Kahun vs. RNH: Who should be Draisaitl's LW?

[SwedishFire]

Kahun.
It will be. new thing for Draisaitl, as there is bow not a slow junior league, but worth trying.

McDavids play needs one smart player and one strong player with the head on the right place.

Kassian is OK, but maybe try ti squeeze out something out of Neal here. Or Chiasson , one of the worst skaters out there though.

RNH McD Neal/Kassian/Chiasson whatever that floats somehow. Neal would be ideal, if he finds the shooting lanes.

Kahin Frai Yam - heavy ligting for the hart winner.

Ennis Turris Chiasson/Neal/Kassian - what is left over.
or Puljijärvi if he is in Canada at all!

Archibald (he can play LW) Khaira/Quine/ Haas RW is the left option of Chiasson/Kassian/Haas

Neal is nit a 4th liner

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

I'm as excited as the next Oil fan that Drai's bff is coming to Edmonton, but Kahun is getting a little overrated tbh. Ee had some killer numbers back in the day in Germany with LD, hit an impressive 37 pts in his rookie season with Chicago, then 31 pts last year in 56 games. Worthy to note that in 2 seasons, he's been on 3 different teams, and about to be his 4th. Not sure why, he's been a positive +/- on all 3 teams he played for, and had some impressive numbers.

But Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a premier, massively underrated 200 foot dynamic forward, with a decade of NHL experience. We saw what Leon and Yamo did in the playoffs without Nuge, and how dominant they were when Tippett finally decided to reunite them in the last period of an elimination game. They were the best line the league, and RNH was the catalyst to Leon's entry into the triple trophy exclusive club.

RNH should be married to Draisaitl and Yamo going forward. Kahun is a perfect compliment for McDavid and Kassian/Puljujarvi

 

[BarDownBobo]

I'm as excited as the next Oil fan that Drai's bff is coming to Edmonton, but Kahun is getting a little overrated tbh. Ee had some killer numbers back in the day in Germany with LD, hit an impressive 37 pts in his rookie season with Chicago, then 31 pts last year in 56 games. Worthy to note that in 2 seasons, he's been on 3 different teams, and about to be his 4th. Not sure why, he's been a positive +/- on all 3 teams he played for, and had some impressive numbers.

But Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a premier, massively underrated 200 foot dynamic forward, with a decade of NHL experience. We saw what Leon and Yamo did in the playoffs without Nuge, and how dominant they were when Tippett finally decided to reunite them in the last period of an elimination game. They were the best line the league, and RNH was the catalyst to Leon's entry into the triple trophy exclusive club.

RNH should be married to Draisaitl and Yamo going forward. Kahun is a perfect compliment for McDavid and Kassian/Puljujarvi

The four teams in three years is a bit odd straight up, but when you dig deeper into the moves where he was traded away it makes more sense. Chicago wanted to add a piece on the back end in Maata, and knew they had Kubalik coming who they felt could fill a similar role. Pittsburgh needed to bring back Sheary to play alongside Crosby. So he’s been traded twice because he was viewed as a valuable piece. Buffalo not qualifying him is a bit of a head scratcher, but since he had arb rights they were likely worried about that like Holland was with AA. They didn’t want to end up locked into him when they wanted to go big fish hunting.

 

[shoop]

Neal is nit a 4th liner

Neal on the fourth line as part of PP1 is good for the Oilers.

Nuge - Drai - Yamamoto
Kahnu - McDavid - Kassian
Ennis - Turris - Puljujarvi
Neal - Haas - Chiasson

 

[SwedishFire]

Neal on the fourth line as part of PP1 is good for the Oilers.

Nuge - Drai - Yamamoto
Kahnu - McDavid - Kassian
Ennis - Turris - Puljujarvi
Neal - Haas - Chiasson

I dont like a player of Archibalds caliber sitting.

Nuge McDavid Kassian to begin with
Kahun Draisait Yammer
Ennis Turris Puljujärvi - is an interresting line
Neal Haas Archibald

later in the season, it would be interresting to go with

Nuge McDavid Kahun
Haas/Pulj Draisaitl Yammer
Neal Turris Archibald
shutdown line of Benson/Ennis Khaira/Haas Chiasson/Kassian

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I dont like a player of Archibalds caliber sitting.

Nuge McDavid Kassian to begin with
Kahun Draisait Yammer
Ennis Turris Puljujärvi - is an interresting line
Neal Haas Archibald

later in the season, it would be interresting to go with

Nuge McDavid Kahun
Haas/Pulj Draisaitl Yammer
Neal Turris Archibald
shutdown line of Benson/Ennis Khaira/Haas Chiasson/Kassian

Chiasson is a better player than archibald.

 

[tardigrade81]

Neal on the fourth line as part of PP1 is good for the Oilers.

