Line Combos: Ryan Nugent Hopkins should Center the 3rd line.

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Oilers are trying to be the leafs when they should be trying to be Pittsburgh.

Crosby-Malkin-Staal
McDavid-Drai-RNH

Pittsburgh stopped doing that a long long time ago. They went to
Crosby
Malkin
Staal
so what the OP is suggesting is what Pittsburgh did and has been doing for years now only insert a different centre for Staal as he wanted a trade to play in the top 6, he wasn't happy playing 3c and given RNH is a UFA at the end of the year and probably walking, what the OP is suggesting emulates Pittsburgh even more.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

fake news. RNH contributes more defensively than McDavid and does the heaviest lifting on his line defensively.
Not sure about the 2nd comment unless you are his agent or his wife. We dont know what he is thinking.

All three aren't very good at it so it's easy to say he's the best of the three in their own end.

There were reports they were closing in on an extension then one side retreated. Serevali said last week or so the Oilers have no intentions of going north of $7 million with him so you don't need to be his spouse or agent to figure that one out.

 

[Canovin]

Pittsburgh stopped doing that a long long time ago. They went to
Crosby
Malkin
Staal
so what the OP is suggesting is what Pittsburgh did and has been doing for years now only insert a different centre for Staal as he wanted a trade to play in the top 6, he wasn't happy playing 3c and given RNH is a UFA at the end of the year and probably walking, what the OP is suggesting emulates Pittsburgh even more.

Wasn't it the reason Jordan Staal left because his family wanted him to be with Eric Staal?

 

[Draiskull]

All three aren't very good at it so it's easy to say he's the best of the three in their own end.

There were reports they were closing in on an extension then one side retreated. Serevali said last week or so the Oilers have no intentions of going north of $7 million with him so you don't need to be his spouse or agent to figure that one out.

so going from 6M per to 7M per is a big pay increase?
Remove the word 'big' from your post and I buy it. Nuge would be looking for a pay raise from all reports and it may not be worth it.

Still does not justify getting rid of him and the "He can play 3C for another club" as if he was Lucic 2.0.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

Nygard McDavid Pulu
Kahun Drai Yamo
Turris Nuge Kassian
Neal Haas Archibald

mix Neal and Nygard back and forth in games to the extent Neal can handle the minutes. Ennis spots in for the LW playing the worst

bouchard has to start getting games. Russel and Larsson won’t be around by the time we are decent.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Wasn't it the reason Jordan Staal left because his family wanted him to be with Eric Staal?

Staal didn't want to be 3C and Pittsburgh wasn't going to pay him what he wanted to stay so they traded him to Carolina.

RNH doesn't want to be 3C and Edmonton isnt going to pay him what he wants to stay so my guess is they trade RNH if we are out of the playoffs come trade deadline day.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

If the oilers even had an average third and fourth line, we would be a very good team.

 

[frag2]

RNH can center the 3rd line alright. On another team.

Guy probably cares more about his horses than his on ice game

 

[Ritchie Valens]

so going from 6M per to 7M per is a big pay increase?
Remove the word 'big' from your post and I buy it. Nuge would be looking for a pay raise from all reports and it may not be worth it.

Still does not justify getting rid of him and the "He can play 3C for another club" as if he was Lucic 2.0.

That's the team's number, not the player's. If he's turning down $7 million and per Holland, talks have now stopped, he's probably looking at a bigger number and he isn't worth it. I wouldn't even go as high as seven. I'd be starting to field calls now and start working towards a trade for the deadline. Maybe before if this team continues its downward spiral.

If he thinks he should be getting $8+, he is worth nowhere near Draisaitl money which is why I say he can go to another team. That money could be better spent to address other areas.

I don't want to hijack this thread into an RNH contract/trade debate so we'll leave that for another thread. My apologies to the OP for steering it that way with my post.

 

[Missing smitty]

If the oilers even had an average third and fourth line, we would be a very good team.

