Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch changed the lines ahead of Monday night’s game in Winnipeg.

Matt Savoie is back with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin on the second line, while Jack Roslovic is centring the third line between Mattias Janmark and Trent Frederic.

Who knew Roslovic playing centre was even an option? Apparently, Knoblauch did.

“There’s a possibility of him spending some time there at centre,” Knoblauch said. “We’re just trying to get some traction with our top two lines. I think they’ve been playing really well.”

And lastly, Adam Henrique and Andrew Mangiapane have been demoted to the fourth line.

Now looking at this, you might think Henrique and Mangiapane are not fourth-line players, and you’d be right. They’re on the smaller side and they’re not that physical, but they haven’t been playing well, and the third line needs some fresh faces.

Henrique has been centring the third line for most of the season, and Savoie joined his wing when Roslovic returned from injury. It hasn’t been a terrible mix, but it hasn’t been great either. Mangiapane was bouncing around the lineup, trying to find a spot that worked. Neither player has been producing enough to justify staying where they were, and now there are rumours of the Oilers examining the trade market for him.

Jack Roslovic as a centre should be interesting. He’s played centre before—he was drafted as a centre by Winnipeg in 2015 and played the position early in his career with the Jets and Columbus. But he’s been primarily a winger over the past few seasons with the Rangers and Carolina. Now Edmonton is trying him back at centre to see if he can provide a spark down the middle.

Roslovic has 18 points in 25 games this season. He’s been productive as a winger on the second line and a bit of a steal for a $1.5 million player. Moving him to centre enter on the third line is a gamble, but it’s one Knoblauch seems willing to take.

Now we all know the Oilers have a pretty good top six. Draisaitl and McDavid as centres will do that to a roster. But the bottom six needs to be able to contribute too. Maybe this is how it happens.

Savoie back with Draisaitl makes sense. He’s played there before and looked comfortable. Podkolzin brings physicality and forechecking to that line. The second line should be fine.

The third line with Roslovic at centre? That’s the experiment. Janmark and Frederic are both responsible defensively kind off. Janmark can kill penalties. Frederic brings physicality when he chooses to, though that’s seldom these days. If Roslovic can provide some offence down the middle while those two do the dirty work, maybe this works.

And Henrique and Mangiapane on the fourth line? It’s not ideal, but they haven’t earned anything better right now. They’re both skilled players who can contribute offensively, but fourth-line minutes might be what they get until they prove they deserve more.

The Oilers arrived in Winnipeg yesterday for tonight’s Monday game at Canada Life Centre. Calvin Pickard will start in his hometown after Connor Ingram started the previous three games. The lines will look different. The bottom six will have fresh combinations.

Whether it works remains to be seen. But Knoblauch is clearly trying to find something that gives his team more depth scoring beyond just McDavid and Draisaitl carrying everything.

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