hall-McDavid-Yak line would be amazing.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Just because Hall and Yak haven't worked well together doesn't mean it will always be that way.

I still feel the Hall-McDavid-Yak line would be amazing.

I don't get why you would break Hall away from someone he had instant chemistry with.

 

[Mr Positive]

I don't get why you would break Hall away from someone he had instant chemistry with.

Line combos aren't set in stone though. I agree with keeping good combos together, but over time things can get stale. This has already started happening with Hall-Drai-Purcell a bit. They are still good, but the Pouliot-RNH-Ebs line has been a bit hotter recently. Everything is in flux. Who knows what's true once Yak and McDavid are healthy?

So for sure, keep what's working the same, but I would keep a combo of Hall-McDavid-Yak in mind, basically waiting for a bad game to mix up established lines. Maybe we try that one on the powerplay.

There's also the problem of where to put Yak and McDavid. Our forward lines are currently doing pretty well. That puts the returning players on the third line. Getting Yak and McDavid back is one of those good problems. They probably aren't suited to the third line, but the top six has been doing well as is. There is potential benefit to breaking established chemistry. If Malkin gets injured and the Pens gut it out and end up performing well, they would still be looking to mix Malkin back in on a top line rather than keep what's working the same.

 

[Draiskull]

nothing wrong with easing in the returnee's ... you give them 3rd line minutes until they get up to speed and increase their ice time... Call it the 3rd line if you want but by the end of season McDavid-Yak duo would be outproducing Hall-Drai or RNH-Ebs duos and McDavid will clearly be the #1C.

everyone who is putting Hall-Drai-xxx as top line will have to adjust their lineups..

xxx-McDavid-xxx
Hall-Draisaitl-xxx

 

[McOvechking]

nothing wrong with easing in the returnee's ... you give them 3rd line minutes until they get up to speed and increase their ice time... Call it the 3rd line if you want but by the end of season McDavid-Yak duo would be outproducing Hall-Drai or RNH-Ebs duos and McDavid will clearly be the #1C.

everyone who is putting Hall-Drai-xxx as top line will have to adjust their lineups..

xxx-McDavid-xxx
Hall-Draisaitl-xxx

The 1st line/2nd line/3rd line thing really just comes down to how coaches match up lines.

I don't think McLellan will want McDavid playing top defenders at all the rest of the season, so by that logic I think McDavid remains a 2nd line center.

 

[Draiskull]

The 1st line/2nd line/3rd line thing really just comes down to how coaches match up lines.

I don't think McLellan will want McDavid playing top defenders at all the rest of the season, so by that logic I think McDavid remains a 2nd line center.

I will bump this in 2 months and we will have a good chuckle. I am expecting McDavid to be a clear tier above Hall-Drai line even if the 3rd wheel is RNH.

 

[McOvechking]

I will bump this in 2 months and we will have a good chuckle. I am expecting McDavid to be a clear tier above Hall-Drai line even if the 3rd wheel is RNH.

Don't get me wrong, I think McDavid is the best player this organization has seen since Dougie Weight. Maybe even Mess. He's already better than Hall and Draisaitl. But it doesn't make much sense to put him against other team's top line defense when Draisaitl has already shown he can handle it.

 

[Draiskull]

Don't get me wrong, I think McDavid is the best player this organization has seen since Dougie Weight. Maybe even Mess. He's already better than Hall and Draisaitl. But it doesn't make much sense to put him against other team's top line defense when Draisaitl has already shown he can handle it.

I know what you mean but McDavid is going to be the lightning rod soon enough and will be drawing the opponents top D pairing as matchups once he gets going.

Just how Drai doesnt need RNH to shelter him, McDavid will EARN the #1C role soon enough. Sending him out against any line will make sense even if Drai and Nuge have shown they can handle it.

 

[Jet Walters]

I know what you mean but McDavid is going to be the lightning rod soon enough and will be drawing the opponents top D pairing as matchups once he gets going.

Just how Drai doesnt need RNH to shelter him, McDavid will EARN the #1C role soon enough. Sending him out against any line will make sense even if Drai and Nuge have shown they can handle it.

On the road the opposition will dictate who plays the most against McDavid. With the way Hall and Drai are going I would bet they still draw the tough matchups for the time being. At home the Oilers will probably try to avoid sending McDavid out against other teams 1st lines/D pair in the short term. In time he will be demolishing any matchup he faces, but the kid still needs to get comfortable in the league.

It's going to create so many problems for other teams to match up against Hall/Drai pairing and McDavid on another line, no matter who is on the wing with him. Going to be fun to watch!

 

[Logical McNonsense]

Something tells me McDavid and Eberle would be absolute money together. For this season once everyone is healthy I could see us running

Hall - RNH - Drai
Pou - McDavid - Ebs
Kassian - ?/Lander - Yak
Korp - Letestu - Hendricks

But that's leaves Purcell to fit in somewhere so we could run 3 scoring lines too
Hall - Drai - Purcell
Pou - McDavid - Ebs
Kassian - RNH - Yak
Korp - Letestu - Hendricks
Lander



And then next year use RNH, Yak and this years 1st to upgrade the D

Hall - Drai - xxx/Purcell
Pou/Kassian - McDavid - Eberle
Kassian/Pou - xxx - xxx
Korp - Letestu - Hendricks

That still leaves a good forward group and lots of pieces to upgrade the D. The only thing is we need more size, that could be Kassian and a Free Agent to play on Halls Line.

