Knoblauch's riskiest move might be the only one that will work

Edmonton’s forward lines at practice on Sunday, as reported by Bob Stauffer, didn’t exactly inspire enthusiasm or confidence from many fans of the Edmonton Oilers:

RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
Howard-Henrique-Roslovic
Mangiapane-Lazar-Savoie
Frederic-Hutson (Janmark not on ice)

The problem, as many Oilers fans see it, is that the bottom two lines are getting caved in when it comes to goals for and against, with 19 goals for and 44 goals against in Edmonton’s first 42 games without Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl on the ice.

To rectify this massive imbalance (the team has 63 goals for and 55 against with McDavid and/or Draisaitl on the ice), many fans are proposing that the Oilers focus on strength up the middle, with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leading the top three lines as centres.

It’s a tempting notion given how well RNH played as a centre in the 2025 playoffs. He’s never been better on defence as a centre than he has in recent years. RNH now has the stick strength, battle level and positional sense to succeed as a centre on defence, areas that were all lacking to some extent when he was a young NHL centre.

If RNH plays third-line centre, this would also open up a spot for a promising rookie like Ike Howard or Quinn Hutson on a top line.

The rub of line change

The only problem with playing RNH at 3C? It’s a huge one. It would mean Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch would have to break up one of the NHL’s hottest lines since it got together 17 games ago on November 29th against the Seattle Kraken when RNH returned from injury.

All three of Connor McDavid, RNH and Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist in Edmonton’s 4-0 win that night. In their 17 games together, the trio has 11 goals for and just six against in 158 5-on-5 minutes.

Hyman has 12 goals and eight assists in the past 17 games, McDavid 15 goals and 23 assists, and RNH six goals and 11 assists.

Their even strength play has been off the charts good compared to the first 25 games of the year (where Hyman and RNH both missed major chunks of time), with RNH going from +1.2 Grade A shots at even strength per game to +2.3 per game, Hyman from +2.3 to +3.5 and McDavid from +2.0 to +3.8.

This line is killing it. It’s also one of the few things going extremely well for the Oilers. Why mess with success then? Why break up the top line?

I, for one, am not going to lose my mind if Knoblauch sticks with the top line of McD, RNH and Hyman for now. I get why the Oilers coach would want to keep running with such a successful trio.

At the same time, unless the Oilers fix their bottom two forward lines there’s no way this team is going anywhere in the playoffs. It will likely be bounced in the first round.

Something must be done, so perhaps it’s worth experimenting, see if Hutson or Howard can play in the Top 6.

Or perhaps this line-up change can be done by bumping up Jack Roslovic to play with McDavid and Hyman on the top line. Leon Draisaitl can play with Vasily Podkolzin and one of Kasperi Kapanen, Howard or Hutson in the short term.

Does that kind of move make sense? The Oilers have to do something to get their third and fourth lines going. I like Henrique just fine at a 4C, but not as a third line centre.

RNH is the likely answer to the 3C problem. He’ll provide a massive boost to the third line with his savvy two-way play. And just maybe there’s another player on the roster who can hang with McDavid and Hyman on the top line and keep that top line magic going strong.

At the Cult of Hockey

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