OilersNation has reported:

The Edmonton Oilers could benefit from separating Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out, even as their line with Vasily Podkolzin has powered the team to a 5-1-1 start. Zach Hyman is expected to return Saturday, while Colton Dach and Jake Walman are also anticipated to be available. The added options may give head coach Mike Babcock a chance to address the gap between the productive top line and the other three lines.

Edmonton swept a California road trip and did enough against the Los Angeles Kings before taking its first regulation loss Thursday night against the Utah Mammoth. The early record has been built largely on one line featuring McDavid, Draisaitl and Podkolzin. The other lines have forechecked hard and sometimes won lopsided faceoffs, but they have struggled to produce offence and have at times been pinned in their own zone.

Those supporting lines have generally kept the team afloat rather than driving play. The assessment is not that the Oilers should be blamed for their performance, given the circumstances and injuries, but that Edmonton may soon face a reckoning if the gap continues. Nugent-Hopkins is expected back later next week, which would give the team another centre option.

Natural Stat Trick figures cited for the McDavid-Draisaitl-Podkolzin line cover six games and 83 minutes, 22 seconds at five-on-five. In that span, the Oilers outscored opponents 11-1, held a 69.46 per cent expected goals-for percentage and a 91.67 per cent actual goals-for percentage. They also led 52-18 in scoring chances, 22-9 in high-danger chances, 43-26 in shots and 102-52 in shot attempts.

The source described the line’s performance as “Wow. Said another way, ‘God damn.’” Most often, defencemen Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm have formed the top pairing alongside that forward trio. When that five-player group is off the ice, the cited five-on-five numbers over 149 minutes, 46 seconds are far less favourable.

In those minutes, Edmonton was outscored 8-3, with a 29.21 per cent expected goals-for percentage and a 27.27 per cent actual goals-for percentage. The Oilers were outchanced 80-34 and outmatched 33-14 in high-danger chances. Opponents also held advantages of 78-36 in shots and 171-86 in shot attempts.

The figures reflect a team relying heavily on its leading combination while the rest of the lineup struggles to keep pace. The article likened Edmonton to “an F1 engine inside a transport truck.” It said the underlying results for the other lines were consistent with what viewers have seen this season.

Despite that imbalance, Edmonton has allowed only nine goals in its last five games. Three of those came at five-on-five, five while the Oilers were killing penalties, and one was an empty-net goal. The workload on the leading line has been high, however, and Babcock acknowledged the strain after Thursday’s game.

McDavid played 25 minutes, 52 seconds against Utah, though that was not his season high through seven games. He is averaging 23:54 in the early 2026-27 season, nearly a minute more than his previous season average. In 2025-26, McDavid led NHL forwards at 22:59 per game, with Nathan MacKinnon next at 22:16.

Babcock said the schedule spacing had helped him manage the top line’s minutes. “I’m real lucky with the games being spaced out, we’ve been able to do that a little bit,” he said after Thursday’s game.

“But it has to stop. I look at it every night and I go, ‘What the heck am I doing?’ But I’m also trying to survive right now, so that’s what we’ve been doing. A lot of our other guys have done a phenomenal job for us. We’re in a good spot right now. I’m just hoping we’ve bought enough time to get guys back.”

The situation has been compounded by injuries that have left three centres expected to be regulars unavailable. That has increased the demands on Owen Michaels, Josh Samanski and Trent Frederic. The article argues that keeping two elite centres, McDavid and Draisaitl, together may no longer be the most practical choice, at least until Nugent-Hopkins returns to play down the middle.

Jason Dickinson suffered a new injury at practice. His three games before that were described as an initial return to the lineup rather than a point at which he was ready to take on a larger role. Dach has had intermittent injury problems early in his career and is still being evaluated as a regular centre, so his return would help but may not immediately change the team’s results.

Michaels has become the de facto second-line centre on most nights. Alongside Alex Formenton and Mathieu Joseph, he has been working to keep that unit level with opponents or even ahead by a goal. The article credits their effort amid the team’s early-season absences.

Edmonton has been able to manage the shortage while building a strong record through seven games, but the upcoming schedule will test its depth. The Oilers are set to face Utah again Saturday, Minnesota on Tuesday and Stanley Cup champion Carolina on Thursday. The article points to those matchups as opportunities to see how Edmonton’s depth compares with stronger opposition.

One proposed arrangement, assuming Hyman returns Saturday, would place Ike Howard with McDavid and Hyman. Podkolzin would skate with Draisaitl and Kasperi Kapanen, while Formenton, Michaels and Joseph would form another line. The fourth line would be Hallander, Dach and Frederic, with Jones and Samanski listed as additional forwards.

The suggested alternative would keep Podkolzin with McDavid and Draisaitl, while Kapanen, Dach and Hyman played together. Formenton, Michaels and Joseph would remain a line, with Hallander, Frederic and Howard on another. Jones and Samanski again appear as the additional forwards.

The first option would test whether Howard’s skill could make him more effective alongside high-end talent, in a way the article says Kapanen has been more effective on Draisaitl’s wing than elsewhere in the lineup. The proposal is to try the combination even if only to learn from the experiment. The second option would preserve the current top trio while adjusting the rest of the forward group.

Trying combinations now could also give Babcock information for later in the season, as he continues learning about his players. The article notes that fans often look ahead to the Oilers being fully healthy, but says last season showed the older core may not remain healthy for long. Edmonton’s ideal lineup played together for only one period after the trade deadline last season.

The case for splitting McDavid and Draisaitl rests on the need to reduce the top line’s burden and help the other lines generate more offence. Breaking up a unit that is producing so well is a difficult decision, but the article argues that the supporting lines may be operating beyond what their underlying results can sustain. Spreading the talent could help Edmonton weather the weeks before Nugent-Hopkins returns.

The article was written by Michael Menzies, an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of Pregaming and Postgaming. Since 2019, he has also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He has seven years of news experience as Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, collects vinyl and books, and can be followed on X at Menzies_4.

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