Edmonton Oilers Talk: Do the Oilers Have the Makings of a Super Checking Line in their Midst?

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

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Cult of Hockey

Digging into Edmonton Oilers’ new forward “line” — a thought experiment

In 2021 Holland has again brought in three forwards with NHL experience, namely Warren Foegele, Derek Ryan, and Zach Hyman, all on Day One of free agency. Collective cost: $9.5 million per season, not far off NHL average for three players.
But let’s do a small thought experiment and consider the new threesome as if they were set to combine on the same unit. Would the new trio be likely to “win” their part of the game?
- It actually could happen; both Foegele and Hyman are listed as left wingers, but Hyman is a natural righty who was forced to the left side by a surfeit of RWs on his old team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On the offensive front, we see both Foegele and Ryan rank somewhere in the middle six for both goal and point production, with Foegele being a little stronger as a finisher, Ryan more the playmaker. Hyman meanwhile translates as a first-liner.
None of the three has seen a lot of powerplay action, though Hyman’s role did get a bump last season and may get another in the upcoming campaign as the Oilers seek a net-front man to replace Alex Chiasson and James Neal.
The highlighted row informs us that all three men were steadily utilized on the penalty kill over the last three seasons, with both Ryan and Hyman around 2 minutes per game, Foegele about 1. The Oilers lost a couple of penalty killers this summer in Jujhar Khaira and Gaetan Haas, but the newcomers should help to resolve that problem.
Whether they play together or separately, the newcomers each bring a track record suggesting they can help push the play in the right direction.

BLH’s Thoughts: I highly recommend you head over to The Cult of Hockey and read the rest of this intriguing article so that you can get a bit more context to what Bruce is getting at as there you can check out the metrics he’s used to come to his conclusion.

I liked this little exercise because on paper you could definitely see the possibility of Foegele, Ryan, and Hyman lining up alongside each other and creating somewhat of a super checking line. I even wonder if, at some point, Dave Tippett doesn’t just go ahead and run these three out in a shutdown role.

The Hockey Writers (Brian Swane)

Oilers’ Warren Foegele: 5 Things to Know About Edmonton’s Latest Signing

He’s Already One of the Guys – Foegele has been training this offseason in suburban Toronto with several Oilers, including Hyman, defenceman Darnell Nurse and forwards Connor McDavid and Devin Shore.
He Was Drafted Twice in the Same Year – Foegele was passed over in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection, not just once but in both 2012 and 2013. It took until the seventh round in 2014 before Foegele would finally be drafted into the OHL by the Kingston Frontenacs with the 135th overall pick. That happened on April 5, 2014, four days after his 18th birthday and a dozen weeks before the Hurricanes would call his name in the third round.
He’s a Playoff Performer – Starting at St. Andrew’s, where his team won literally everything it could in 2013-14, Foegele has enjoyed postseason success at every stop on his hockey journey. Over the last six seasons, a stretch that spans the OHL, American Hockey League, and NHL, the team Foegele plays for has won at least one playoff series.
He’s a Hoops Junkie – It’s fitting Foegele began his NHL career in the hoops hotbed of North Carolina because his favorite sport other than hockey is basketball.
He Knows How to Make an Entrance – In his very first NHL game, against the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena on March 26, 2018, Foegele scored the opening goal, giving Carolina a 1-0 lead at 18:52 of the first period.

BLH’s Thoughts:

NHLRumors.com

Jim Matheson: Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland isn’t going to trade goaltender Mikko Koskinen and a high draft pick or a top prospect for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.

He won’t do it now and likely not ever. They will run with Mike Smith and Koskinen. Koskinen is a good goalie to play 30 games or so, though he isn’t a $4.5 million goalie.

Kyle Cannillo: David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said that the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and New York Islanders are “in a battle” for Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko. Pagnotta also said that there “has been progress” on a potential trade.

Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic: Charlie Coyle could start the season as the Boston Bruins No. 2 center and the bottom two lines could be a center by committee and include Jack Studnicka, Nick Foligno, Erik Haula, Tomas Nosek, Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar.

They could use Jake DeBrusk as a trade asset but he alone wouldn’t land you a second-line center.