While our nation mourns a tough gold medal loss in men’s hockey, the NHL resumes play on Wednesday. The Olympics were an excellent timeout from the regular season, but now all 32 teams turn their focus to the standings, their needs and wants, before the NHL trade deadline next Friday and the drive to the playoffs.

The Edmonton Oilers have 24 games remaining. They are currently second in the Pacific Division, but Anaheim, Seattle and Los Angeles are nipping at their heels, and the Oilers need a good final 24 games to earn home ice advantage and a spot in the 2026 playoffs.

The Oilers return to action with a three-game road trip in 3.5 days, playing in Anaheim on Wednesday, Los Angeles on Thursday and Saturday afternoon in San Jose. The Oilers need to win two out of three, while a sweep would give them some much-needed breathing room, but victories won’t be easy. The Oilers limped into the Olympic break losing three games in a row. They allowed a league-worst 4.86 goals against per game in their final seven games but managed to win three of them. That led to the organization announcing Paul Coffey would return to run the blueline. The Oilers need to be better in their own zone, and they could benefit from a few more timely saves from Tristan Jarry.

I’d argue the top priority for GM Stan Bowman right now is a second pair right shot defenceman. Six weeks ago, I would have said a top six winger was the main priority, and they could move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to centre, but after watching RNH start the game in Calgary as a third line centre, I don’t think he will work as a third line centre —not because he can’t play there effectively, but because his usage on the power play and penalty kill doesn’t allow for a proper rotation with the third line. He would miss too many shifts with his linemates to be a true third line centre. I looked at his shift chart in that game, and the rotation didn’t seem to work. Granted it was only one game, but his special team usage won’t change, so I’m not sure it works.

RNH can play centre, and I’d argue he might be better as a centre. Some of his best games this season came when he was playing centre, while Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl skated together on the top line.

I asked Kris Knoblauch his thoughts on using RNH as a centre.

“I think he can be a great centre,” said Knoblauch. “He’s played well in the middle especially when he’s been paired with Podkolzin and Kapanen. I think those three have been a good line and scored some goals for us. I know when we put him down to 3C like we did in the Calgary game it makes it very difficult to roll our lines. The amount of minutes Ryan plays between power play, the penalty kill and then with his line, well what happens is he’s on pace to play 22 minutes like McDavid is and that’s too much for Ryan. He’s more of a 19-to-20-minute guy and so what happens is if you reduce his ice time, he misses shifts with his line so ultimately, he’s not a third line centre.

“He could easily be a good in that role, but you probably have to take him off the penalty kill or off the first unit power play and we’re certainly not doing that with the way the powerplay’s been going. I don’t want to take him off the penalty kill so I think he needs to stay as a winger.”

For the past few weeks, I’ve felt RNH would be the solution to the Oilers’ third line centre spot, but I overlooked how the special teams usage would impact his ability to have a consistent shift with his third line. Knoblauch’s last comment tells us RNH will be a winger, except when he loads up McDavid and Draisaitl, and ideally Knoblauch doesn’t want to do that unless the team is trailing late in games, or on the shift directly after a penalty kill.

The Oilers could trade for one, but right now I think finding a natural right shot second pair defender is a bigger need. The Oilers have more issues allowing goals than they do scoring them, so for me priority number one for General Manager Stan Bowman has to be to find a second pair right shot defender.

But who will be the third line centre? Glad you asked.

Edmonton has the top-end skill to match any team in the NHL. What they don’t have is a third line with an identity of being a hard, heavy line. As we just saw in the Olympics, having a skate-in-straight lines, win-board-battles, chip-and-chase line can be impactful. Tom Wilson, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand were very good when they formed a line. They didn’t play big minutes, but the minutes they played were effective. That’s what Edmonton needs, so here are the lines I’d run once everyone is healthy. Kasperi Kapanen is injured, again, and he will miss at least the first two games of the road trip, so that delays things a bit, but I’d still try these lines:

RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Roslovic-Draisaitl-Savoie (here in place of Kapanen)
Podkolzin-Samanski-Frederic
Janmark-Henrique-Lazar

Adam Henrique will be activated off LTIR on Wednesday and play against the Ducks. Matt Savoie will be recalled on Wednesday and will play. The Oilers have to wait until then, so they accrue enough cap space to fit him on the roster. I realize the only way to recall Josh Samanski is to waive one of Andrew Mangiapane or Mattias Janmark. They might not do that before Wednesday, but eventually a move will be made and one of them will be gone — most likely Mangiapane, and when that occurs, they can recall Samanski.

Samanski, along with Vasily Podkolzin and Trent Frederic, have all the elements you want in a big, heavy, fast, checking third line. Frederic excelled in that role in Boston. When he scored 17 and 18 goals (15 and 16 at 5×5) he didn’t play with David Pastrnak or Brad Marchand. He was down the lineup switching between the second and third and it worked. He is more than capable of being an effective third line player. Play him with big, fast skaters like Podkolzin and Samanski and I think the Oilers could create a line that is hard to play against and able to contribute with some offence. But most importantly, they are line the coach should be able to trust in tough situations. Podkolzin is a tireless worker and solid in his own zone. In the 2023 and 2024 seasons Frederic outscored opponents 93-60 at 5×5. He is far from a defensive liability when playing up to his potential, and Samanski, albeit in a small sample size, has looked very reliable defensively.

