This in from Tony Brar of Oilers TV, Edmonton’s lines and pairings at Thursday’s practice, with news that Zach Hyman’s in-game move to the third line against Utah is sticking for now, with Hyman still on the third line with Mattias Janmark and Kasperi Kapanen:
RNH – McDavid – Brown
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Hyman – Janmark – Kapanen
Skinner – Henrique – Perry
Ryan
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson
Skinner
Pickard
My take
1. It’s a long season. Coach Kris Knoblauch will try many combinations. He’ll move players around to stir up things, to experiment, to send messages, to learn more about each player and what’s best for the team. It’s not a big deal then to see Hyman moved down to the third line for a few games. He’s still on the first power play, after all, so it’s not like he won’t be getting choice minutes with Connor McDavid.
To answer the question posed in the headline about whether this move makes sense, yes, in the context of a long season of experimentation, it makes sense. For one thing, Connor Brown’s hard work has earned him a promotion. It will be interesting to see how he does with McDavid. For another, it never hurts to remind any other Oilers player that it’s an honour to play with McDavid, so you’d better bring it all every shift, every game. I’m not saying Hyman doesn’t do that. But the top line did sag a bit recently.
2. After scoring 10 goals in eight games from early December to Christmas, Hyman has not scored in three games. In the first two of those games in California against Los Angeles and Anaheim, the usual line of McDavid, Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a dud. They did not combine together on even one Grade A shot at even strength. That’s as stale as it gets in a short sample size, so it’s no surprise that Knoblauch is shaking up things. What is a surprise is to see Hyman moved off the top line, as opposed to RNH, who has struggled in his two-way play all season.
3. Hyman has just 13 goals in 32 games this year after scoring 54 in 80 games last year. He hasn’t been as effective, in particular, on the power play, where he’s struggled to cash in on Grade A shots. Last year he had 15 power play goals, but he’s got just four so far this year.
This year he’s averaging 2.3 Grade A shots per game, down a bit from last year when he averaged 2.6 per game.
But, overall, in terms of his two-way play at even strength, he’s at about the same level of high effectiveness as he was last year. He’s the Oil’s best winger when it comes to making major contributions to Grade A shots vs making mistakes on Grade A shots against. Viktor Arvidsson is a close second, but Hyman continues to play excellent two-way hockey. I’m not worried about him. And having him on the third line gives that unit a major boost in the short term.
At the Cult of Hockey
McCURDY: Oilers proved they are an elite NHL team in 2024.