The Oilers had a tough finish to their game on Saturday night, losing 3-2 to the Jets in overtime. The weird part about overtime? No McDavid. McDavid left the game, well, he went to the bench late in the third period and didn’t play another shift. Over the weekend, the Oilers announced he’d miss one to two weeks with an upper body injury.
On the hopeful side, if we look at McDavid’s past injuries, he always seems to come back quicker than expected, putting just as much work into his recovery as he does into his on-ice work. If he’s out for one week, then maybe he comes back miraculously for the Heritage Classic next Sunday vs Calgary at Commonwealth Stadium. I probably wouldn’t hold my breath for that one, but you never know.
If McDavid is out for two weeks, that means he’ll miss the next 5 or 6 games for the Oilers, which is a bit bigger blow, especially considering the poor start the Oilers have gotten off to. Today, we’ll look at some different lineup options and who needs to step up to make the season look a lot more promising by the time McDavid gets back.
In any line up the Oilers roll out, they are going to have to roll out 11-7. McDavid isn’t going on LTIR so they can’t free up his cap space to call someone up, meaning the Oilers have to run with exactly 18 on the roster right now because there isn’t enough money to call someone up.
Can the Oilers just use an emergency call-up? No, unfortunately. In order to have an emergency call-up (a player making $875000 or less), they need to play a game a man short first. Currently, they have enough players to ice a full lineup, so this isn’t an option at this time.
Option #1 – Likely
Kane-Draisaitl-Hyman
Foegele-RNH-Janmark
Holloway-McLeod-Brown
Erne-Ryan
This might be the Oilers’ most likely lineup. Woodcroft has already moved Janmark up into the top 6 last game, looking for a spark of some sort. This tips his hand to his thoughts on Holloway and Brown at the moment. In this setup, the Oilers load up their top line and hope for some juice out of the RNH-Foegele connection. The third line has been good all year when Holloway-McLeod have been together. They haven’t cashed in yet for a goal, but they’ve been solid. Brown needs to get up to speed if he is hoping to make an impact this season. This also means Draisaitl and RNH will most likely have the job of rotating through with Erne/Ryan.
In this scenario, the Oilers really need Evander Kane to find his game again. He has struggled at 5 on 5 ever since coming back from his injury. With McDavid out, maybe he can’t rely on Connor and takes matters into his own hands. That would be a pleasant surprise that the Oilers need if they want to survive the next two weeks.
Option #2 – Foegele Line
Kane-Draisaitl-Brown
Foegle-RNH-Hyman
Holloway-McLeod-Janmark
Erne/Ryan
In this scenario, the focus is to put the Foegele-RNH-Hyman line back together, who dominated in Nashville. Giving them an opportunity to work together, build chemistry, and hopefully thrive. Draisaitl gets Kane still, and Brown gets another shot in the top 6. It may not be the prettiest lineup, but the Oilers get some scoring from the top 2 lines, and the third line still looks dangerous. In a more realistic scenario, if they are putting this Foegele line back together, Janmark probably slots in beside Draisaitl. He hasn’t done much to earn that spot, but the coach seems to like him there.
Option #3 – Merit
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman
Foegele-RNH-Brown
Kane-McLeod-Janmark
Erne/ryan
I want to say this is a merit-based lineup, but having Brown in the top 6 makes that hard to say truthfully. The thought process here is that Holloway has been perhaps the most consistently good Oiler so far this season and has earned a top 6 spot based on merit. The best winger to fill out that line on the other side is Hyman. The Oilers are very shorthanded at right wing currently. Having Draisaitl is a great opportunity for Holloway, but giving him another winger in Brown or Janmark felt like a disservice.
Foegele has also been great for the Oilers so far, so he’s earned the top 6 role. Being thin at right wing brings Brown up into the top 6 again. He would need to get going for this scenario to work.
Kane goes down to the third line and brings his scoring touch (Hopefully). Janmark slots in beside him as well, then you are left with Erne/Ryan as your bottom forwards again.
I like this line up the best personally.
Option #4 -Waivers and Recall
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman
Foegele-RNH-Lavoie
Kane-McLeod-Brown
Janmark/Ryan
This scenario has the Oilers waiving Adam Erne and recalling Lavoie for another scoring option. They won’t be able to do this in time for Tuesday’s game against the Wild and likely won’t happen at all. However, if things go very poorly against the Wild and the top 6 isn’t producing, maybe we finally get the chance to see Lavoie come up to the big club. We wait and see for this one. Though it does seem extremely unlikely.
Which option do you like the best? What other options could the Oilers explore? Let me know in the comments.
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