I mean it’s quite a bit different. Savoie was drafted 9 OA in 2022, this isn’t a second or third round pick that’s had a few promising years. He’s got pedigree.
Unless he has an unreal camp and preseason he’s gonna start in Bakersfield.
I imagine either the Oilers pick up one more depth centre and start the year like:
Nuge-McDavid-Hyman
Skinner-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Janmark-Henrqiue-Brown
Holloway-Hamblin/Ryan/4C-Perry
Line 4 will get more 5 on 5 ice while Line 3 will get a full compliment of PK usage.
You can easily also shift Nuge to C too
You missed Kane.
Henrique scored 24 goals last year, he's going to get his minutes at evens.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see some wild lineups this year, like McDavid Nuge Drasaitl Henrique down the middle, hell they could run a Nuge-McDavid-Drai line now and still have threats down the lineup.
With Kane healthy, I don't see Janmark-Henrique-Brown sticking together, you can't stick Kane on the fourth line with no one to play with. However, IF Savoie cracks the lineup, you could have some insane looking lineups:
Savoie - McDavid - Hyman
Skinner - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Kane - Nuge - Holloway
Janmark - Henrique - Brown
Without Savoie, throw Perry in and you could do:
Skinner - McDavid - Hyman
Henrique - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Kane - Nuge - Perry
Janmark - Holloway - Brown
Stacking McDrai:
Draisaitl - McDavid - Hyman
Skinner - Henrique - Arvidsson
Kane - Nuge - Holloway
Janmark - Ryan - Brown
There's so many different configurations they could use now. It's going to be so difficult to game plan against.