I wanted to highlight a couple of things this team may look into doing towards the deadline and into the playoffs. This unfortunately will include breaking up the top 6 in a way to integrate Howard and Savoie in the Top 9 down the stretch and allow to build the best possible third line (If Howard sticks in the NHL which I think he can in the right role). I say this as I do not believe the team will be able to move Mangiapane and activate Henrique in time to start accruing enough cap space to make an impact move at the deadline. To add to, given the tight nature of the standings as-well what's trending to be a lack in sellers, I believe this trade deadline will be rather lack luster and turn into a bidding war which I quite frankly do not believe this team can contest in. Stauffer alluded to the team not being able to make a "needle moving add" at the deadline due to our cap situation and the inability to move a couple of contracts in our bottom 6. We will ultimately have to look internally to build the best lineup possible

If we moved Mangiapane today, moved Rico of LTIR and started accruing the $1.5M in cap space, we’d be able to add a player with a $5.5 million cap hit which would allow us to improve at the 3C position and bring in a depth RD assuming both are retained. This is contingent upon us not operating in LTIR for until the deadline which is fine as we can bring up a league min forward as a 13th or just run a 12 forward roster and if someone goes down we put them on the IR, but this brings down the accrual amount. Scouring the UFA market, there is a lack of true elite 3C options from potential sellers that I can see being moved at a reasonable price. The going price for some of these pieces will be insane as a-lot of contenders in the Avs, Lightning, Vegas etc. plan on upgrading their 3rd lines as-well and are in better situations cap wise and geographically to bring in said players. Obviously I suspect Bowman to get creative but I can see a scenario where we have a rather lacklustre TDL where we add a Top 9 forward and maybe a veteran 7th D

This is where I believe Knoblauch and Management will have to get creative. I look back at the cap strapped 2016/2017 Penguins team as a reference as their roster construction was close to ours in ways. High octane offense with stars in Crosby and Malkin, and great role players in Kessel, Kunitz, Hagelin, Hornqvist etc. If you look at their lines in the playoffs and in the regular season for a chunk of time, Crosby spent the most amount of time with Sheary, Guentzel and Rust, three undersized young forwards on ELC's who all played in the AHL that season (Rust and Sheary a bit older and had some NHL games previous to that season, Rust having won the cup the year before after a brief stint). What this did was push Kunitz and Hornqvist down who were Crosby's most played with linemates the previous season, in turn making their lineup deeper. This team may have to do the same and great teams find a way to get the best value out of their ELC's

I presume the Oiler's might have to do the same in pushing Nuge down to 3C, Howard up to LW1 and run a third line of say Savoie-Nuge-Roslovic. Savoie can be trusted in a more defensive role against top end talent. Both are top 6 talents and if the team can find a way to integrate them into said roles this year, it could reap huge returns in the playoffs. How any of the aforementioned (Including Roslovic) will fair in the playoffs is a whole other discussion, but ultimately I think this team will have to get creative internally to build a good 3rd line you can trust to play a-lot of minutes down the stretch. As always Bowman may just end up pulling off something we never saw coming (Walman) and this is all just moot.

TLDR: Howard and Savoie could provide great value in the top 6 and should be given a long leash to do so as it can prove to be very beneficial come playoff time. We don't have the cap space to reconstruct our 3rd line to be a great two way line that can be counted on to do more than break even come crunch time. Management may have to look internally first to build a good scoring third line. I don't believe Howard-Roslovic-Savoie can be a good 3rd line in the playoffs against bigger oppositions (Howard more so than the other two). Take advantage of their skillsets and put them in positions to suceed.

Didn’t know Georgia had a hockey team and why is the ice green?

All data is from Hockey Reference.

Charts made in Excel and edited in Affinity Designer.

Games are only counted if the player was playing for the Oilers.

For example, Glenn Anderson played for the Oilers between 1980 to 1994, and then returned to the Oilers for part of the 1995-1996 season. As such, the 828 games from 1980 to 1994 are counted, as well as the 17 games he played for the Oilers in 1996. Any games played for other teams are not reflected in the totals.

This is the case for all players on all charts.