Samanski is 59% on faceoffs, but he’s 80% in the defensive zone (4-1). In his five games, Samanski outshot the opposition 25-12 at 5×5 and he outscored them 4-3. He’s defensive awareness was very noticeable. He was rarely out of position defensively and seemed to be on the right side of the puck in all three zones.

I will readily admit there is a bit oF a risk playing a rookie as the third line centre, but he didn’t look out of place in the Olympics, so I’d like to see him back in Edmonton. He has all the attributes you want in a third line centre — he’s big, a good skater, solid on faceoffs and strong positionally. The Oilers should find a way to get him on the roster. They need wins, and right now I believe he can help the team more than Mangiapane can.

When Kapanen returns, I’d play Savoie with Henrique and Lazar. But the reason he is there is similar to why RNH is not the third line centre: Savoie is good on the penalty kill and when he was paired with Henrique, they were very good. Savoie has logged the most PK minutes among Oiler forwards at 86:04 and Henrique is second with 71:39, despite missing 15 games. In the 42 games they played together Savoie and Henrique killed over 60 minutes together and allowed six goals against. Their shots against/60 were 41.74. When they weren’t on the PK, the Oilers’ SA/60 was 62.15. They are a good pair together, and I expect them to PK together. They are also on the second unit power play. Granted they don’t get a lot of PP time, but the fact they kill together and are on the PP together, playing them together at 5×5 allows the coach to keep their line in rotation a bit more easily.

— The penalty kill isn’t as bad as their 27th ranking suggests. They were 10th through the first 53 games but then cratered allowing nine goals on 14 kills. Those five games were the outlier. They had a few bad clearing attempts, that normally get out, allowed a 5-on-3 goal, had a clear miss stick read on a slot pass and the goalies allowed a few goals they shouldn’t. I don’t expect a massive overhaul of the PK, just a reset and to remind them what was working through the first 53 games.

— I can understand some Oilers fans wanting Evan Bouchard on the Olympic team, but claims team Canada’s lack of puck movers cost them is false. USA has way more puck movers, yet they were defending much of the game. McDavid and Macklin Celebrini didn’t score on their breakaways. Nathan MacKinnon missed a wide-open net from five feet away. Canada created more than enough to win. Look at this chart courtesy of Mike Kelly from Sportlogic.

The USA didn’t create more rush chances despite having a plethora of puck moving D-men. I found people would focus on every pass from a Canadian defender that didn’t connect. They made a lot of solid passes, but more importantly they defended well and didn’t spend too much time in their own zone. I found the USA team, with their puckmovers, struggled more than Canada did. Canada lost because Connor Hellebuyck played great, and Canada didn’t finish their best chances.

— Puck moving is one aspect of the game, but defending is a pretty big one too, and the only Canadian D-men on the ice for a goal against in the final were Devon Toews and Cale Makar. I find too often on social media people fall victim to the mob mentality, and they see a post about a player, and just jump on the train. Jon Cooper, one of the best coaches in the NHL, played Colton Parayko 18 minutes in the final, and often he and Thomas Harley were out with McDavid’s line. Parayko would be an amazing acquisition for the Oilers. Evan Bouchard and Parayko as your top two RD would be ideal. Parayko has loads of experience. He can play 20 minutes easily, can kill penalties and he’s a very smart player. I find too many fall in love with puck moving defenders but forget that the defending still has to be a strong part of their game. Parayko defended the best forwards USA had to offer and did well — he is more than adequate to handle regular NHL teams.

I don’t think the Oilers have the cap space or assets to acquire him, but I’d argue strongly he can help the team. Too many of his critics in Edmonton, who also happen to be huge Bouchard fans, analyzed Parayko in the way they hate some people analyze Bouchard. They focused on a few missed passes and overlooked all the good plays Parayko made.

— I’d put Parayko in the highly unlikely category due to cap space. Similar to MacKenzie Weegar. Edmonton would love to acquire Artem Zub from Ottawa, but I’d be surprised if the Sens traded him. If he does get moved, Stan Bowman needs to be on that call. But here are some names I think are realistic options to acquire to bolster the second pair RD:

Connor Murphy, $4.4m AAV and pending UFA.

Rasmus Ristolainen, $5.1m until 2027.

Zach Whitecloud, $2.75m AAV until 2028.

Johnathan Kovacevic, $4m AAV until 2030.

I’d have Whitecloud top of my list due to his AAV and term. Whitecloud hasn’t been in Calgary long enough for fans and the organization to loathe seeing him have success with Edmonton. I do think that can play a factor for organizations when trading to a rival.

Kovacevic has only played 11 games after he missed the first 46 games recovering from a knee injury in game three v. Carolina in last season’s playoffs. Kovacevic has played mainly with Jonas Siegenthaler. The Devils have too many D-men, and while Dougie Hamilton seems to be the one they want to trade, I wonder if Edmonton could pry Kovacevic out of New Jersey.

Ristolainen missed the first 37 games recovering from a triceps injury suffered last March. He has never played in the playoffs, but that could be a benefit as he’d be extremely excited and motivated. He’s never had great analytics, but he’s also played on bad teams, and often players who play the most minutes on bad teams don’t have great analytics. The cost would have to be right for me to acquire him. I’d be leery of paying too much.

Murphy played for Bowman so he will know his strength and weaknesses as well as his personality. He isn’t a thumper, but he does play with some edge. He plays on the top PK unit in Chicago, and they have the best penalty kill in the NHL at 85.7%. He’d be a very close second on my list behind Whitecloud.

Any other RD you think the Oilers should pursue?