This morning I wake up to an Oiler lineup in flux. There’s the obvious change that they will experience and the looming threat of even more to come soon. Taylor Hall is the obvious change. Missing him leaves a huge hole, one that will be difficult to replace but depth at wing is the one place this team truly has strength. Waiting for the Ference suspension and not knowing when Nikitin will come back are the other two major lineup questions.
HALL
Hall cut towards the net and Tanev drove him into the iron for a nasty spill. The team’s best player left his feet and that might have been the difference between a few weeks and the entire season. In mid-air his knee collided with the post and he went tumbling dangerously towards the boards. He left the game, not to return, but he at least did so without the use of crutches. It would be determined on Sunday that he had a sprained MCL and would be out 2-4 weeks. Hockey players are notorious for taking the shortest time possible off for injuries, but knees are different. If it isn’t right Hall’s effectiveness will plummet.
What happens to fill his spot is the most interesting question facing the club. I see 3 options with varying levels of change for the rest of the lineup.
1) Almost No Change. The Oilers recall Iiro Pakarinen from the AHL where he has 7GP, 5-3-8 and spot him into Hall’s position on the roster. Pakarinen instead of Acton because the team presumably wants somebody who can fill in on the top line vs the bottom. Pakarinen is a right-shooting Right Winger but he’s 23 years old, 6’1”, 215 pounds and one of the best options the AHL has for the team because of a few injuries and his production. Observers note that he plays a similar game to Hartikainen but with better hands (and likely a better skater). This option produces the least amount of change as none of the other lines are affected by the loss of Hall.
2) Left Shift Up. Purcel joins RNH and Eberle, Pouliot plays with Drai, Hendricks plays with Arco, and Acton plays with Gordon. Every line is affected but only on the left side. Purcell has looked pretty good and has a history playing with skill. Pouliot gets promoted where he gets a few more minutes and hopefully produces more. Hendricks can hopefully create some more room for the Arco line, which hasn’t been getting much done out there. Since that line wont be playing much anyway it should leave Hendricks still available to draw in on the Gordon line in key situations. Acton takes Hendrick’s spot on the 4th that isn’t really the 4th where he can do the things he’s decent at without having too much expected from him.
3) MacBlender. This is a chance for Eakins to go hog wild with the lineup. Split up RNH and Eberle, move Yak to the left side, play Perron 18 minutes a night, make Schultz a forward, whatever he wants. Putting Perron on the 1st line with RNH and Yakupov and making the 2nd be Purcell with Draisaitl and Eberle could be fun for a game or two. The possibilities are endless and it just might find a duo with chemistry that we didn’t anticipate before. This option obviously creates the most havoc, but given the fact that the team isn’t getting the job done on a regular basis it might be good to give it a big shakeup. If Eakins goes full MacT here who would you like to see playing together?
UPDATE
It looks like Edmonton is going with the LW Shift.
FERENCE
Ference popped Kassian right in the face with a shoulder (flowers are in the mail). It’s the kind of play that 10 years ago the CBC frames as Ference making life difficult for the opposition. Today the game has changed and head shots are not welcome at all so we expect Ference to miss games for the play, even if it was on Kassian. He’s getting a phone hearing today so this is less than 5 games (as it should be). I don’t think there’s a fan of the Oilers anywhere that is critical of Ference for making that hit though. It was well supported.
The problem is that Nikita Nikitin was placed on the IR and Hunt was placed on waivers too. It’s unclear when Nikitin will be removed from the IR as back spasms are a fickle injury. It could be right away, it could another week, it’s almost impossible to estimate. Brad Hunt never should have stayed up after the Predators fiasco and I’m happy they recalled Klefbom. Hunt and Schultz struggled again in their own zone and under pressure against the Canucks. Seeing them on the ice in the final minute of the first period it seemed only a matter of time before Vancouver scored, and they did.
Klefbom has been the dominant defenseman in the AHL this year that he was not last season. He is 6GP, 1-6-7 with the Barons. He added a level of offense early on that simply wasn’t there before. He was 48GP, 1-9-10 last season in the AHL. Sending him back looks like a huge success and now he should be coming into the NHL with a lot of confidence in offensive situations. If he takes Hunt’s spot that means playing with Jultz in those OZ starts against soft competition. If this goes well for him he wont see another game in the AHL.
There is one problem though. Assuming the Oilers lose Ference for a game or two the club will still be down 1 defender. It will be:
Klefbom Schultz
??? Petry
Marincin Fayne
The Oilers placed Hunt on waivers for reassignment and don’t have another player up with the team that can fill in on Defense. Either they received word ahead of time that Ference will get a slap on the wrists like a max fine instead of games lost, or they will correct course ASAP and recall Hunt. [Added For Clarity] Just placing Hunt on Waivers doesn't mean he's actually gone anywhere physically, but it does speak to the team's intention of not using him. Alternatively they will get the news and recall Musil or some other AHL defender.
The Oilers are about to change their lineup and they don’t really know by how much or how little just yet. It could be a couple little tweaks, it could be a complete overhaul. We wait.
UPDATE
Andrew Ference has been suspended 3 games by the NHL.
UPDATE 2
The Oilers recall Aulie. I honestly have no idea why him.
UPDATE 3
Nikitin will play tomorrow! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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