The confounding struggles of the Edmonton Oilers&#8217; second line have seen the line blender return as Kris Knoblauch and his coaching staff try and find the right mix.

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The trio of Jeff Skinner, Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson were pencilled in from the time the two wingers joined the team in free agency as the Oilers&#8217; defacto second line. They got trial runs in the pre-season, and played each of the first two games together. After failing to find success in those early games, the coaching staff split them up for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth games of the season, only to return to them Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Through their nearly 32 minutes of five-on-five hockey, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-edmonton-oilers-are-close-to-turning-a-corner">the trio have actually looked strong</a>, generating more than enough scoring chances with 37.62 per hour of ice time, quality looks with 3.09 expected goals for per hour of ice time, and have dominated the pace of play to the tune of 63 percent of the shot attempt share. The only problem? They haven&#8217;t been able to score a goal, yet, have only allowed one against in those minutes.
And now, once again, the Oilers coaching staff have shuffled the cards, dropping Jeff Skinner to the third line alongside Adam Henrique and Connor Brown, elevating Vasily Podkolzin to the second line in practice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Oilers lines &amp; pairings at practice:
RNH &#8211; McDavid &#8211; Hyman Podkolzin &#8211; Draisaitl &#8211; Arvidsson Skinner &#8211; Henrique &#8211; Brown Janmark &#8211; Ryan &#8211; Perry
Ekholm &#8211; Bouchard Nurse &#8211; Stecher Kulak &#8211; Emberson Dermott
Skinner Pickard<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oilers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oilers</a>
&mdash; Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyBrarOTV/status/1849498499525775668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When asked Tuesday night, after the Oilers&#8217; 3-2 overtime <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/23/the-day-after-7-0-back-to-the-drawing-board-after-oilers-fail-to-close-out-hurricanes/">loss to the Carolina Hurricanes</a> about why the aforementioned trio hasn&#8217;t worked, Knoblauch had no answers.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know exactly why it hasn&#8217;t worked out,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/zjlaing/status/1848948199035445682">he said</a>. &#8220;You look at the scoring chances and what they&#8217;re generating, and most games, it&#8217;s in the positive.
&#8220;You think with those players being together, the expectation is there&#8217;d be more, there&#8217;d be more production, and being able to outscore the opposition on a regular basis. Right now, I don&#8217;t have an answer for that right now.&#8221;
The answer, apparently, is to once again mix up the line, and try another look, but I&#8217;m not convinced it&#8217;s the best course of action. Given Jeff Skinner and Arvidsson are new to the team, it&#8217;s no surprise there&#8217;s an adjustment period. Arvidsson has struggled to generate much on his own, but Jeff Skinner has actually excelled.
His 26 five-on-five shots on goal are a league-leading mark, with his 2.51 individual expected goals ranking fifth in the league. He&#8217;s generating looks, and he&#8217;s been a strong driver of play so far this season.
The same can&#8217;t be said for Podkolzkin, who despite being a physical presence on the ice leading the Oilers in five-on-five hits, has taken just five shots on goal this season. In just four minutes of ice time, the Oilers have been outscored 1-0 at five-on-five when Draisaitl and Podkolzin have been on the ice together.
The evidence is there that Jeff Skinner, Draisaitl and Arvidsson have a good thing going together, and while I can understand the desire to find a mix that&#8217;s actually going to score, this trio should remain intact to find their way.
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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff/streams">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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The confounding struggles of the Edmonton Oilers' second line have seen the line blender return as Kris Knoblauch and his coaching staff try and find the right mix.


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The trio of Jeff Skinner, Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson were pencilled in from the time the two wingers joined the team in free agency as the Oilers' defacto second line. They got trial runs in the pre-season, and played each of the first two games together. After failing to find success in those early games, the coaching staff split them up for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth games of the season, only to return to them Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Through their nearly 32 minutes of five-on-five hockey, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-edmonton-oilers-are-close-to-turning-a-corner">the trio have actually looked strong</a>, generating more than enough scoring chances with 37.62 per hour of ice time, quality looks with 3.09 expected goals for per hour of ice time, and have dominated the pace of play to the tune of 63 percent of the shot attempt share. The only problem? They haven't been able to score a goal, yet, have only allowed one against in those minutes.

And now, once again, the Oilers coaching staff have shuffled the cards, dropping Jeff Skinner to the third line alongside Adam Henrique and Connor Brown, elevating Vasily Podkolzin to the second line in practice.

https://twitter.com/TonyBrarOTV/status/1849498499525775668

When asked Tuesday night, after the Oilers' 3-2 overtime <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/10/23/the-day-after-7-0-back-to-the-drawing-board-after-oilers-fail-to-close-out-hurricanes/">loss to the Carolina Hurricanes</a> about why the aforementioned trio hasn't worked, Knoblauch had no answers.

"I don't know exactly why it hasn't worked out," <a href="https://x.com/zjlaing/status/1848948199035445682">he said</a>. "You look at the scoring chances and what they're generating, and most games, it's in the positive.

"You think with those players being together, the expectation is there'd be more, there'd be more production, and being able to outscore the opposition on a regular basis. Right now, I don't have an answer for that right now."

The answer, apparently, is to once again mix up the line, and try another look, but I'm not convinced it's the best course of action. Given Jeff Skinner and Arvidsson are new to the team, it's no surprise there's an adjustment period. Arvidsson has struggled to generate much on his own, but Jeff Skinner has actually excelled.

His 26 five-on-five shots on goal are a league-leading mark, with his 2.51 individual expected goals ranking fifth in the league. He's generating looks, and he's been a strong driver of play so far this season.

The same can't be said for Podkolzkin, who despite being a physical presence on the ice leading the Oilers in five-on-five hits, has taken just five shots on goal this season. In just four minutes of ice time, the Oilers have been outscored 1-0 at five-on-five when Draisaitl and Podkolzin have been on the ice together.

The evidence is there that Jeff Skinner, Draisaitl and Arvidsson have a good thing going together, and while I can understand the desire to find a mix that's actually going to score, this trio should remain intact to find their way.

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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff/streams">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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