The Oilers have stumbled onto a top line that is doing exactly what a contender wants a top line to do: tilt the ice, pile up goals and leave opponents chasing shadows.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin have been lights-out together, and the numbers back it up. According to stats cited by Bob Stauffer from Natural Stat Trick, the trio owns an expected goals for percentage of 80.43% at 5-on-5 and has outscored opponents 8-0 in 53:09 on the ice together.
McDavid has 13 points and a plus-12 rating through five games, Draisaitl has nine points, and Podkolzin has five goals and seven points. All three are sitting inside the NHL’s top 25 in scoring.
That kind of production would make the answer simple if the rest of the roster were fully healthy. It isn’t.
With Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Savoie all unavailable, Edmonton’s depth has been stretched thin, and several players are being pushed into bigger jobs or awkward fits. Jason Dickinson, who has just come back from injury and is still finding his legs, has held up as a temporary center option, but he looks more natural in a third-line role.
That leaves Mike Babcock with a real lineup puzzle: keep the McDavid-Draisaitl- Podkolzin trio intact, or spread the offense around and try to stabilize the rest of the lineup? Hyman is expected back Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings, and that should at least give Edmonton a second line of Hyman, Dickinson and Kapanen, easing some of the pressure.
For now, the Oilers have earned some breathing room. They’re the NHL’s only undefeated team in regulation and have gone 4-0-1 without several of their top-six forwards. If they can keep that going and keep making small gains as bodies return, there may be no need to mess with a combination that has been overwhelming opponents.
The calculus changes if the offense dries up. If the depth scoring doesn’t come and the results start to wobble, splitting up McDavid and Draisaitl could become unavoidable.
There’s also a path where the decision gets easier all on its own. If Nugent-Hopkins and Savoie come back, Dickinson can slide lower in the lineup and Edmonton’s top nine starts to look a lot more balanced. At that point, keeping the top line together would be far less complicated.
Right now, though, the Oilers have every reason to let the hot hand keep rolling.
In Other News...
Oilers May Have Pulled Off Two Steals And One Looks Even Bigger
The early returns on Edmontons recent trade work have been hard to ignore, especially with Vasily Podkolzin giving the forward group a burst the Oilers could use. He has scored seven goals in six games and already looks like the kind of addition that can push deeper into the lineup over time, not just fill a spot in the middle six. For a team that has opened the season with a strong record, those kinds of quick returns can make a front office look awfully sharp.
Devon Levi has added a different kind of value in goal, staying undefeated and turning in impressive numbers in his recent starts. His arrival gave Edmonton another option in a position where stability always matters, and the fact that both moves are paying off at once has only raised the profile of the deals. One looks like a timely boost, the other may be starting to feel like a bigger swing altogether, which is exactly the sort of outcome the Oilers were hoping for. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Keep Winning But This Latest Escape Raises A Real Debate
The Oilers kept their unbeaten run rolling with a 4-1 win over the Kings, moving to 5-0-1 and remaining the NHLs only team without a regulation loss. Leon Draisaitl helped drive the offense, Vasily Podkolzin scored twice, and Connor McDavid piled up four assists in his 800th game, another reminder that Edmonton can still tilt a night its way even when the shot totals say otherwise.
Devon Levi may have been the biggest reason it all held together. He turned aside 39 of 40 shots while Edmonton spent long stretches defending rather than dictating, which only sharpened the conversation around how sustainable this start really is. The wins are piling up, but the formula has looked different enough each night that the Oilers early-season success now comes with a lingering question about what happens when the margin for error finally shrinks. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Face A Goaltending Decision That Could Define Their Season
Early in the season, the Oilers are already staring at a familiar but urgent problem in net, with Tristan Jarry, Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi all under scrutiny as the club tries to steady the position. It is the kind of issue that can quietly shape everything around it, from the way Edmonton manages its games to how much pressure lands on the skaters in front of the crease.
The market for a fix looks complicated. Connor Hellebuyck, Sam Montembeault, Jordan Binnington and Adin Hill all surface as possible answers, but each comes with real obstacles tied to contract status, performance concerns or the sheer difficulty of prying a goalie loose. For now, Edmonton may be left weighing whether the cleanest move is no move at all, and simply hoping one of its current options settles in before the season gets away from it. [Read more 🡒]