Depth Through the Third Line

Every once in a while it’s important to reset, to go back to
the beginning and see how far we’ve come. Peter Chiarelli has been hard at work
changing the Oilers to fit his image of an NHL club. I haven’t been on board
with a number of Chiarelli’s moves throughout his still short stint as Oiler general manager. As an example, I doubt I’ll ever be fully comfortable with the price he paid
to acquire the duo of Reinhart and Larsson. I don’t have to. It’s
not a requirement for this job. However, if we focus on the mantra of “Balance
and Depth” then it’s hard not to see improvement overall and specifically in
the bottom six.

A year ago the Oilers opened their season with this lineup:

Remember that Slepyshev got his chance because Eberle was
hurt in preseason. We don’t know who, if anybody, will get injured in the
preseason this time around, but even if we swap in Eberle for Slepyshev then the team is still weak through the third and fourth lines. Since that
first game played under Chiarelli’s watch the forward group has changed
significantly.

Today Edmonton’s forward group looks something like this:

Your mileage might vary on who centres the second or
third lines, but right now I have Nuge as the 2C as a result of taking on tougher
competition with Pouliot and Draisaitl with the giant Maroon and the unknown
Puljujarvi taking on a soft-parade of competition in the third spot. The argument
for whether the top two lines are better today than they were before can be
saved for another day. Let’s put a pin in that one.

We don’t need to wait for the season to start in order
to declare a victory for Chiarelli with regards to the state of that third line though. Working
with the projected day one third line, the Oilers are light-years ahead of where
they were a year ago. The trio of Korpikoski – Lander – Yakupov was doomed from
the start. Lauri Korpikoski was, by number, one of the worst players in the
NHL. Anton Lander’s game fell off a cliff like it was starring in a Roadrunner
cartoon. Yakupov struggled to generate any offense when he wasn’t paired with a
top six calibre centre. All three played 60 or more games for the Oilers.

Combined, the 2015-2016 opening day third line contributed a
total of 19 goals to the team. That’s awful. In terms of possession, Yakupov –
yes, Yakupov – had the highest raw Corsi percentage and highest Corsi
Percentage Relative to Teammates. Not only was this group scoring infrequently,
they were horrendous defensively and relying on Nail Yakupov to drag them up. I
am the most ardent Yak supporter remaining alive and even I wince at that.

The new projected 2016-2017 opening day third line is a lot
more promising. Maroon wont get his chance to play with McDavid any longer, but
he is still getting a quality offensive centreman to work with. The biggest
unknown is how NHL ready Jesse Puljujarvi is at this moment. The Oilers think
they got a top three talent and someone they peg as NHL ready. Are
they right? We need to wait to find out, but can he do worse than Lander’s one goal and two assists in 61 games last year? Unlikely.

Draisaitl was Edmonton’s second leading scorer from
a year ago, but without Taylor Hall on his wing he is likely to be exposed against tougher competition. That’s why I have him playing 3C. He might not
occupy this role in the Fall, but Edmonton hasn’t added anybody that would tip
their hand. Draisaitl’s 19 goals match the total output of the third
line a year ago. Then add Maroon’s 12 and the untapped potential of Puljujarvi
and you have the makings of a dangerous/effective third line. They have size and
skill in all the right proportions.

And, if this trio can stay healthy, then they are going to
keep the fourth line exactly where they belong on the roster. Last year
when Lander failed it created a situation where Letestu had to play higher up
in the order and the results on the offense were shocking. Letestu at even strength is skating into the Belanger Triangle (oddly, he has a positive impact on the PP). A third
line that establishes itself as a legitimate option for McLellan means a fourth
line that plays inside its comfort zone and keeps an effective balance to the
roster.

Whatever this team has done to the high end of the roster, I
can’t complain about the depth through the third line that they’ve created. On
paper it looks like the forward group should be competitive deeper into the
roster than they were a year ago. I have to believe this is going to result in
better efforts and better results. I have to.