Fire the coaching staff into the sun save for Gulutzan and let Woodcroft, Manson, and the Condor's staff have the keys to the roster for the rest of the year.

If Ceci's good to go then I'd personally be sitting Russell. I'd love to sit Barrie as well but the roster options just aren't there. I wouldn't consider it total "punishment" for poor play of late, more they've been tasked with a lot of minutes over that same span and could genuinely use the night off to reset. Have a couple beers, watch the game, study some tape, be ready for the Hurricanes. Because this roster can't really afford to have both Kris and Tyson out of the lineup, I'd take Barrie's PP minutes away from him tonight. Give them to Bouchard and definitely not Nurse. If Barrie can give a solid 15 minutes of good 5v5 tonight with Niemo, then he can be put back on the powerplay against the Hurricanes. His play has not been near good enough this year and a message needs to be sent.

Foegele needs to get something going and while I agree McLovin' needs to be injected into the top six, I don't think it should come at the cost of Nuge's icetime. Foegele to me has the potential to be a better Pat Maroon: with Puljujarvi very clearly being the RW for McDavid, I think this lets the Oilers tinker with their other 3 lines a bit more effectively. I've wanted to see more of this second line setup as I really think the chemistry could be there to be even better than the DYNamite line we saw last year. Hyman being the designated forechecker, Nuge the shooter (he has a great shot, he just does not use the thing) and Draisaitl the multitool magicman.

One of these days Benson will do something to warrant a look on the second line, hopefully a soft-minutes assignment with McLeod and Yamamoto can spark that. Perlini being waived makes this the only real option as injecting Shore into the third line just stunts any bottom-six production we could hope for against the Bruins. 4th line can take the garbage starts from their own zone.

Foegele - McDavid - Puljujarvi
RNH - Draisaitl - Hyman
Benson - McLeod - Yamamoto
Shore - Sceviour - Turris

Nurse - Bouchard
Broberg - Ceci
Niemelainen - Barrie

I'd start Skinner and line up a deal for Koskinen to hit the road the second Smith is healthy. I know I've preached that paying to move him isn't worth it but the team has no confidence with him in net. I'd aim for Eakin without retention, pay the Sabres their ask in 2024 picks and/or a B-prospect.