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Training Camp Day 1 Begins

January 4, 2021, 4:13 PM ET [8 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


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We are back and it feels so good to say.

Today the Edmonton Oilers took to the ice for the first time as a full group. Of course the first thing people want to dissect when training camp starts are the line combinations.

A quick note; James Neal, Domink Kahun, Gaetan Haas, and Devin Shore were not on the ice and were deemed unfit to play. The "unfit to play" moniker has been in place since the playoffs last season and is being used for a number of reasons COVID related or not. Haas in particular was mentioned earlier as needing to quarantine longer since coming overseas and as soon as I have more details I will update these further.

Here are the lines as were skating today:

RNH-McDavid-Kassian
Ennis-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Archibald-Turris-Puljujarvi
Nygard-Khaira-Chiasson
Benson-McLeod-Russell
Quine-Marody-Cracknell

Nurse-Bear
Russell-Barrie
Jones-Larsson
Koekkoek-Bouchard
Lagesson-Lennstrom
Niemelainen-Stanton

Nothing should come as too big of a shock here, plus it being day 1 and the missing faces means plenty can and will still change. A few thoughts though.

- No one should be surprised at seeing RNH reunited with Kassian on the top line with Connor McDavid. It was the line that Tippett stuck with throughout the playoffs and RNH and McDavid have shown great chemistry. Some will be dissapointed at not seeing RNH with Drai and Yamo but McDavid needs at least one strong top six option on his wing.

- Ennis slotted up with Draisaitl which may only be because Kahun was out or Tippett may actually want him there. I think Kahun will need to beat out Ennis for that spot; competition is never a bad thing.

- It was great to see Puljujarvi back on the ice once again as an Edmonton Oiler. As expected JP is playing with Kyle Turris on the third line with Josh Archibald currently playing his off-wing, likely due to Kahun being out.

- I do not like the idea of a Russell and Barrie pairing. Both skate well but that feels like a ticking time bomb in the defensive end. Jones and Larsson could be a great shutdown pairing so perhaps for offensive starts Russell and Barrie work. Something to keep a critical eye on.

- The message seems clear pairing Slater Koekkoek and Evan Bouchard. Both players are currently on the outside looking in on this roster and will need to outperform at least one player above them on the depth chart in order to be a lock on this roster.

- There is going to be some real competition for the 4th line centre position with Khaira and Haas but I would not count out Ryan McLeod as a dark horse candidate this year.

I'll update if more big news drops otherwise stay tuned tomorrow for more updates.
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