Oilers break up top line as Jack Roslovic set to debut against New York Rangers

The Edmonton Oilers enter their third game of the season on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers with some new look lines.

The Oilers have started the season with a loaded up top line featuring stars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid next to Trent Frederic. The latter was in this spot to fill in for the injured winger Zach Hyman who is set to remain sidelined until November.

This has caused a ripple effect throughout the lineup as multiple lines have seen changes, including the addition of recent signing, forward Jack Roslovic.

On the other side of the ice, the Rangers (2-2-0) have been a mixed bag to start their centennial season having been shut out twice but then scoring four and six goals in their other two games.

They play host to the Oilers who are kicking off a five game road trip through the Metropolitan Division and a few stops in Atlantic Division cities.

Jack Roslovic to make Oilers debut

Last week the Oilers signed top remaining free agent forward Jack Roslovic to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million. The new addition is now set to make his debut tonight, playing on the club's second line. He will debut alongside rookie and Oilers top prospect Matt Savoie as well as veteran centre, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

This line will likely be relied upon to provide secondary depth scoring with multiple offensively skilled forwards. All three players are pass-first players but all three also provide some scoring ability as shown by Nugent-Hopkins' career high 37 goals and 104 points in 2022-23.

Oilers break up top line

Although the Oilers have started the season with a 1-0-1 record. The team's top line has been phenomenal and currently ranks first in all offensive lines in terms of expected goals according to moneypuck.com.

However, according to Oilers insider Bob Stauffer, the Oilers are set to add in newcomer Andrew Mangiapane onto the top line, replacing Frederic who moved down as the third line centre.

The change in the Oilers lineup comes with the subtraction of centre Noah Philp who is set to be a healthy scratch tonight and with the new look third line of Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen centred by Frederic.

This will be a very forecheck heavy line that will be set to gain possession of the puck and crash the net. Either resulting in a flurry of chances or a stoppage in play inside the Rangers' zone, resulting in the Oilers being able to bring out one of their hard hitting top two lines on offence.

We will have to see how these changes play out, as the Oilers will likely see some line juggling early in the year to prepare for the return of Hyman.