Something that has been a topic of conversation this week has been where will the Edmonton Oilers play newly signed winger Dominik Kahun? Will Coach Tippett stick him with long-time German national team linemate Leon Draisaitl or could he find his way onto the top line with Connor McDavid? I think that things are fluent in that regard but I do want to talk about McDavid’s wingers for a moment.
During the play-ins vs. Chicago, Zack Kassian was moved off of McDavid’s line in favor of Josh Archibald and it didn’t exactly work out. Dave Tippett reunited Kassian with Connor in the final game of the series and the magic somewhat return… Briefly. Also, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found himself on Connor’s left-wing for most of the series instead of Andreas Athanasiou or Tyler Ennis.
What that tells me is that perhaps the coaching staff is thinking that they’d like to switch things up a little bit on their 1st line.
So let me propose this, knowing what I just spoke of, would you be surprised if the Oilers captain was playing with Dominik Kahun and Jesse Puljujarvi to start the year in 2020-21?
We’re aware of Pulju’s fancies with #97 (he’s one of the best wingers Connor’s played with… stats-wise) and we’re learning that Kahun has produced at a 1st line rate since he’s joined the NHL (his pts/60 is akin to that of Mat Barzal, Taylor Hall, etc). So it makes sense that Tippett would bring these three together to see what kind of chemistry is produced (if any) and allow Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, and Kailer Yamamoto to continue what they started.
That’s just one option though.
Another more realistic combination might be to send RNH to McDavid’s line and keep Kassian up there then send Kahun to Leon’s wing with Yamo. This would leave Puljujarvi on the 3rd line (which is probably the best place for him to start) with Kyle Turris and Tyler Ennis, two wonderful mentors for Jesse.
Either way, with how Ken Holland has built Edmonton’s forward group out, Tippett has a lot of flexibility, and considering that I’m hearing that there might be expanded rosters for the next NHL season… He’s really going to be able to have a lot of fun with his line combos. As are the fans…
Before I end this post, I want to comment on Ethan Bear. It sounds like he might be asking for a little more than what Edmonton is offering. I have no idea what that is, but as it stands, he hasn’t signed and when he does, I don’t expect it to be processed until either some money is moved out via trade or Oscar Klefbom is put on LTIR.
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