Oilers' New Third Line Could Surprise Many

Kris Knoblauch is playing with his chemistry set again.

The Oilers' practice this morning revealed yet another new permutation of the Oilers' forward lines, as Jeff Skinner joins Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman on the third line.

It's something of a reward for Skinner, who's played well and without complaint on the fourth line and scored his first goal in eight games on Saturday in Seattle.

It's also another attempt to spark a third line that's struggled to produce recently. With Connor Brown earning a promotion to the top line and Mattias Janmark in his familiar fourth-line role, the hope is that Hyman can drive the play while Skinner and Henrique try to rediscover their offensive games.

At the same time, this looks like the last gasp for Adam Henrique as the third-line centre. His production has cratered this year, with just 10 points in 39 games and only one in his last thirteen. He's also gotten caved in at even strength, with an expected goals share of 42.5%.

The hope, then, is that he can be buoyed by two top-six wingers in Hyman and Skinner. Hyman has had sparkling numbers all season long (65.7 xG%, 66.2 G%), while Skinner has played well in tough situations but has been the victim of bad luck (49.2 xG%, 40.5 G%).

The Oilers are now fully abandoning the idea of a checking third line. Skinner-Henrique-Hyman is a scoring line, with Hyman and Henrique winning puck battles and cleaning up the net front while Skinner shoots and makes plays.

That the Oilers feel comfortable shifting Skinner and Hyman down to the third line is thanks in large part to the emergence of Connor Brown and Vasily Podkolzin as solid top-six players. Part of the benefit of having Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your team is they make players better, which frees your other needle movers to fill other positions of need, as they are now on the Oilers' third line.

We'll get our first real look at the new third line tomorrow when the Oilers visit the Boston Bruins.

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