Line Combos: 2014/2015 Season

[McDrai]

What line combinations would you like to see in the preseason/regular season?
I'd like to see this lineup during one of the later preseason games

Yakimov/RNH/Eberle
Hall/Arcobello/Yakupov
Pouliot/Draisaitl/Perron
Hendricks/Gordon/Purcell

Nikitin/Fayne
Marincin/Petry
Ference/Schultz

Scrivens
Fasth

Yakimov and Arco can swap spots if it doesn't work out

Click to read more...

 

[McGlassbangers]

Next preseason game:

Hall - Yakimov - Yakupov
Perron - Draisaitl - Eberle
Pouliot - RNH - Purcell
Hendricks - Gordon - Pakarinen

Nikitin - Fayne
Nurse - Schultz
Marincin - Petry

Scrivens (plays first 30 minutes)
Fasth (plays last 30 minutes)

- Yakimov plays finally with good linemates
- RNH is able to show if he can carry a line by himself like Hall can
- Nikitin and Fayne has been working out well, no need to break them up

 

[JoeCool16]

For next preseason, I want to see a centre trial with all the potentials playing, because after that we're probably going to have to start firming up the lineup for regular season. Something like this would be nice:

Hall - Lander - Eberle
Pouliot - Arcobello - Perron
Tkachev - Yakimov - Yakupov
Pitlick - Draisaitl - Purcell

Pretty strong on the wings for preseason, play each at least 12 minutes, and give the centres all a chance to show what they can do. Extra benefit to Arcobello and Lander, who get the best players to make hopefully the best impact, while the current frontrunners can try to outperform them with less successful wingers.

I'm still not sure what I want to see for the regular season, until the centre business is sorted out.

 

[vincent780]

Next Preseason game would like to see some experimenting:

Poliout Nuge Eberle
Hall Draisaitl Perron
Tkachev Yakimov Yakupov
Pitlick Lander Purcell

Nurse Schultz
Klefbom Fayne
Marincin Petry

 

[PaPaDee]

Since the next game is in Saskatoon, and I'll be watching live:

Hall - RNH - Purcell
Perron - Arcobello - Eberle
Pouliot - Yakimov - Yakupov
Hedricks - Gordon - Lander

Nurse - Schultz
Nikitin - Fayne
Ference - Petry (if healthy)

 

[Joey Moss]

For pre-season I'd like them to try

Hall - Draisaitl - Yakupov/Eberle
Pouliot/Purcell - RNH - Eberle
Pouliot/Purcell - Yakimov - Yakupov
Perron - one of the four centers - Eberle/Yakupov

I think Eakins saying they'll look to keep Yak on RW pretty much ends the Perron on RW thing.. unless Purcell looks good on LW.

 

[Musashi]

It's not a bad thing getting different looks with preseason lineups but when the season starts our first line must have Hall and RNH on it. Maybe RNH could carrying a line by himself but he is our only option at center who has had any success playing against top competition.

You can't throw an inexperienced center on the top line and expect Hall to carry him from the wing of all places. Yes Hall can break a game wide open offensively but that doesn't change the fact that a center like Arco/Drai/Yak will get crushed if they go head to head with the top centers of the pacific and west.

 

[slim2001]

For next preseason, I want to see a centre trial with all the potentials playing, because after that we're probably going to have to start firming up the lineup for regular season. Something like this would be nice:

Hall - Lander - Eberle
Pouliot - Arcobello - Perron
Tkachev - Yakimov - Yakupov
Pitlick - Draisaitl - Purcell

Pretty strong on the wings for preseason, play each at least 12 minutes, and give the centres all a chance to show what they can do. Extra benefit to Arcobello and Lander, who get the best players to make hopefully the best impact, while the current frontrunners can try to outperform them with less successful wingers.

I'm still not sure what I want to see for the regular season, until the centre business is sorted out.

Wingers could be adjusted fairly equivalent value, (one NHL player and one prospect) but would like to see the 4 competing centres all in action at once. Roll them out against whatever opposing lines and see how they do. Liked the looks of Yak1 and Yak2 playing together. It's preseason mostly about getting the right players into the regular season games and this would really help determine our remaining center positions.

 

[nhlisajoke]

hey guys dont forget we have Jason Williams as a C...lol

he is at WEM watching The Equalizer

 

[LTIR]

Arent the lineups for next game already out? The group that practiced in Leduc yesterday.