Nuge - Drai - Yamamoto
Kahnu - McDavid - Kassian
Ennis - Turris - Puljujarvi
Neal - Haas - Chiasson

I like this.

 

[SwedishFire]

Is Nygård gone for the season?

the subs out of top 12 is in order Nygård, Archibald, Khaira, Benson.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Is Nygård gone for the season?

the subs out of top 12 is in order Nygård, Archibald, Khaira, Benson.

Incredible how 3 of those were somewhat regulars last year.

 

[TheNumber4]

Everyone's always talkin bout RNH w Drai or RNH w McD. The REAL chemistry if you look at the points RNH produced last year is with YAMO. Whatever happens, the true pair we should be keeping together is RNH-YAMO. I wonder if they could anchor their own deadly 3rd line even with Nuge back at center, but with Turris in this is moot.

Last year I would have atleast tried
Drai-McD
RNH-Yamo
As the pairs in the top 6, McDrai would have dominated any first line in the league. RNH-Yamo would have been special IMO.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Everyone's always talkin bout RNH w Drai or RNH w McD. The REAL chemistry if you look at the points RNH produced last year is with YAMO. Whatever happens, the true pair we should be keeping together is RNH-YAMO. I wonder if they could anchor their own deadly 3rd line even with Nuge back at center, but with Turris in this is moot.

Last year I would have atleast tried
Drai-McD
RNH-Yamo
As the pairs in the top 6, McDrai would have dominated any first line in the league. RNH-Yamo would have been special IMO.

Draisaitl and McDavid were both better when separated.

 

[Oilhawks]

Everyone's always talkin bout RNH w Drai or RNH w McD. The REAL chemistry if you look at the points RNH produced last year is with YAMO. Whatever happens, the true pair we should be keeping together is RNH-YAMO. I wonder if they could anchor their own deadly 3rd line even with Nuge back at center, but with Turris in this is moot.

Last year I would have atleast tried
Drai-McD
RNH-Yamo
As the pairs in the top 6, McDrai would have dominated any first line in the league. RNH-Yamo would have been special IMO.

I get what you’re saying but you’re severely underrating Drai’s role on that line. His size, strength and skill allows them to better control the pace of the game while RNH was able to stealth in and out of dangerous areas (Yams did this too) while Yams was tenacious on the puck and creating chaos. You would need a winger like Maroon (preferably faster) to make that work.

 

[Stoneman89]

Since the Nuge, Yams and Drai were magic last year and in a relatively small sample size formed one of the most effective lines in the NHL, I say you keep them together until they need a "jolt".

When that time comes, you can try Kahun in Nuge's spot because......

A.) he's German so it should be automatic that he and Drai click
B.) they're long time friends and it should be automatic that he and Drai click
C.) they played together when teenagers, so it's reasonable to expect they should be magic together now in the pros.
D.) there is some actual chemistry and he fits in on that line.

 

[Zenos]

I like this.

I like that group too. Only question is, who's doing the PKing? I'd like to get away from using Nuge and Drai on the penalty-kill, considering how much they'll probably be playing 5-5.

 

[tardigrade81]

I like that group too. Only question is, who's doing the PKing? I'd like to get away from using Nuge and Drai on the penalty-kill, considering how much they'll probably be playing 5-5.

Hmmm fair point. Granted Drai is a killer. He seems to be used to a ridiculous amount of ice time but I do see your point.

 

[ManofSteel55]

McDavid-Drai-RNH. We've seen that before. Hardly anything came out of RNH centering the 3rd line. He's a good complementary player playing with either McDavid or Drai. This is not me downplaying RNH. Just prefer to play him at his strength and that's on the wing

Nuge's third line had wingers Lucic and Pulujarvi. Of course he didn't produce.

But I'd still rather keep him as a top six winger. Turris is too good for 4C.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Keep RNH on that line. Don't fix something that isn't broken. Tippet tried that for some idiotic reason and that may have been the main factor that lost us the playoffs... Kahun could be very useful on that line if Yamamoto or RNH get hurt though. He's a good back up option.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Disagree.

Draisaitl has averaged a 16.9 SH% in his career and has been getting better averaging 18.08 over the last 3 years.

RNH is no slouch either averaging 11.9 in his career and 14.05 over the last 3 years.

The only candidate for regression is Yamamoto since he’s relatively new and rolled a 25% last year (yes really).

You will see a slight dip, but it won’t be that considerable while the German machine is on that line.

That's the thing with shooting percentages - when you play with guys like McDavid and Draisaitl, you're going to be getting much higher quality setups then pretty much anyone else.

 

[McDNicks17]

That's the thing with shooting percentages - when you play with guys like McDavid and Draisaitl, you're going to be getting much higher quality setups then pretty much anyone else.

