June 19, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

I find it interesting to look at the forward depth chart of the Edmonton Oilers right now. There’s a lot of high-end talent. However, there’s a major flaw in my estimation, and that’s positional asymmetry among the wingers.

I’m going to show you the depth chart the way I see it as of now:

LW                                       C                                 RW

Kane                               McDavid                     Yamamoto

Hyman                            Draisaitl                      Ryan

Nugent-Hopkins             McLeod                       

Foegele                                                            

Kostin

Holloway

I’ve placed the players in these positions according to the positions that they either play best in or play most often. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a natural centre, but he has been largely deployed as a winger over the last few seasons. Please note that these are not line combinations! I don’t trust Kailer Yamamoto on a top line, and there’s no way in hell that I’d play Derek Ryan on a second line. 

There are two certain NHL calibre right wingers right now. Meanwhile, the list of NHL level talent (if not at least top nine talent) at left wing is six players deep. 

There are a couple of solid prospects at right wing. Raphael Lavoie isn’t waivers exempt anymore and he just broke out in the AHL in the second half of last season. He could make the team, but he’s no guarantee. Xavier Bourgault has promise, but he will need more time in Bakersfield before making the jump to the NHL.

One problem with this roster construction is that if I’m an opposing coach, I’m attacking the Oilers’ right side all day every day. Aside from any potential top line with Draisaitl or Hyman on the right side of Evander Kane and Connor McDavid, the right winger is always weaker than the left winger. Once you get past the winger on the right side, you’re dealing with Evan Bouchard (who I love but is still improving defensively), Cody Ceci (hopefully back to full health next season), or Vincent Desharnais (big and physical, but not the most fleet of foot). The right side has easier access than going through Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, or Philip Broberg.

The other problem with this roster construction is that you either have guys playing too far up the lineup or in positions that aren’t natural or comfortable to them. Take Yamamoto as an example. Leon Draisaitl loves playing with him, but he’s a half a point per game player at best even when playing with Draisaitl, who routinely gets over 100 points every year. Yamamoto is simply playing too high up the lineup. Zach Hyman is another example. He’s a right hand shot, so he can play right wing; but he’s much more effective as a left winger because he likes to protect the puck on his backhand.

Moving Hyman to right wing gives you a legitimate top line right winger. It’s not ideal because he’s not as comfortable there, but it will have to do for now. Draisaitl has also played a lot of right wing, but the problem with moving him there is that it usually means he plays with McDavid. They’re dynamic together, but it leaves the other three lines lacking. The consequence of moving Draisaitl to the right side is moving Nugent-Hopkins to his natural centre position. I like that for him, but I would personally like to see Draisaitl on his right side in that situation (a move I’ve been lobbying for for quite a while).

They can only really move one of Hyman or Draisaitl to the right side though because moving both of them over would open up two holes at left wing. Kane would still be the top left winger, but Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins would vacate the position. That would leave Foegele, Kostin, or Holloway to play in the top six, which really isn’t any better than having Yamamoto playing in the top six. It wouldn’t solve the problem of having one guy in the top six that doesn’t belong there.

Life would be much easier for Jay Woodcroft and the Oilers if they could add another top six right winger at a reasonable salary. It would be nice to be able to take one of those left wingers and turn him into a right winger. This brings me to Warren Foegele. A simple move would be shifting him to the right side because he played the right side in Carolina. While it could help with the overall depth on the right side, it still wouldn’t solve the issue of needing someone else to play in the top six on the right side. 

Related: The Oilers Cap Situation Entering Summer 2023

If there’s one of those left wingers that the Oilers could afford to move, it’s Foegele. Foegele is 27 years old and carrying a $2.75 million cap hit for next season. He isn’t going to increase his production by much, whereas Kostin and Holloway are still young enough to match or surpass Foegele’s numbers as early as next season. 

There aren’t many affordable right wingers in this year’s UFA class, unless you think Connor Brown is the answer or you want to entertain Phil Kessel. There’s a lot of smoke around Brown. Even if the Oilers do sign Brown, perhaps a good old fashioned hockey trade makes sense here. The St. Louis Blues have been reliable trade partners for the Oilers over the years. They have Kasperi Kapanen, a pure right winger with speed to spare that put up 34 points in 66 games between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Blues last season. He has one year left at $3.2 million. He isn’t much of an upgrade over Foegele and Yamamoto, but he’s a small upgrade.

Another possibility, albeit a highly unlikely possibility, would be prying Blake Wheeler out of Winnipeg with 50% of his $8.125 million contract for next season retained in exchange for Foegele or Yamamoto plus picks. That would ensure that the Oilers would have six legitimate top six forwards with only one playing out of his natural position (one of Hyman or Draisaitl playing the right side). 

If you enjoy highly unlikely scenarios, then you’ll love this one. The Oilers trade both Foegele and Yamamoto for whatever they can get for them, which would create the cap space to go out and sign one of Patrick Kane or Vladimir Tarasenko. The New York Rangers likely won’t be able to keep both of them unless they take massive hometown discounts. That would leave the Oilers with one of Hyman or Draisaitl, one of Kane or Tarasenko, Ryan, and possibly Lavoie or another cheap UFA fourth line right winger. I don’t love Ryan on the third line, but having that loaded of a top six might be worth it. It’s highly unlikely because neither of them will likely want to come here, and I don’t think either will come cheap. Regardless, it’s fun to think about.

I don’t know how Ken Holland plans to fix the positional asymmetry among the wingers, but I’ll be curious to see how he chooses to handle it.