Neal-Turris-Kassian is more than likely a better than average 3rd line. Tippett's obsession with using them as a "shutdown" line is beyond stupid and part of the reason they're getting caved.

Very few teams use the "shutdown" concept anymore. Did the Leafs put out their 3rd or 4th lines against McDavid or Draisaitl if they could help it? Nope, they put power on power and went from there. Tippett is stuck in the past.

 

[Draiskull]

If the oilers even had an average third and fourth line, we would be a very good team.

Oilers need an average 1st and 2nd lines before we can think about 3rd and 4th.

Draisaitl has 1 ES goal this season and it was assisted by McDavid and Nurse. We have a very unproductive 2nd line

McDavid has 4 ES goals.
first primary assisted by Draisaitl
2nd by Yamamoto
3rd assisted by Bear
4th by Nurse

There is no Pulju, Kassian or Nuge primary assisting on any of his ES goals.

Yama has 3 goals.
1 unassisted
1 from Drai
1 from McD

No point talking about Kassian, Pulju or Kahun.

bottom line, our top 6 is as much a mess as our bottom 6.

 

[Mez]

ID rather run

McDavid - Drai - whoever
Kahun - RNH - Yamm
Poop-crap-pee
shit-fart-piss

 

[Aerchon]

not that much though

doesn't matter how much they score if the bottom 6 does nothing other than get scored on...they're literally bleeding goals each and every game

there are much bigger problems on this team then reuniting the DRY line

There are a lot of problems with the Oilers 99% of them fixable by coaching imo. Defense biggest hole imo. But as quick easy and relevant example the Jets. They lost Myers, Buff, and Trouba all around the same time and somehow have a good defense with 10% the talent...

Getting back to DRY. The DRY line have a ridiculous goal differential 5v5. That equals winning. It means less time in our own zone. It means the opposing team scrambling for match ups. It means an easier time for every single player on the team.

Is it a guaranteed fix for all our problems, no. But it is a big move for the team and first and foremost to breaking the brain block that Tippett obviously has. Once he gets over how stupid he was not to run it maybe he unf***tards his brain to make other positive adjustments as well.

Edit: good posts by Draiskull and Missing Smitty.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Neal-Turris-Kassian is more than likely a better than average 3rd line. Tippett's obsession with using them as a "shutdown" line is beyond stupid and part of the reason they're getting caved.

Very few teams use the "shutdown" concept anymore. Did the Leafs put out their 3rd or 4th lines against McDavid or Draisaitl if they could help it? Nope, they put power on power and went from there. Tippett is stuck in the past.

They're only called the "shutdown line" cause they're not scoring a drop

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

bottom line, our top 6 is as much a mess as our bottom 6.

except the part where they're outscoring the opposition as opposed to the bottom 6

 

[Oilhawks]

Yes, he should centre the 3rd line. Bring in a coach that isn’t afraid to do it

 

[Missing smitty]

They're only called the "shutdown line" cause they're not scoring a drop

They're getting over 70% d-zone starts. That's being used as a shutdown line. Turris has NEVER been a good centre defensively. Tippett isn't using his players to their strengths.

It would be like getting a framer to do finish carpentry. Dude might be able do it, but it won't be pretty.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Pittsburgh stopped doing that a long long time ago. They went to
Crosby
Malkin
Staal
so what the OP is suggesting is what Pittsburgh did and has been doing for years now only insert a different centre for Staal as he wanted a trade to play in the top 6, he wasn't happy playing 3c and given RNH is a UFA at the end of the year and probably walking, what the OP is suggesting emulates Pittsburgh even more.

When Staal left the Pens didn't sniff another cup until they ran that insanely hot HBK line as their 3rd.

Kessel was torching everyone in the playoffs because no depth in the league could stop a 30 goal 90 point player on the 3rd line.

