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Athanasiou at Centre Addresses A Big Hole

July 7, 2020, 1:04 PM ET [21 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
One area that will need to be addressed this off-season for the Edmonton Oilers is to fill the hole at the third line centre position. Though not every player is a perfect fit, Tippett has enough options on his roster to fill out every other position, but there is no one currently on the roster who can be the third line centre. Or is there?

Enter Athanasiou.

It was a rough year for the 25 year old forward. He spent the first half of the year playing on a historically bad Red Wings team, resulting in his lowest point totals of his career. He dealt with injury and was then traded to Edmonton, where aside from a good first game, struggled to fit in on this lineup.

Holland gave up two second round picks for this forward not only because he had the ability to help on a playoff run, but because he believed he could be an important piece on this team moving forward.

At first fans were salivating over seeing two of the fastest players in the league in Athanasiou and McDavid streaking down the ice together. That never really came to fruition and while the sample size was tiny (only 44 minutes together at 5 on 5), the two never seemed to click.

A likely reason why is the fact the Athanasiou and McDavid are both at their best when they are able to be the puck carrier and obviously McDavid will be that guy on any line he is playing on, leaving AA without a defined role.

Athanasiou was originally drafted as a centreman but Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, bounced him between his natural position and the wing, often times playing up with the likes of Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin. However, it was in the 2018/2019 season, where Athanasiou had his best season production wise; a year where he played far more at a centre, taking more faceoffs than any other season in his young career.

Here is a quote directly from AA on his thoughts of playing at centre.

"I think you can skate a little more," in the D zone you're a little more active, you can come under the puck. I can carry a lot of speed, come under it and carry it up the ice. I'm pretty comfortable there. It's a lot of fun playing center."


Also a couple words from his old coach, Jeff Blashill.

"The difference between center and wing for him is he's a guy who skates when he gets the puck, AA kind of waits until he gets the puck. Well, it's kind of hard to get it on the wing as much. You get it way more at center. I just think getting him in the middle of the ice where he can get the puck and attack up the ice at speed probably is using his best attributes."


This reinforces what we have seen in the short time that AA has been with the Oilers organization. He is a player who is most engaged in the play when he is able to carry the puck and get his legs moving. The Edmonton Oilers already have the best 1-2 punch at centre in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Adding Athanasiou as a fast puck carrying option on the third line would only bolster this unit.

Building the forward unit for next season, purely based on players currently in the system, we could see something like this:

RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Ennis-McDavid-Kassian
Neal-Athanasiou-Archibald
Nygard-Haas-Chiasson

In this situation, Athanasiou gets a pure shooter in James Neal, along with a guy who can cash in on the greasy goals and play with some speed in Josh Archibald.

With limited cap space available for the next few seasons, Holland and Tippett need to make the most of the assets they currently have in place. Unless he is traded, which I find unlikely, the team will need to re-up AA at least at his current 3 million dollar contract. There are a number of options that can play in the top 9 on the wing, but Athanasiou has the unique skill set that could make him perfect as the third line centre.

Thanks for reading.
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