I love the makeup of the Oilers top three lines as they currently stand. Kane-McDavid-Puljujarvi are a mix of high flying speed, big hits, and strong board work. The Draisaitl-Hyman-Yamamoto line is able to take on the toughest competition and also aggressively attack the puck. And now we have seen Woodcroft reunite the Foegele-RNH-Ryan line which has strong underlying numbers at 5 on 5. Overall these three lines can match up against any other lineup in the NHL.

The fourth line is another story. McLeod is a great player and strong at both ends of the ice and has very quickly become one of the best penalty killers on the team. Brassard can contribute offensively but is a streaky player. Devin Shore has turned his underlying numbers around under Woodcroft and is a solid fourth line player as well. Kassian and Archibald

I do wonder if it makes more sense to switch back to the 11/7 format for a time. Keep the top three lines as they are and for argument sake let's take Shore and McLeod on the fourth line. You could double shift Draisaitl, McDavid or even RNH alongside these two players from time to time and have one more really strong forward group to put out onto the ice.

The reason I would be more preferable to this format would be to relieve some ice time away from the likes of Darnell Nurse, Ceci, Keith, and Bouchard. Ceci has been subpar as of late and I do wonder if the sheer number of minutes he is playing is simply starting to wear on the player. Nurse and Keith have both been making some very noticeable and dangerous mistakes that have lead to high quality scoring chances, as has the young Evan Bouchard.

Bringing a 7th defender into the mix could help to relieve some of those minutes and keep the Oilers top four players fresher for the post-season. Who would be this 7th defender? With Broberg injured, Markus Niemelainen would be my choice and probably even if Broberg was healthy.

In the last game against the LA Kings we once again saw the refs put away the whistles. Heavy hits were dolled out by both sides. The Kings worry me in a long playoff series. The Kings playoff teams of the past always seemed to just squeak into the post-season but once they were there they would simply grind their opponents out until they were all limping off the ice. Edmonton has some players who play this style but on the blue line the Oil don't have anyone with the same skillset as Niemelainen.

Rotating in Niemelainen to throw some heavy hits and keep the Kings or whoever the Oil matchup against in the first round a bit more honest seems like an excellent strategy. I wonder if we will see this at all in any games in the next couple of weeks.

Tonight should be a fun affair against the Avalanche. Last time these two teams met, it was a high tempo game with star level skill on display for both sides. The game ended in a highly weird way in overtime with an Oilers loss but it was a game that helped to show that Edmonton could dance with arguably the best team in hockey.

Enjoy the game tonight!

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