As for the season opener..

Hall-Nuge-Eberle is a no brainer.

Pouliot-Draisaitl-Perron should be the 2nd line. There is no better option for 2C.

Hendricks-Gordon-Purcell should play the tough minutes.

xxxx-xxxxx-Yakupov as the last line. Hoping Yak2 wins the spot but Arco has the inside track despite lack of chemistry with Yakupov.

Pitlick-Yakimov-Yakupov would be the idea line but Eakisn would want some experience here.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Do you think there is a chance they keep Nurse?

and have a D depth of;

Nikitin-Fayne
Marincin-Petry
Nurse-Schultz
Ference-Aulie

Klefbom-Simpson
Oesterle-Gernat
Ludwig-Musil
Hunt-Davidson
Craig

 

[Aerchon]

Hall rnh Purcell
Pouliot Arco Eberle
Perron Leon yak
Hendricks Gordon Pitlick

Lander as our 13TH forward.

Nikita fayne
Marincin Schultz
Ferrence Petry

Nurse as our 7 for his up to 9 games.

Scrivens
Fasthe

 

[thadd]

Arcobello is starting to annoy me just because he standing in Yakimov's way.

If Leon is going to be our 2nd line center, I certainly hope that Yakimov is our third line center.

Yakupov deserves better.

I'm not blaming Arcobello, but I want to Yakipov to play with some size so that he can be on a more balanced line.

And I'd REALLY like to see Tkachev-Yakimov-Yakupov on a line during the pre-season.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

My new ideal sitch;

that's right....our first line C makes 600k.
actually you'd probably swap arco/drai and hall/pouliot randomly during the game and hope Perron and Yak could play well together.

Boggy would be getting minutes in the AHL and be first guy back. Joensuu and Lander have to clear waivers. Pakarinen, Lander and Curtis Hamilton would get their cup of coffee.

Nurse would split games with Marrty/Petry until an injury happened or a trade would be in the works.

Maybe Klef spends some time on the right side in the AHL if it works and he comes up to replace Petry at the TD if no extension is in the plans.

Hall-Arcobello-Purcell
Pouliot-Nugent Hopkins-Eberle
Perron-Draisaitl-Yakupov
Hendricks-Gordon-Pitlick
Gazdic

Nikitin-Fayne
Marincin-Petry
Nurse-Schultz
Ference, Aulie

Fasth
Scrivens

AHL(?)

Joensuu-Yakimov-Holmberg
Moroz-Khaira-Ford
Hamilton-Lander-Pakarinen
Jones-Jones-Kessy
Winquist-Williams-Miller
Hamilton-Acton-Pinnizotto

Klefbom-Simpson
Hunt-Musil
Oesterle-Gernat
Davidson-Ludwig
Craig

Bachman
Broissoit
Bunz

 

[Mr Positive]

Arcobello is starting to annoy me just because he standing in Yakimov's way.

If Leon is going to be our 2nd line center, I certainly hope that Yakimov is our third line center.

Yakupov deserves better.

I'm not blaming Arcobello, but I want to Yakipov to play with some size so that he can be on a more balanced line.

And I'd REALLY like to see Tkachev-Yakimov-Yakupov on a line during the pre-season.

Yakimov has a great opportunity to establish himself in NA as an OKC Baron. If he truly is great we can call him up at any time. If we're talking who deserves a start, it would be a guy like Arcobello who has spent a lot of time earning his stripes from the bottom up.

 

[EnthusiasticYak]

Yakimov has a great opportunity to establish himself in NA as an OKC Baron. If he truly is great we can call him up at any time. If we're talking who deserves a start, it would be a guy like Arcobello who has spent a lot of time earning his stripes from the bottom up.

This right here. The guys on the roster to start the season at centre should be: RNH, Draisaitl, Arcobello, Gordon, and Lander. Yakimov should be in OKC getting top line minutes, PP time etc. in order to see what he really has because he may be a gem with a lot higher potential than a 3/4C. It could really go either way at this point.

Arcobello should be given the first look and if he fails to live up to expectations 5-10 games in then he can be sent to the PB or the waiver wire. Lander will be the option to replace him and if that can't stick then Yakimov becomes the guy. If it gets to that point it becomes no ones fault besides management as they failed to fill out a gaping hole in the line-up with very viable cheap free agent options.

