The line blender was busted out during Tuesday night’s win against the New York Rangers and the lines have been spun again as the Edmonton Oilers prepare to face the New York Islanders Thursday.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch and co. split up Connor McDavid and Leon Drasiatil from their time together on the top line to now centre their own lines. While Draisaitl will skate between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jack Roslovic, Andrew Mangiapane and David Tomášek will join McDavid on the top line.

Tomášek has impressed through his first three NHL games, notching an assist while taking nine shots on goal. That, mind you, has come while averaging just 13 minutes and 10 seconds of ice-time per game. Edmonton’s bottom-six will see Trent Frederic centre Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen, as Adam Henrique centres Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie.

What’s caught Knoblauch’s eye most is Tomášek’s hockey IQ.

“One thing I’ve been really impressed with is his stick details, being able to break up a lot of plays,” he said. “So that tells me it’s a smart play, can read what the other team’s doing and is able to break up a lot of plays.

“I’m really impressed at how he drives, takes the puck to the net and hasn’t really capitalized on any of those yet in the regular season, but he’s had some nice looks… It just shows that he can find those soft spots, get those, become available to get into scoring areas.”

While the team was hopeful that Jake Walman would be ready for Thursday’s game, he will remain out of the lineup for the time being, Knoblauch said, as the team remains “hopeful” he will return at some point on the road trip.

While the Oilers haven’t confirmed who will start between the pipes against the Islanders, they announced Wednesday David Rittich will get his first start of the season. He’s appeared in 14 games against the Oilers, notching a 607 record, 2.68 goals against average and a .906 save percentage.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.