 

[Draiskull]

except the part where they're outscoring the opposition as opposed to the bottom 6

except the part where they arent even scoring.
none of RNH, McD and Pulju are + players so they arent outscoring at ES.
Kahun has 0G and Drai 1 ES goal.

Yama has 3 ES goals and is a + player but like I said 1 was unassisted and the other by McDavid.

As a line they arent outscoring or even scoring. Mostly individual efforts by McD, Yama or Drai aside from PP.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

When Staal left the Pens didn't sniff another cup until they ran that insanely hot HBK line as their 3rd.

Kessel was torching everyone in the playoffs because no depth in the league could stop a 30 goal 90 point player on the 3rd line.

I know that but it’s irrelevant because that was not the point.

Bottom line is it doesn’t matter who we have at center with our lack of depth at wing, defence and goaltending.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

except the part where they arent even scoring.
none of RNH, McD and Pulju are + players so they arent outscoring at ES.
Kahun has 0G and Drai 1 ES goal.

Yama has 3 ES goals and is a + player but like I said 1 was unassisted and the other by McDavid.

As a line they arent outscoring or even scoring. Mostly individual efforts by McD, Yama or Drai aside from PP.

I don't think you understand what plus minus actually measures.

For example

at even strength heres the top lines stats.

McDavid - 10/8
RNH - 8/8
JP - 2/6

JP I think is 2/2 since being put on the top line.

McDavid has outchanced the other team 47/19 in high danger chances at 5on5 this season.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Oilers need an average 1st and 2nd lines before we can think about 3rd and 4th.

Draisaitl has 1 ES goal this season and it was assisted by McDavid and Nurse. We have a very unproductive 2nd line

McDavid has 4 ES goals.
first primary assisted by Draisaitl
2nd by Yamamoto
3rd assisted by Bear
4th by Nurse

There is no Pulju, Kassian or Nuge primary assisting on any of his ES goals.

Yama has 3 goals.
1 unassisted
1 from Drai
1 from McD

No point talking about Kassian, Pulju or Kahun.

bottom line, our top 6 is as much a mess as our bottom 6.

Actually that's elite ES production right there.

McDavid is 2nd in the league for ES points with 7 behind Ehlers who has 8.

Drai is tied for 16th with 5 with guys like Matthews, Kopitar and Barzal.

To put it in perspective:
MacKinnon Eichel and Scheifele have 4
Stamkos and Ovechkin have 3
Crosby, Malkin, Bergeron, Marchand have 2

Our top 6 is fire. It's our bottom 6 that needs a complete retooling.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I know that but it’s irrelevant because that was not the point.

Bottom line is it doesn’t matter who we have at center with our lack of depth at wing, defence and goaltending.

I don't think RNH gets cratered like Turris on the 3rd line. Infact, I think RNH is still a legitimate scoring threat from back there.

The problem he might have, is he becomes a 45-50 point center on the 3rd line, rather than a 70 point winger flanking one of McDrai.
Playing him there is boosting his next-paycheque but not really helping us win.

 

[frag2]

I don't think RNH gets cratered like Turris on the 3rd line. Infact, I think RNH is still a legitimate scoring threat from back there.

The problem he might have, is he becomes a 45-50 point center on the 3rd line, rather than a 70 point center flanking wing for one of McDrai.

Hes a 45-50 pt C when his wingers were better than him. With the junk we got, lucky to hit 40 pts.

 

[Draiskull]

I don't think you understand what plus minus actually measures.

For example

at even strength heres the top lines stats.

McDavid - 10/8
RNH - 8/8
JP - 2/6

JP I think is 2/2 since being put on the top line.

McDavid has outchanced the other team 47/19 in high danger chances at 5on5 this season.

+/- is not the perfect stat but it the closest <non advanced> stat that measures "outscoring" at ES.
I look at primary assists when figuring out if a line is clicking or not. It really does not look like either of the top linemates are producing goals off each other.

10/8 and 8/8 is nothing to be proud about when you have McD on that line.