Great job putting a LD on RD when he has no real NHL experience so far. Fail

If Broberg is up then he will not be on the right side. We could get a better backup than Driedger.

Can any Oiler fans tell me why Bouchard was not in the lineup for the exhibition game but Phillip Broberg was? I mean, Broberg looked reasonably solid, but I am surprised Bouchard wasn't given at least the 7th spot, considering he had a pretty good year in the AHL. Is he injured?

They wanted to give Broberg a hint of what NHL action is like god forbid they need him during the playoffs. Tippett confirmed this: both Bouchard and Lagesson have seen NHL icetime, Broberg hasn't. Better to work off the nerves now than in a game that really matters.

He looked quite good, but I am just surprised that Bouchard is not even going to be considered for RTP action.

Where did you hear that? I don't think that's true - he's just not in the top-6.

If these are the lines, then Drai wins the Art Ross again. Nuge and Kailer are way better complimentary players than Ennis and AA.

I didn't hear it anywhere, it's just my assumption that a guy that didn't play the exhibition game would not be top of the depth chart if another D body needed to be inserted into the lineup for whatever reason. That's why I found it so peculiar that Edmonton didn't go 8 D for the exhibition game. And before you ask, NYI went with 8 D in their exhibition game, so it's not completely ridiculous a thought.

Your assumption was addressed in this very thread before you commented though. All of Edmonton's black ace defensemen have played at least one NHL game before except Broberg, so he got the start. Tippett wanted to get Patrick Russell (F) into the game as well, so there wasn't room for anyone else.

Was my assumption re-addressed before my initial comment? Because I find it hard to believe that Bouchard sees initial action in the RTP best-of-5 unless something happens to one of the defenders ahead of him. I think based on how Broberg played yesterday, at least from what I saw, he deserves the 6-7 spot over a guy like Bouchard, which to me I just find interesting because of the things I previously mentioned. Anyway, just curious.

They aren't competing for the same spot though. Broberg is a left shot and Bouchard is a right shot. Neither will start unless injuries occur higher in the lineup, and for sure both are behind Jones in the lineup (he can play both sides) while Broberg may be behind Lagesson too just due to experience. The fact that Broberg played in the exhibition game has not had any effect on Bouchard's probability of getting icetime during the coming weeks.