During the game last night against the New Jersey Devils, we saw Knoblauch bust out a bit of a line blender, dropping Evander Kane down to the third line with Ryan McLeod being brought up to be on Draisaitl's wing. The results were highly positive for the Edmonton Oilers. The trio went 2-0 on the scoresheet at 5 on 5 and McLeod finished the night with two goals himself.
McLeod is a fast player and a great defensive player but like so many rookies over the Holland tenure, he has not been given a legitimate chance to play up the lineup with other skill players and instead being labelled as a "bottom six forward." I would like to see McLeod get a chance to show he does have more offensive instincts than he has been given credit for and see how he performs as a winger.
McLeod has been labelled as Nuge lite due to his similar style of play as a centre. Perhaps we can see a similar offensive increase moving to the wing as we did with RNH. I'm not suggesting a 100 point season but I would like to see him given a few games here and see if some chemistry can form.
The one issue this move makes is the makeup of the bottom six. McLeod shifting to the wing means that the likes of Derek Ryan or Mattias Janmark will have to cover the middle. Holloway has played some centre and could step into the third line role upon his return but that won't be for a bit yet and the coach will want to ease him back into games, something that is easier to do on the wing.
Hopefully we see a bit more of what this line can do tonight against a very good Rangers team. If they can continue to produce than Edmonton will once again have two deadly scoring lines that can give any opponent trouble. The next step will be figuring out how to get Evander Kane going again...
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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