Prior to the weekend, I was fairly convinced that the Oilers were going to start the season with Brandon Sutter as their 4th line centre. Based off the lines that were deployed it looked like Sutter had the inside track on the position. The organization gave him every opportunity to see if he was able to make a NHL comeback but Sutter decided that it just was not in the cards for him and announced his retirement.

For the Oilers this paints a clearer and murkier picture for the final forward spot on the roster. Here are the forwards we know are going to be on the roster:

Kane-McDavid-Hyman
RNH-Draisaitl-Brown
Foegele-McLeod-Ryan
Holloway-_____-Janmark

We know that Woodcroft was ideally looking for a 4th line centre for the final spot to give the team more flexibility, while allowing Ryan to stay as a winger on a third line that was exceptional as a tough minutes trio. That may have to change, depending on who the final forward is.

Lane Pederson could be that guy as the 26 year old who can play centre or wing has been solely used at centre through training camp with the Edmonton Oilers. Pederson has been fine if unremarkable through the pre-season and reminds me a bit of Devin Shore in that you really don't get anything great or awful from him in his minutes played.

It could be Malone or Hamblin; two players Edmonton is familiar with through their time with the Condors and have both had some NHL time (Malone, far more with 217 games under his belt).

The most likely option at least to start appears to be Raphael Lavoie. Tnhe 23 year old winger has been fairly good through training camp, particularly because he has not played with much established NHL talent. Lavoie's goal in the last preseason game against the Canucks showcased his quick and accurate release.

Tonight I would like to see Lavoie get some minutes with Draisaitl or McDavid, not because I think that the coach should play him with those players to start the season but because I want to see what the kid can do when he is playing with legitimate line mates.

There are (thankfully) only a few more pre-season games to go and as the herd is thinned out and the main NHL roster remains, it will be interesting to see how Woodcroft juggles his lineup and what the bottom six roster is going to look like.

Thanks for reading.

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