Proposal: Predictions for the Oilers lines, come playoffs.

Jones and Kapanen are the easy scratches. Even on defense, Stecher and Emberson sit.

Although an issue is that we might have to replace 5 forwards. Do we really scratch Janmark? It may disturb some, but I see Jeff Skinner as a potential scratch. Could Henrique sit? Probably not him since he's a center. I don't see Brown coming out. I don't see Perry out either
I don’t think Henrique sits. I think Janmark, Brown and Perry (if he gets gassed) should all be on the bubble. I don’t think Kapanen or Jones should be in the lineup of a team hoping to make noise.
 
Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl
Skinner-RNH-Hyman
Kane-Frederic-Arvidsson
Henrique-Philp-Brown

Janmark, Perry, Kapanen, Ryan, Savoie

Dependent on Kane and Frederic health.

High on Philp, he's young and moves well. I have a feeling he gets a chance in the playoffs and stays in. Group is way too old. I see Henrique, Perry in the lineup and while Perry brings a benefit, having them out on the ice in the playoffs is terrifying. I'd rather have Philp there who is a fast guy who, like Holloway, Broberg, and Bouchard before him, I can see settling into the big moments of the playoffs and be a good 4th liner for us in limited minutes. Fact of the matter is that fourth line won't get much ice, rather Philp out there. That's the key controversial pick from my group.

Kane-Frederic-Arvidsson if healthy will be an incredible line. Frederic has played a bit of centre. If he has to go to the wing, everything is jumped.

You can't separate McDrai. Let them run wild and demand more from RNH.

I also think there's a chance Savoie steps in at some point when they realize Henrique is too slow. Someone is going to take that spot, and with Philp in all likelihood not actually being in the lineup, there will be room for him and Janmark to come in. Savoie likely drops Skinner/Pod down the lineup.

We've seen every single year the coaching staff out of desperation throw these young guys in because the vets aren't getting it done. We've seen them flourish. I'm not high on Savoie as a player but he has played well in the AHL and he might surprise us.
 
With the most recent injury news I really don’t have much faith in Frederick or Kane playing significant roles to start the playoffs, who knows if they are even ready to go by then. I still think the best lineup has McDavid, Draisaitl and RNH on seperate lines.

Skinner/McDavid/Brown
Arvidsson-Draisaitl-Perry
Podkolzin-RNH-Hyman
Janmark-Henrique-Kane
Frederic (inj?)
Savoie/Philp/Ryan

I think you could mix and match the wingers as you please. Kane can move up the lineup if his play warrants it and Perry can move down. Frederic idk what to expect.

Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Kulak
Walman-Stecher
Emberson

I don’t have a huge preference between this lineup vs a setup with Nurse and Walman. Kulak and Stecher I haven’t liked which is why I opted for the above.
 
Well here is my best guess. I bet we see these forward lines game 1

Skinner Mcdavid Brown
Podkolzin Drai Arvy
Kane RNH Hyman
Janmark Rico Perry

If Kane is out Perry to line 3 and Kapanen to line 4

Kulak Bouchard
Nurse Stecher
Walman Emberson. (maybe Walman with Bouchard)

Skinner
Picard

Ekholm done for 5 weeks minimum so IDK where that would put it time wise in the playoffs. Maybe switch the goalies, but I lean to skinner getting the start.
 
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Well here is my best guess. I bet we see these forward lines game 1

Skinner Mcdavid Brown
Podkolzin Drai Arvy
Kane RNH Hyman
Janmark Rico Perry

If Kane is out Perry to line 3 and Kapanen to line 4

Kulak Bouchard
Nurse Stecher
Walman Emberson

Skinner
Picard

Ekholm done for 5 weeks minimum so IDK where that would put it time wise in the playoffs. Maybe switch the goalies, but i lean to skinner getting the start.
Where did you get 5 weeks from?
 
Let's see, no Kane, no Frederic, no Ekholm, no Klingberg (which is ok), quite possibly no Hyman, it will be whatever the beat up Condors can send us. If the Condors are eliminated from the playoffs or do not make the playoffs then perhaps Savoie and or Ryan or Cagguila gets in if Cagguila is healthy enough to play but he is banged up as well.

Anyone knows what happened to Derek Ryan, he is not on the Condors active roster. He got sent down after the one game and I cannot imagine he was too happy with that. Did they just tell him that he has been a good soldier and to take the rest of the year off?

Skinner Mcdavid Brown
Podkolzin Drai Arvy
Henrique RNH Perry
Jones Philp Kapanen

Walman Bouchard
Nurse Stecher
Kulak Emberson (Kulak will have elevated minutes)

Skinner starting and if he shits the bed in Game 1 then Picard takes over Game 2.

We need a split in the first 2 in LA assuming we do not have home ice or its Game Over early in Round 1.
 
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Nuge - McDavid - Hyman
Arvidsson - Drai - Podkolzin
Kane - Frederic - Skinner
Brown - Henrique - Perry
Janmark/Jones

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Walman
Kulak - Klingberg
Emberson/Stecher

Skinner
Pickard

We know Knob likes both of those top 6 lines. Kane and Frederic could create havoc while Skinner adds more skill. The 4th line is basically a rotation of guys who were on our 3rd line last year and were killing it.
This totally looks like what Knob would do. A big mess but realistic.
 
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Henrique should be far away from this roster, but they won't do it. He's getting killed even as 4th line C. He can't skate anymore. A serious organization would've given Philip a longer runway here. Seems like Henrique is on the ice on every goal against these days.
 
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Playoffs are just around the corner. Predict your playoff lines for the Oilers!

