Based solely off play from last night, this would be the lineup:
Perron-Gagner-Yakupov
Eberle-Hall-Hemsky
Joensuu-Gordon-Jones
Smyth-Lander-Platzer
Smid-Petry
Ference-J Schultz
Marincin-Davidson
Dubnyk
LaBarbera
Perron completely controlled the game in Calgary when he was on the ice, he was drwaing multiple defenders, next to impossible to knock off the puck, and generated scoring chance after scoring chance. Yakupov was equally dominant in the Edmonton game. The defensive zone game is a work in progress, but past that, he just zoomed past opposing defenders, forced them to back off whenever he had the puck on his stick, made a number of quality passes, and the shot actually seemed somehow better than before. They'll work very well with Gagner, who needs players to create space for him so he can do what he wants with the puck.
Hall/Eberle is a no brainer, Hall was solid on the dot and defensively, but made a few mistakes, although that's to be expected shaking off rust while simultaneously adjusting to a new position. Eberle should be able to transition to LW because that's where he sets up on the PP anyway and allows him to unleash that wicked backhand more, Hemsky is there because no other player has the speed/skill to keep up with these 5. I'd trade him as soon as RNH gets back though because he just isn't the type of player who can play a bottom 6 game.
I really liked what I saw from Joensuu/Gordon/Jones. All 3 had better puck skills than expected (well I already knew Jones was pretty good but you get the point), and all 3 competed like their lives were on the line. I can see them becoming a strong energy line who can annoy opposing top 6 forwards while each putting up 20-30 points. Lander was far more physical than expected, Smyth is still slow, but actually surprised me by working to draw penalties in the offensive zone instead of taking them. Platzer obviously has 0 shot of making the team, but this guy always seems to know where to be and when to be there, the fact that he's picked up goals off easy opportunities 3 times now is no coincidence. Hamilton was clearly over his head with Gagner/Eberle, hopefully he'll add some toughness to the bottom 6.
Smid/Petry is tried and true. Ference was a rock in his own end, and was much more aggressive in the offensive zone than I expected. He knew when to pinch in and help is forwards, but always got right back into position to defend. Nurse looked solid alongside Ference but I'd rather not rush him, J Schultz skated/passed very well and his defensive deficiencies can be made up for by Ference, who also doesn't seem like he'll hold Schultz back offensively. Our bottom pairing dmen all stunk it up. Marincin is a smooth skater who made quick, smart decisions with the puck, and Davidson was solid positionally. However, in a perfect world both go back to OKC. Hopefully N Schultz bounces back and Belov impresses, because Garbagekov and Larsen were both Ryan Whitney out there: couldn't do anthing except stretch pass.
Dubnyk was Dubnyk, but LaBarbera was much better than I expected. His rebound control was outstanding and made a few key stops early on when Calgary was swarming the Oilers zone. In other news, Olivier Roy sucks.