 

[McWeber]

Just because Hall and Yak haven't worked well together doesn't mean it will always be that way.

I still feel the Hall-McDavid-Yak line would be amazing.

I will be salty if Yak gets traded before getting to see this line together.

 

[Juxta Position]

Something tells me McDavid and Eberle would be absolute money together. For this season once everyone is healthy I could see us running

Hall - RNH - Drai
Pou - McDavid - Ebs
Kassian - ?/Lander - Yak
Korp - Letestu - Hendricks

But that's leaves Purcell to fit in somewhere so we could run 3 scoring lines too
Hall - Drai - Purcell
Pou - McDavid - Ebs
Kassian - RNH - Yak
Korp - Letestu - Hendricks
Lander



And then next year use RNH, Yak and this years 1st to upgrade the D

Hall - Drai - xxx/Purcell
Pou/Kassian - McDavid - Eberle
Kassian/Pou - xxx - xxx
Korp - Letestu - Hendricks

That still leaves a good forward group and lots of pieces to upgrade the D. The only thing is we need more size, that could be Kassian and a Free Agent to play on Halls Line.

i actually really like the looks of that lineup. i also really wanna see if eberle can mesh with mcdavid. we've been robbed this season of seeing those two in the lineup at the same time, and im really curious to see if there's any chemistry between those two.

 

[Draiskull]

Something tells me McDavid and Eberle would be absolute money together. For this season once everyone is healthy I could see us running
.

Eberle will have to adjust his game big time for that duo to work... Yak seems to get the hang of it... You get the puck to McD and get to your spot... Ebs will have to discard his toedrags, circle backs and button hooks and become a sniper.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Add me to the list of those that think that Hall/Yak could be solid together on a line... especially in a combo with McDavid/Draisaitl.

I don't think we have seen enough of Yak and Hall on the same line to say they don't gel well together. How many games have they actually played together... not many by my count.

You have 4 skill players imo that actually have a level of "give a ****" that's above the rest on this team... McDavid, Hall, Draisaitl and Yak. Yak is obviously the least talented of that group... but he works hard and plays with some spark which is more than most on the team do. I'd put RNH there in that group "sometimes"... but I don't see it consistently enough from him for some reason.

 

[thadd]

Dudes on CHED suggested the idea of Yakupov not playing with McDavid again, but I don't see the point. We don't have enough bottom six forwards to have two shut down lines.

Yakupov at least puts up points playing with McDavid while learning how to play better hockey and now that Sekera has gotten used to playing our system and with the emergence of Nurse and Davidson we're a better team... so if we run with three scoring lines I see us playing better because those 3 scoring lines are going to play better than we would if we had 2 scoring lines and two shut down lines.

Pouliot -McDavid-Eberle has got to be one of our scoring lines because they were playing well together before McDavid got hurt and that's the best hockey we've seen Pouliot play this year.

Who has been better with Hopkins and Eberle? Juju? Pacman? Hendricks? I donno Do we give Korp another chance? I really like Hendricks and Letesnu together on that bottom shutdown line.

I like the philosophy that having 3 scoring lines means that the opposition can't always have their top 4 forwards covering the scoring lines.

 

[tabs]

Dudes on CHED suggested the idea of Yakupov not playing with McDavid again, but I don't see the point. We don't have enough bottom six forwards to have two shut down lines.

Yakupov at least puts up points playing with McDavid while learning how to play better hockey and now that Sekera has gotten used to playing our system and with the emergence of Nurse and Davidson we're a better team... so if we run with three scoring lines I see us playing better because those 3 scoring lines are going to play better than we would if we had 2 scoring lines and two shut down lines.

Pouliot -McDavid-Eberle has got to be one of our scoring lines because they were playing well together before McDavid got hurt and that's the best hockey we've seen Pouliot play this year.

Who has been better with Hopkins and Eberle? Juju? Pacman? Hendricks? I donno Do we give Korp another chance? I really like Hendricks and Letesnu together on that bottom shutdown line.

I like the philosophy that having 3 scoring lines means that the opposition can't always have their top 4 forwards covering the scoring lines.

I think running three scoring lines is the way we have to go.

Hall-Drai-XXXX
XXXX-McD-Yak
XXXX-RNH-Ebs
Hendo-Letestu-Korp

Filling those XXXX for the remainder of the season with Purcell, Pouliot, and Kassian will give us an idea as to whether or not the pairings work well. The fourth line not only has a lot of defensive zone starts but makes a point to focus on getting hits on the opposing dmen, wearing them down. Having one of those other three scoring lines taking on bottom pairing dmen has to work in our favour.