Has Woodcroft found chemistry in Oilers lines this week? A deep dive
TL;DR – The best bets for Game 5
I’d roll back the very successful Foegele-Nugent-Hopkins-Hyman line of the last two games, and garner a larger sample of it. The linchpin of Nugent-Hopkins’ success at centre is a winger pair that can strongly provide retrievals or entries carrying the puck, as well as cycle ability; Foegele-Hyman does the former and latter very well.
I’d swap Kane to McLeod’s wing, because Kane is struggling mightily and he has a history of strong play with McLeod. Kane excels off the rush and finding open ice rather than the retrievals and cycle that suit Foegele-Hyman well.
Kane is not a fit with Nugent-Hopkins at centre, and this should be avoided at basically all costs. Kane on his off-side with winger option Holloway is also an option. Their results together are tabulated below:
In my opinion, the team should continue to try out the new Nuge line. They should swap Kane to McLeod's wing, where he was very successful in a relatively small sample last year. He is likely a good partner for either Holloway or Brown there, whoever doesn't play with McDrai: pic.twitter.com/7meg6d7F4a
— Mark 📸 (@TheLineBlender) October 19, 2023
Kane-McLeod makes sense as a pairing of a volume shooter who excels on the rush, with a speedy transitional centreman. In a small sample in 2022-23, the pair dominated shot attempts, high danger shot attempts, and expected goals, posting 62 HDCF% and 64 xGF%.
Likewise, Kane on his off-side with Holloway produced promising results of 80 HDCF% and 70 xGF%. Holloway-McLeod should be better together versus NHL competition after another season of development and I’m strongly in favor of trying these three men together at 5v5.
Brown and Holloway both had strong pre-seasons and were decent versus the Predators, and either could be deployed to help give McDrai a boost at Woodcroft’s discretion.
All things considered, here is the next lineup I’d like to see in Game 5 on Saturday:
Considering what we've seen the last two games, here is what I hope to see Woody put together for the #Oilers on Saturday night for game 5.
— Mark 📸 (@TheLineBlender) October 20, 2023
Kane gets demoted to play with McLeod, with whom he's had success. Kane centered by Nuge did not work at all in game 4. https://t.co/ZMk8AOKJuh pic.twitter.com/xJ00yRyN6L
A final note: the Oilers are going to need some finishing ability on display soon, and the bottom 6 has no goals to this point in time. I’m looking at those names on right wing in the tweet above as those in the drivers seat for shot volume on these lines; the centres are capable as well.
If the bottom 6 fails to produce goals in the coming games… Lavoie and Pederson are going to become tempting options for GM Ken Holland.
Next. 3 takeaways from Oiler's lacklustre 4-1 loss vs. Flyers. dark
Thanks for reading! Hit me up on X @TheLineBlender with your thoughts and hopes for the next game. Here’s hoping you enjoyed the article; see you next time!