That's true, but not to the extent they were.

Their onSH% would have been 1st in the league with the same gap between it and the 2nd highest as the 2nd highest and 104th highest. We aren't talking about slightly inflated numbers. They're numbers that even Drai and McDavid haven't come close to maintaining over a season together.

 

[bucks_oil]

Kahun.
It will be. new thing for Draisaitl, as there is bow not a slow junior league, but worth trying.

McDavids play needs one smart player and one strong player with the head on the right place.

Kassian is OK, but maybe try ti squeeze out something out of Neal here. Or Chiasson , one of the worst skaters out there though.

RNH McD Neal/Kassian/Chiasson whatever that floats somehow. Neal would be ideal, if he finds the shooting lanes.

Kahin Frai Yam - heavy ligting for the hart winner.

Ennis Turris Chiasson/Neal/Kassian - what is left over.
or Puljijärvi if he is in Canada at all!

Archibald (he can play LW) Khaira/Quine/ Haas RW is the left option of Chiasson/Kassian/Haas

Neal is nit a 4th liner

I'm generally of the opinion that we should keep Nuge/Drai/Yama together... but I really like the idea of Nuge/McD/Neal.

Neal himself has said he's more comfortable on the RW and I think that line could destroy, even at EV, which would go a long way toward making our team competitive. Plus with Nuge better defensively (at least on the back check) than Drai, it would really help take some weight off McD's shoulders. I predict that line would have 3 x 30+ goal scorers.

You've convinced me, but if they put Neal on line 3 or 4 then I'm back at Nuge with Drai.

 

[alphahelix]

Chiasson is a better player than archibald.

This is crazy. I like Chiasson’s size and effort but Archibald is insanely underrated here. Top PKer, great skater, good at even strength — definitely top 9 player In todays NHL. Chiasson is an effective hockey player but probably a bottom sixer in any line configuration at ES. I don’t think either of them should be sitting.

 

[SwedishFire]

This is crazy. I like Chiasson’s size and effort but Archibald is insanely underrated here. Top PKer, great skater, good at even strength — definitely top 9 player In todays NHL. Chiasson is an effective hockey player but probably a bottom sixer in any line configuration at ES. I don’t think either of them should be sitting.

Archibald is an amazing skater.
I dont know why he doesnt score more goals. Bad shooter? Poor hockey understanding?

 

[Stoneman89]

Archibald is an amazing skater.
I dont know why he doesnt score more goals. Bad shooter? Poor hockey understanding?

Too much LOFT.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

I'm as excited as the next Oil fan that Drai's bff is coming to Edmonton, but Kahun is getting a little overrated tbh. Ee had some killer numbers back in the day in Germany with LD, hit an impressive 37 pts in his rookie season with Chicago, then 31 pts last year in 56 games. Worthy to note that in 2 seasons, he's been on 3 different teams, and about to be his 4th. Not sure why, he's been a positive +/- on all 3 teams he played for, and had some impressive numbers.

But Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a premier, massively underrated 200 foot dynamic forward, with a decade of NHL experience. We saw what Leon and Yamo did in the playoffs without Nuge, and how dominant they were when Tippett finally decided to reunite them in the last period of an elimination game. They were the best line the league, and RNH was the catalyst to Leon's entry into the triple trophy exclusive club.

RNH should be married to Draisaitl and Yamo going forward. Kahun is a perfect compliment for McDavid and Kassian/Puljujarvi

Dave Tippett should have been quarantined all summer for that plague of a performance behind the bench.

 

[Samus44]

Hopkins-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Kahun-McDavid-Kassian
Ennis-Turris-Puljujarvi
Nygard-Kharia-Archibald
Neal-Haas-Chiasson

Ideally Puljujarvi can force Kassian down a line. I think Kahun's smart efficient skill game will mesh well with McDavid. Kahun can get him the puck and make the right offensive play. Puljujarvi and Kassian could both be really effective playing up and down the wing, Puljujarvi in particular might be our best option for a guy who can be an effective running mate on the rush. If the Oilers really feel the need to try Kahun with Draisaitl I'd rather they play Hopkins and Yamamoto with McDavid. I think keeping Hopkins and Yamamoto together is key for a dominate two way line.

The bottom 6 wingers are strong IMO with a wide variety of skills and proven skillsets. I really like the option of Turris as 3C but I think it means the 4C will be needed for key defensive duties. It's a gamble if Haas or Kharia can fill Sheahan's shoes. If Haas can figure out draws and be stronger on his skates he could surprise enough to be a key player moving forward. Kharia was strong after being moved to C late and is talented but faceoffs and inconsistency are a real concern. I do think he's always been more comfortable in the middle as he keeps his feet moving. Hopefully at least one of them puts it all together and can even be an upgrade.