Yesterday, I wrote that Radim Vrbata signing in Arizona was
a missed opportunity for the Oilers. Many in the comments section disagreed,
and so I thought it might be helpful to make the larger case as to why Edmonton
needs another good right wing.

If we ignore right wing for a moment, the Oilers’ four
forward lines are going to look something like this:

There’s a lot to like there. The top unit is incredibly
potent, Pouliot/RNH have had success together before (notably doing a
serviceable job as the first line under Todd Nelson) and Maroon/Draisaitl is
both the kind of third-line depth teams kill for and also a big, heavy, cycling
line. That’s the basis of three lines that the coaching staff can go to war
with, as well as a veteran fourth line that can contribute on special teams.

Right now, my best guess is that the first line right wing
is going to be Jordan Eberle (this line will be doing tough work, and nobody
else is nearly as qualified). He’ll do a fine job there, but the trouble is
that there’s only one of him and he’s needed elsewhere in the rotation, too.
This is where I picture an incoming right wing landing – Lucic and McDavid will
do the heavy lifting, so it’s only necessary to have a complementary talent
here for the time being. Radim Vrbata, Kris Versteeg, Teddy Purcell, P-A
Parenteau, Lee Stempniak; any of them would have been fine fits.

I say that because in Todd McLellan’s shoes I’d dearly love
to put Eberle on that second line. That trio was the Nelson first line during
his time as coach, and for McLellan it could be a Swiss Army knife, the kind of
line he can deploy in any situation and lean on. As it stands though, assuming
Eberle to be on the top unit he has three choices:

This is where I see that extra right wing as being so
important at 5-on-5. It gives McLellan that second killer forward line that can
be thrown into any matchup and expected to come out on top.

The third line looks to me to be the logical home for either
Yakupov or Puljujarvi. Yakupov and Draisaitl have some history; their results
together have been much better than Yakupov/Nugent-Hopkins, a duo which has
never worked. Puljujarvi’s skill set is a natural fit for this line, though as
always my preference would be to give Puljujarvi a month in the AHL to let him
get used to North American ice at a level where the adjustment period won’t
hurt the team.

Finally, the fourth line is a great place for either Kassian
or Pakarinen, with the other filling the role of No. 13 forward.

I don’t have access to whatever McLellan and Jay Woodcroft
are planning for the power play this year, but my assumption would be that both
units will be built around left-shooting playmakers. McDavid, obviously, will
be the beating heart of the first unit, and he showed last year he can almost
single-handedly make it effective. My best guess would be that Nugent-Hopkins –
a left-shot playmaker who generally handles the same position on the ice as McDavid
– will anchor the second unit.

The best target for a left-shot playmaker on the power play half-wall
is a right-shot finisher. The Oilers don’t really have one. Eberle’s an
extremely competent offensive player and he’s been working on his one-timer
this summer, but in the past he’s been more playmaker than shooter. After that,
Edmonton has Mark Letestu (underrated on the power play but definitely not a
pure finisher) and Puljujarvi.

This is really where Vrbata intrigued me. He scored 12 power
play goals in 2014-15 – that’s one less than Steven Stamkos, Tyler Seguin and
John Tavares, twice as many as any Oilers forward that year. Even in 2015-16,
which was such an awful year for him, he scored more power play goals than
anyone in Edmonton not named Jordan Eberle. Stick that kind of finishing talent
on the opposite wall of a passer like McDavid, and the results could have been
extraordinary.

Now, there are virtually no right-shot wingers left in free
agency. There are a few plausible left-shooting right wingers – Jiri Hudler,
Brandon Pirri – but as far as right shots go the best name on the list is
probably Brad Boyes. Boyes is an interesting player, and given his pricepoint
(he signed a one-year, $800,000 deal a year ago) he strikes me as a guy the
Oilers could profitably take a cheap flyer on. But he doesn’t have the same recent history as Vrbata on the man advantage. 

It’s not absolutely essential that Peter Chiarelli bring in
another right wing. His coach could move Draisaitl to the starboard side and
make Letestu the third line centre, or just roll the dice on Kassian in an
offensive role or Puljujarvi/Yakupov in a two-way slot and hope that nobody
gets hurt over the course of the year.

But to my mind, bringing in another right wing would give
the coach the chance to run three brilliant lines at five-on-five, bolster a
power play unit which was hit and miss last year, and give Edmonton depth in
the event of injury. For a team desperately trying to improve, that seems like
a no-brainer.