The Edmonton Oilers are changing up their lines ahead of Thursday night’s matchup against the New York Islanders.

During a Wednesday practice, David Tomášek rose up the lines to playing on the first line, as Isaac Howard, already playing in a depth role, and Matt Savoie, who had been holding fort on the second line, fell down to the fourth line.

While some may be critical of Howard and Savoie falling down the lineup, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Wednesday the team is still trying to evaluate chemistry and who fits with who.

“About half our forwards are new,” he said. “It’s a new lineup, finding out who complements each other well.

“We’re trying to get an energy, hard-working kind of a blue-collar line, and that’s been a couple centremen — we’ve used Philp and Frederic, but Kapanen and Podkolzin have been mainstays on that line. I like where that’s going. I think that’s a good, dependable, hard-working line.

“Now with the rest of our lineup, we’ll just kind of see how things work out, and there’s some fluctuation. We moved lines a little bit on the other night in New York, and there’ll be a little bit more throughout the road trip, but after the road trip with guys coming off IR, we’ll probably have a better idea who’s here for the long run.”

The early parts of the season, like the Oilers are in right now, is the time to do this kind of experimenting with the lineup, doubly so considering the team brought in Jack Roslovic, and are trying to see where players fit.

“I don’t want to staple somebody in a spot,” Knoblauch added. “I think we have some young players that could move up in the lineup.

“I think with some opportunities, they can contribute more offensively. Right now, we’ve got Howard and Savoie playing special teams, but maybe over a period of time they can move up in the lineup and play more regular, even-strength minutes and we’ll see how things fit in.”

There’s no denying the Oilers need these two to play a role on the team this season. The Oilers have committed to a younger lineup, and those two are a big part of it. While Savoie is showing better through three games than Howard is, that’s largely due to him getting a full season of pro hockey under his belt with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors last season.

His adjustment to the NHL was always on track to be a smoother one, while this is the first taste of the pro ranks for Howard.

It’ll take time, but these lineup changes shouldn’t be looked at anything other than a coaching staff trying to find who fits with who.

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.