I wouldnt call any Top 9 that has wingers in Caggiula, Rieder Lucic and Strome stacked. Average but not stacked

I don’t define a line by supporting players, for example, Crosby having Sheary and Kunhackl has on the wing doesn’t make the line average as it’s still elite. I can have McDavid in Center with wingers that just have their stick on the ice so they can deflect the puck into the net when McDavid shoots it. By a stacked top 9 I mean McDavid, the best Center in the league, Draisitl, an elite 2 way power center, and RNH, a textbook defensive Center running the lines. I remember in 2017, the wingers were Caggiula, Slepyshev, Lucic, Maroon, Pouliot, Slepyshev and the Oilers were looking like contenders.

There's no dilemma in my mind! Here are my lines:

Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Khaira - Draisaitl - Kassian*
Lucic - Strome - Rieder
Caggiula - Brodziak - Aberg

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Benning
Sekera - Russell

*Yamamoto would look good at 2RW too, but he may start in Bakersfield. If he's at 2RW, I play Rieder at 3RW, Kassian at 4 and Aberg at 4LW, Caggiula sits. If Yamamoto slots in a 3RW, I might try Rieder at 2RW and Kassian down on the 4th, moving Aberg across as before.

McDavid will succeed with literally anyone. Same with Crosby. Draisaitl needs good players to reach his potential, he doesn't carry a line as well as one would want. Still a great player but he's not elite. RNH on that 3rd line would at best not drown against most other teams. This is the big problem Edmonton has, they just don't have skill and speed on the wings to help out the centres which are pretty good. McDavid is the best player in the league, draisaitl is 2C on most teams in the NHL and not many teams boost a 3C as good as RNH. However, almost every team has much better wingers than what Edmonton is rolling out there and that's why they can't score and get scored on too much.

The worst part about it all is that there isn't an easy fix. You can't buy your way out of this because your cap situation isn't good and your cupboards are very bare so you don't have the assets to spend to get players you can make a positive impact. You're basically stuck hoping everything falls into place or you have to draft well for the next 3 years and then hope you can get enough talent to give yourself proper depth.

You have deep 1-3 Centers, you dont have a stacked Top 9, thats a big difference. Its not an elite line, Crosby is elite, playing elite players with 30 point wingers doesnt mean its an elite line. Its Elite players playing with Average NHLers to make up a Top 9 that is mediocre when compared to the rest of the NHL.

lines like Bergeron Marchand Pastarnak or Schiefele Wheeler Kyle Connor...those are elite lines.

Everyone else has gone on about the wings so I'll leave them alone.

Scratching Benning is a headscratcher. The majority of his underlying stats suggest he's on the cusp of being a legitimate top 4 defenceman. Opting to play Gravel AND Russell ahead of him when the team so desperately needs right handed rearguards suggest you don't see that value in Benning. I'm curious as to what your reasoning was there.

I find it hard to justify having a $6M #3C. Nugent-Hopkins should be regarded as a left wing for the foreseeable future; I have a feeling management won't be super bullish on having him return to the dot based on how he performed alongside McDavid.

Is there a reason you consistently go out of your way to not have Strome as the Oilers #3C? I notice a lot of your posts feature him as a winger.

rnh takes a wing and strome that 3rd line center id say. they need to do something to puff up those wings.

I hate people saying Strome is a bust because he doesn’t carry a line like most good players do. I know Strome has an elite accurate shot and is a decent 2 way player. It’s sort of like Bennett succeeding as a winger while failing when placed at Center. Having Strome on RW would allow him to have freedom to score points and not be expected to carry a line by the fans. The Eberle-Strome trade has made fans hate Strome simply because he hasn’t showed up to put up the same points.

I distinguished the words incorrectly. The team is deep at Center without elite supporting cast. Why did Oilers trade their best winger, Eberle, to acquire another Center when their were 3 already?

bc they suck at trades and did it for cap relief in order to sign Kris Russell to a dumb contract. So in short they have a terrible GM thats why

Can easily see that second line lasting for about a period