I think it's vital to mix up the line-up a bit to insulate the lack of experience on the roster with the team's one strength: winger depth. Perron is a great option who can play with anyone and Eberle, a 6M/yr winger, should be in the same boat for that type of cash.

Hall-RNH-Purcell
Pouliot-Draisaitl-Eberle
Perron-Arco/Lander-Yakupov
Hendricks-Gordon-Pitlick/whoever can handle defensive minutes

Purcell is far from a first line player and Perron is far from a third line player but this design deviates from the standard depth chart to find a bit of a spread. 4/93 could play with absolutely anyone so if Purcell can manage to get into the right spots one of them can just bank the puck in off his shin pads/butt. The second line provides Leon with the opportunity to develop some chemistry with an elite player and asks Eberle to step up and help drive the play. The third line gives an excellent two way player and passer to Yakupov and the newly minted centre as well as giving this line the opportunity to play the softest minutes on the team.

Ideally Draisaitl gets the softest minutes but that won't be able to happen because all indications are that he is going to be a better option than Arco/Lander in the middle. Whichever way you chop it up, despite adding in many key areas this summer, there is a gaping hole at centre that will undoubtedly be exploited by the teams in the Oilers conference. It'll be most interesting to see how MacT responds if this set up goes south.

 

[Aerchon]

Yakimov has a great opportunity to establish himself in NA as an OKC Baron. If he truly is great we can call him up at any time. If we're talking who deserves a start, it would be a guy like Arcobello who has spent a lot of time earning his stripes from the bottom up.

I am a big Arco supporter but I think you have to blind to not see how much better Yakimov and Leon has played in training camp so far. We should be playing Yakimov over Arco if competition rules in training camp, which it should to some extent.

However, I agree with you.

Arco is on a one way deal and exposing him to waivers at this point to get Yakimov into the NHL is a slight misuse of resources. The safe play is to start Yakimov in the AHL and see how he does there after a bigger sample. Then make a decision on what to do.

Also training camp/preseason unfortunately don't mean much and unless Arco, Lander, and Pitlick really suck they should get to open the season with the Oilers to try to prove themselves.

 

[hallhopkinseberle]

Hall/Hopkins/Eberle
Perron/Drastial/Yakupov
Pouliot/Yakimov/Purcell
Hendricks/Gordon/Joensuu
Gadzic & Acrobello

PP1:
Hall-Hopkins-Perron
Nikitin-J.Schultz

PP2:
Pouliot-Drastial-Eberle
Marincin-Yakupov

PK1:
Gordon-Hendricks
Ference-Fayne

PK2:
Hopkins-Perron
Marincin-Petry

PK3:
Yakimov-Joensuu
Nikitin-Fayne

Niktin-Fayne
Marincin-Petry
Ference Petry
Aulie

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

PK3:
Yakimov-Joensuu
Nikitin-Fayne

I just can't imagine that being a good combination on the penalty kill.

My Regular Season lines:

Hall - Nuge - Purcell
Perron - Draisaitl - Eberle
Pouliot - Arcobello - Yakupov
Hendricks - Gordon - Pitlick
extras: Lander, Gazdic

Nikitin - Schultz
Klefbom - Petry
Ference - Fayne

extra: Aulie

Explanations on my decisions- So the reason I have Purcell on the top line is I don't think he is capable of generating much offense on his own, people on the main board compare him to Anson Carter ( or atleast what he was in the late stages of his career) and from his highlight reel it looks pretty apt. The vast majority of his goals are scored standing about 6 feet directly infront of the goalie just taking real quick shots and putting them into the back of the net, unlike Eberle he has the size to post up in that high traffic area and is more capable of fighting off a defenseman for a rebound infront of the net. I see Purcell getting 30-35 points on our 3rd line, but could see him getting 50-60 points playing with Hall and Nuge esentially being carried, but the added size combined with finishing ability would be appreciated on the line, I don't see Yak or Eberle getting the same kind of bump from playing higher up in the line-up. Perron - Draisaitl - Eberle just seems like a line that wouldn't have trouble producing a good mixture of size, skill, and grit. Pouliot - Arcobello - Yakupov is the line I'm most unsure about, but despite Yakimov outplaying our other center hopefuls to this point I feel inclined to give Arcobello the opportunity to try and make it work, Arco and Yak don't have much chemistry, but Arco is a smart player and a hard worker I'm hoping he can figure it out; I consider Pouliot a must on this line he is good at getting the puck up the ice and creating more offenzive zone time/pressure which will help this line a lot, he also was a high pick that struggled so maybe him and Yak could bond a little and he can help him reach that next level; if Acro faulters Yakimov called up. Gordon and Hendricks are a known commodity, Pitlick just added some more speed and zip to the line, he should fit in well with a lunch pail kind of line, Hendricks can line up on either wing so if we have a really key defensive draw we could put another winger out there opposed to Pitlick when defense is the highest priority.