Hyman Mcdavid Skinner
Brown Draisaitl Frederic
Arvidson Nuge Podz
Kane Henrique Perry
Kapanen
Janmark

Ekholm Bouchard
Nurse Walman
Kulak Stetcher
Klingberg/Emberson

Picard
Skinner
Depending on who's available. I guess
Hyman-McDavid-Brown
Arvidsson-Draisaitl-RNH
Skinner-Henrique-Podkolzin
Janmark-Frederic-Perry
Kane, Kapanen

Nurse-Bouchard
Wahlman-Kulak
Stecher-Emberson
 
Well the kings with another W so we're locked in 3rd now. Eckholm is done. Doesn't look like Freddie or Kane are gonna be game 1 ready. Hell Kane hasn't played in nearly a year so he gonna be rusty as fk and definitely a step behind. Everything that could go wrong pretty much has since 4 nations cup

Not expecting much of anything now this post season. This year has been brutal pretty much since the start filled with nothing but excuses.

Here goes nothing I guess. I assume first game will be Saturday night
 
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Well the kings with another W so we're locked in 3rd now. Eckholm is done. Doesn't look like Freddie or Kane are gonna be game 1 ready. Hell Kane hasn't played in nearly a year so he gonna be rusty as fk and definitely a step behind. Everything that could go wrong pretty much has since 4 nations cup

Not expecting much of anything now this post season. This year has been brutal pretty much since the start filled with nothing but excuses.

Here goes nothing I guess. I assume first game will be Saturday night
Ya, without Ekholm we are pretty cooked. Kulak is going to need to become a folk hero and Nurse has to play the best hockey of his career.

This entire season was a swift kick in the balls
 
So Brown returned to the lineup for Bakersfield last night.

I know people here aren't his biggest fans, but with Ekholm potentially out, I think they'll need his size vs LA.

Leaves you with...

Walman-Bouchard
Nurse-Stecher
Kulak-Brown

Similar deloyment to December, where Kulak stepped in for Stecher and played next to Nurse for most key situations.


Still, no Ekholm has me wanting to grab my "The End is Near" sign from the closest, as this feels like deck chairs on the Titanic.

1744510175150.jpeg



Though they didn't need Ekholm to beat LA the first time. That was...

Nurse-Ceci
Keith-Bouchard
Kulak-Barrie
 
Realistic guess based on how Knob has run his lines I’d expect this as a base:

X - McDavid - Hyman
X - Draisaitl - X
Podkolzin - RNH - Arvidsson
Janmark - Henrique - Brown

McDavid, Drai and RNH down the middle
McDavid and Hyman duo
Podkolzin + Arvidsson duo either with Drai or RNH
Janmark - Henrique - Brown 4th line hoping to continue their success from last playoffs

Which leaves three spots for J. Skinner, Perry, Kapanen, Philp and Jones with Kane and Frederic drawing in later.


Personally, with the bodies we have now I’d go:


Skinner - McDavid - Hyman
Henrique - Draisaitl - Kapanen
Podkolzin - RNH - Arvidsson
Janmark - Philp - Brown


Kulak - Bouchard
Nurse - Stetcher
Walman - Emberson


Pickard
Skinner


I’d have the three lefties anchoring their own pairings and spread out the minutes evenly. If Hyman isn’t good to go I’d call up Savoie, ditto with Walman and Dineen.

I’d like to see Skinner get an extended run with McDavid and Hyman.

Podz and Arvi seem to work better with RNH as of late, they defer too much when playing with Drai.

Henrique seems better on the wing and Kapanen adds some speed to that line.

I’d have Perry in the lineup over Janmark or Brown but Knob isn’t going to scratch any of his PK’ers and Perry over Kapanen seems like too slow of a second line. Though Knob choosing Perry over J. Skinner wouldn’t surprise me.

I’m not sure that the coach trusts Philp enough at this point to start at 4C in the post season but he’s looked fine in that role to my eye.



I’ve been pretty optimistic about what this group could do in the post season when everyone got healthy. Now with no Ekholm and all our important players limping into the playoffs my expectations have cratered. I think even with an injured McDavid and Draisaitl they have enough gas to push past LA but I don’t know how much further they can go. If there’s any hope to cling to though, we’ve seen Pittsburgh win without Letang after making the finals the year before!
 
Skinner-McDavid-Brown
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Hyman-RNH-Henrique
Jones-Janmark-Perry

I think these will be the forward lines. 3 scoring lines with a banger/shit disturber 4th line.

Only correction is that Henrique would play left and Hyman would go right. Sucks that we may have given away Broberg for 7 minutes of Frederic in a regular season game... Glad to see Kapanen off. He might be fast, but he makes too many bone-headed decisions to be trusted in the playoffs. I mean Jones might too, but at least he gives us more size and toughness. Neither guy can score for shit. Hoping Kane or Frederic can be swapped out for Jones before it's too late.
 
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Skinner - McD - Brown
Kane/Frederic - Drai - Hyman
Podkolzin - RNH - Arvy
Janmark - Rico - Perry

Jones - Philip - Ryan

Kane/Frederic is going to be the big question mark. I don’t think both will be ready to go for game 1 but if they are I think Kane starts on the 2nd line because Frederic has better boots so makes more sense with Rico and Perry who are slow and old.

Wahlman - Bouch
Nurse - Stecher
Kulak - Emberson

Dineen - Klingberg

Wahlman-Bouch will determine how far the oilers go this year. With a healthy Ekholm, I think this is the best oilers D core of the McDavid era and I really hope he can somehow make it back late in the playoffs. I think this d-core without him is probably a tiny bit better than last year but much deeper and less reliant on the top pair.

Skinner
Pickard

Rodrigue

All I want is average goaltending. If the oilers get that they will be a very tough out. Easier said than done unfortunately.
 

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