It hasn’t been officially reported but between Bob Stauffer and Jason Gregor on their radio shows yesterday, I’ve come to the conclusion that Drake Caggiula injured his thumb in an unorthodox drill during practice. The fear is that it’s ligament damage.

Thumbs are tricky. If he’d injured his finger, there’d be a better chance of him playing through it but the thumb is an important digit when gripping the hockey stick. Muck that up and you’ll be sitting for a while.

I’ve written another post over at The Hockey Writers regarding the future of Ryan Spooner. Click HERE to check it out!

So as you already know, Patrick Russell has been sent back to Bakersfield and Cooper Marody has been recalled from the Condors.

I’ve watched the last couple of games for Bakersfield and Marody’s actually an above average skater at the AHL level but his vision and playmaking are sensational. That could be due to the opposition being less talented and/or it could be because AHL hockey is a bit slower and more chaotic.

Now, we’ve seen Marody a couple times with the Oilers and he’s not a world beater at the NHL level but he’s also been playing 3rd/4th line with less skilled linemates. I’ll be curious as to who he lines up with IF he’s not a scratch vs. Minnesota tonight.

He’s not quite fast enough to be centering a line, so that’ll put him on the wing with one of Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, right? We’re not thinking he’ll go all the way up to Connor McDavid’s line, are we?

Another move that was made in lieu of Caggiula being sent to the IR is that Valentin Zykov has been activated. That’ll make the lines interesting as well. Word has it, Zykov has been practicing back in Edmonton with Tobias Rieder and Andrej Sekera since being claimed.

As with Marody, Zykov’s skating isn’t his greatest strength but his shot and finishing are.

So what do you do with these two players? Who goes in first?

This game versus the Wild is really key with regards to the Oilers keeping pace with the rest of the Pacific Division teams above them in the standings. Lose and risk going five points out of a wild-card spot. Win and come within one point with games in hand.

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The #Oilers play 8 of their next 11 at home. The three away games are short flights to Vancouver, Winnipeg and Denver.
The have to have a good stretch during these 11 games and bank some wins. After these games #Edmonton will be at the 39 game mark, close to half the season done.

— Paul Almeida (@AzorcanGlobal) December 7, 2018

So the lineup with the best chance of winning must be put forth, no?

This is what I’d like to see on a line-to-line breakdown,

McDavid’s Line

Chaisson-McDavid-Rattie

It’s really hard to deny that Rattie has been playing well since Ken Hitchcock put him back into the mix. He’s fast, he forechecks well, and he shoots. Both Rattie and Chiasson know where to go on the ice and McDavid is the best player on the planet. That said, 97 is still a bit under the weather.

Draisaitl’s Line

Zykov-Draisaitl-Spooner

Draisaitl has slowed down the last couple of games and that’s probably due to playing so much. Perhaps it’d be a good time to give him fewer minutes and lesser quality of opponent. While defense is getting sacrificed, perhaps giving the German two linemates who are more offensively inclined could spark things a little.

Zykov did have some luck last season playing with two very skilled linemates in Carolina, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Could he have a bit more with Draisaitl and Spooner?

RNH’s Line

Khaira-RNH-Puljujarvi

The best line on the ice versus St. Louis. I’d like to keep them together. I loved their ability to keep the puck in the Blues zone last time around and I’m in favor of giving Nugent-Hopkins two bigger bodies to open up space for him.

I think if the Oilers could get this trio out against Minny’s 3rd pairing of Greg Pateryn and Nick Seether and their 3rd line of Greenway, Eriksson-Ek, and Niederreiter, they might be able to exploit the gap in talent.

The Identity Line

Lucic-Brodziak-Kassian

Obviously, I’m not changing anything here. The line has been beastly from a puck-possession standpoint since Hitchcock put them together. Milan Lucic has only been on the ice for two goals against in those eight games too. That’s pretty remarkable if you think about it. Here’s to hoping their hard work pays off with a goal tonight.

That leaves Marody out of the rotation for the time being and that’s okay. The Oilers have to see what they’ve got in Zykov as they already have an idea with Marody. If the Russian doesn’t impress, they can take him out and put Coop’ in there. No harm no foul.

Putting the centers back to their natural positions will solidify the spine of the team and spread out the wealth a bit. They did it last season with a modicum of success going 7-4-1 and averaging 3.33 goals for in that time (Hat tip to the Dirtbag for diggin that up). So why not try it out?

That said, Minnesota’s top-two lines are quite good and the Oilers will have last change, so it’s very likely that the lines you see above are nowhere near what Hitchcock will use. I think he’ll stack the top two lines and double-shift McDavid as much as he can. That’s where we’ll probably see a player like Zykov and/or Spooner’s TOI cut back.

Former Oiler Devan Dubnyk is back in the pipes for the Wild. He is 9-1-0 since being dealt out of the City of Champions and the Wild got shutout last night in Calgary, so the work will be cut out for Chia’s boys.

Three Players That Need to Step Up

1. Milan Lucic – I spend a lot of time standing up for Looch and it’d be nice if he repaid the efforts with a goal tonight. At the very least, his line gets a goal and rewards the coach for being patient and sticking with them.
2. Darnell Nurse – Bad 1st period for Darnell last game. I’d like to see him play a responsible defensive game vs. Minnesota. No chasing and much more communication with his teammates. More of what he showed us in periods two and three against St. Louis.
3. Ryan Spooner – It’s time to get that motor running for Spooner. I want to see much more engagement from the Ottawa boy. If he’s on a line with one of the Oilers big boys, I want to see at least three shots or see him set up three shots.