The defense group I have Nikitin paired with Schultz cause Nikitin is our most defensively responsible LD and Schultz is our least defensively responsible RD, Nikitin has the best shot on the team and I think Schultz with his offensive style will give him the most time and space to use it. Second pairing, I see Klefbom outplaying Marincin for the last spot he's been really good in training camp, he's paid his dues much like Marincin and his passing ability could be a god send to this team. Ference and Fayne a good veteran pairing, Fayne adds some puck moving to the pairing and hopefully gives Ference an easier year we had him playing with so many different d-partners and switching sides so often I'm sure his head was spinning, the pairing also can step up and eat more minutes when our more inexperienced players struggle. To me we don't have a top or bottom d-pairing it's just 3 d-pairings that can eat 18-22 mins a night. Obviously any injury that is more then 1 game, call Marincin up, from what I've seen Aulie should play as little as possible.

 

[Mowzie]

For the first 9 games...

Pouliot-Hopkins-Eberle
Hall-Draisatl-Purcell
Perron-Arcobello-Yakupov
Hendricks-Gordon-Pitlick
Gazdig-Pinnizotto

Then...

Hall-Hopkins-Eberle
Perron-Yakimov-Yakupov
Pouliot-Arcobello-Purcell
Hendricks-Gordon-Pitlick
Gazdig-Pinnizotto

 

[Aceboogie]

IMO it will wind up

Hall-RNH-Eberle
Pouilot-Draisaitl-Perron
Purcell-Lander-Yakupov
Hendricks-Gordon-Pitlick

Nikitin-Fayne
Marincin-Petry
Ference-Schultz

Scrivens

 

[OiledUp]

I wouldn't mind trying this setup for one of the later pre-season games:
Perron-RNH-Ebs
Hall-Drai-Yak
Pouliot-Arco-Purcell
Hendricks-Gordon-Lander

This is based on RNH and Hall being able to carry their respective lines and Draisaitl keeping up defensively. Also took the chemistry between Perron and Ebs into account. The risky part is obviously the Hall line struggling defensively against the toughest comp. The hope is that the Nuge line can be dangerous enough to keep the opposition honest and ofc Draisaitl looking decent defensively which he's done so far albeit small sample and not actual NHL competition. They're a great stylistic match offensively imo.

Another idea I'd like to see is:
Hall-RNH-Ebs
Pouliot-Draisaitl-Perron
Lander-Yak2-Yak1
Hendricks-Gordon-Purcell
The first two lines have shown some chemistry. Lander and big Yak gives some defensive chops while being able to take and make a pass. Purcell hopefully gives that D heavy line a small offensive punch and Gordon someone to cycle with.

 

[Mr Forever]

I like to try to have a power forward, playmaker and sniper on each line.

Hall-LD-Purcell
Pouliot-RNH-Eberle
Perron-Yak-Yak
Hendricks-Gordon-Lander

 

[McIce Whole]

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Pouliot - Draisaitl - Perron
Purcell - Arco/Yakimov - Yakupov
Hendricks - Gordon - Pitlick

Nikitin - Fayne
Marincin - Petry
Ference - Schultz

Scrivens
Fasth

Even though Yakimov has outperformed Arco this preseason, I think Arco gets that third line spot just based on what he did last season and the experience he has. Ideally, we find an upgrade for that 3C spot (potentially Cullen) and send both Yakimov and Arco down to the A. Whoever is performing better gets called up when injuries occur.

 

[McDrai]

Well after that game I'd like to try:

Pouliot/RNH/Eberle
Hall/Yak2/Yak1
Perron/Draisaitl/Purcell
Hendricks/Gordon/Pitlick