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PSG3 - Canucks @ Oilers - Centre Battle

September 19, 2019, 8:40 PM ET [84 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Three games into pre-season and the Edmonton Oilers really aren't much closer to whittling down the roster than they were at the beginning. A number of positions are still up for grabs with one of the key positions being the bottom 6 centre jobs.

Riley Sheahan is almost certainly a lock for one of the jobs. He was signed to a one year deal worth 900,000 and has the most NHL experience of any of the candidates. Tippett isn't looking at his bottom two lines as a third and fourth line. He wants a heavier line and a more speed and skilled based line.

Tonight the four Oilers lines will be centred by players competing for the same spot.

Ryan McLeod - Impressed a year ago in training camp with his speed, skill in the dot, and overall ability. Though he is still only 19 the coaching staff has been very impressed with him thus far.

Cooper Marody - Coming off a successful AHL season, playing at over a ppg. Foot speed is his biggest issue to overcome but he has all the tools of an NHL centre.

Gaetan Haas - The European is still adjusting to the North American game and has yet to really stand out but he is an older player who can score goals.

Brad Malone - The 30 year old is dangerously close to being completely surpasses by a number of players. This is likely his last chance to make his mark.

OILERS LINEUP

Nygard-McLeod-Neal
Jurco-Marody-Chiasson
Benson-Haas-P. Russell
Granlund-Malone-Peluso

Klefbom-Persson
Samorukov-Benning
Lowe-Jones

Koskinen
Starrett

CANUCKS LINEUP

Baertschi-Horvat-Miller
Eriksson-Gaudette-Leivo
Schaller-Beagle-Motte
Ferraro-Jasek-Bailey

Brisebois-Tanev
Benn-Stecher
Fantenberg-Rafferty

Markstrom
Bachman

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OILERS PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - JOAKIM NYGARD

Nygard, like Haas, hasn't immediately stood out, despite his years of professional hockey in Europe. Tonight Nygard will play alongside the skilled Ryan McLeod and the veteran James Neal. Nygard needs to show he can produce when put next to skilled players.

CANUCKS PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - TROY STECHER

The 25 year old defenseman came into the league a couple seasons ago and Canucks fans thought he would continue to trend upward but his point production has stagnated. With the likes of Hughes soon slotting into the lineup, Stecher needs to seperate himself from the pack.

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3 KEYS TO VICTORY

Koskinen Starts - Mikko Koskinen's battle to prove himself as an NHL goalie starts once again tonight. The netminder had a strong showing for half of last season before taking a massive nosedive.

Facing A Real Goalie - On the other end of the ice will be the starting netminder for Vancouver, Jacob Markstrom. For the young prospects on the Oilers roster, they need to find ways to get qualty shots on net and not become frustrated by playing against a goalie much better than what they usually face.

Klefbom-Persson II - In their first game the Klefbom and Persson pairing looked confident and played off each other well. In that game, they played against a very weak Jets roster. Tonight they will be up against some of Vancouver's best, most notably Bo Horvat. Persson showed well before, now he needs to do it again and again.

FILM OF THE DAY

Centres.... centre.... centre of the Earth.... core..... The Core...

Hey it's pre-season for me too...

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