Let’s begin by clarifying. The Edmonton Oilers should not be using Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line in most scenarios. Need a late goal? Last face-off of the period? Sure, stack it up and send them both out on the same line. But generally speaking, it does not seem to be to the team’s benefit to have them playing on one line.
However, since it seems that the coaching staff enjoys defaulting to this combination regularly so far this season, maybe we should figure out what other forward is the best option to play on the top line when stacking the offence.
Thus far in the 2025–26 season, the Oilers’ offence has been flat and stagnant, and even playing these two together has not helped make up for the general difficulties generating offence. It has led to a rough start to the season, full of heartbreaking losses. According to Natural Stat Trick, when McDavid and Draisaitl are on the ice together at 5v5, the Oilers have an expected goals for percentage of 61.9%. The actual goals for percentage is just slightly lower at 61.5%. Without these two on the ice in the same game situation, that xGF% drops to 42.1%, while the actual is a dreadful 24.3%.
Maybe the logic is to double down on the strength in the hopes that it helps kick-start the rest of the lineup. Nevertheless, we are stepping into the coach’s seat for this week’s Sunday Census as we took to X to ask the fans who McDavid and Draisaitl’s third linemate should be.
Want to take part in Sunday Census polls? We send them out every week on our Twitter at @oilrigEDM. Follow along or send in ideas for the next poll!
Hard-working Zach Hyman
Zach Hyman has consistently been one of the most important members of the Oilers’ forward group, evidenced by the immense change in game plan when Mason Marchment injured him in the Western Conference Final in last season’s playoffs. Luckily, he has returned and immediately found himself in his rightful spot, on McDavid’s right wing.
Oilers fans primarily think that Hyman should remain on that wing, regardless of who is on McDavid’s left. He won this week’s poll as the best option to play alongside McDavid and Draisaitl, should the first line be stacked up, with 44.7% of the vote.
This is a natural trio to stick together, arguably the best three forwards on the roster, and a fantastic composition of player styles to cover everything you need in a forward line. Speed, finish, hands, playmaking, physicality, effort, energy, and a net front presence are all boxes you can tick off with Hyman, McDavid, and Draisaitl together on a line.
These three were united in Hyman’s first game back last night, and sure enough, they connected on a goal led by a strong, physical effort by Hyman, a smart pass by Draisaitl, and the finish by McDavid. They are making their case to prove the fans right.
Reward the rookie
It’s taken nearly 20 games, but highly touted rookie Matthew Savoie has finally started to see some results for his strong play. A multi-point game with two assists, including the assist on the game winner, against the Philadelphia Flyers preceded a career high in ice time for him when he logged over 19 minutes against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Savoie is a smart, sneakily strong player with great play-reading abilities. A skillset that would mesh well with McDavid and Draisaitl to enhance what he can do on the ice. These three have spent some time together already this season, with some positive results. Natural Stat Trick lists this forward line as having a 53.5% xGF%. Potentially on the low side, though the sample size is small, and Savoie did take some time to adjust once the season started.
With his impressive play and potential, Savoie finished second in this week’s poll with 39.5% of the vote.
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Jack of all trades
After a few quiet games as he adjusted to a new team and got into season mode, Jack Roslovic has been showing that he is one of the best free agent signings in recent years, especially given his extremely discounted cap hit. Roslovic now has 13 points in his last 11 games as he sees his ice time and role on the team dramatically increase.
His speed, tenacity, and aggressiveness with and without the puck have helped him find a spot on this team in the top-six, and lately most commonly alongside Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. But in terms of loading him up alongside Draisaitl and McDavid, the fans thought there were better options as he finished third in this week’s poll with 14.5% of the vote.
There may be a bit more to Roslovic’s placement in this poll, however, as Natural Stat Trick lists these three as having an xGF% of 40.4% and an actual GF% of 33.3%. In their limited time together, they also have an extremely low PDO of .853, dragged down partially by a shooting percentage of 5.3%. Maybe, if these three got some more ice time together, the stats would improve.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins deserves his own line
From a team management and roster composition perspective, playing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins alongside McDavid and Draisaitl on the top line does not make much sense. That is stacking all three of the team’s top centres on one line, leaving Adam Henrique or Noah Philp as the second-line centre. This is primarily the reason why Nugent-Hopkins placed last in this week’s poll with just 1.3% of the vote.
It makes sense to play Nugent-Hopkins with one of McDavid or Draisaitl; he does very well as a balanced presence in that role. However, spreading him out onto a different line is the best plan for the team to help ensure the incredibly deep centre depth the Oilers possess can be utilized properly.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
