The Edmonton Oilers have a problem. Since the Florida Panthers uncovered the team’s soft underbelly in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, opponents have an effective formula against Edmonton’s top-end players. In spite of towering talents like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, teams that give no quarter and play with reckless abandon close the talent gap. Those teams often emerge victorious.

The venerable become vulnerable when teams manhandle the Oilers. That physical style becomes situation normal during the playoffs. The Oilers, who are immensely talented, are (at times) surprisingly easy to knock off their game. An early sock in the jaw, a series of borderline hits, and Edmonton loses its swagger.

The latest example came Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.

Management has time to deal with the problem, but little in the way of cap room and trade assets. The first order of business should be finding a useful third line with some combination of skill, defensive acumen and physicality. What should it look like?

The Peca-Marchant template

The best depth lines of this century for Edmonton were on the ice 20-25 years ago. In the early 2000s, speedy centre Todd Marchant was flanked by rugged wingers Ethan Moreau and Mike Grier. All three men had offensive ability that was considered top-end for a third line at the time, and all three held skill positions before arriving in the NHL.

The story was much the same for the 2006 checking line that featured feisty center Michael Peca with overtly physical Raffi Torres and quality two-way winger Fernando Pisani. That line ran hot all spring and passed into legend.

That’s a tall order for a team that seems to have tried everything and has limited trade options. How close can the Oilers get to this template with currently available talent?

Needing offence

Beyond the McDavid and Draisaitl lines, the Oilers aren’t a strong offensive team. When the two big centres are together, Edmonton owns a 50 percent goal share (all numbers at five-on-five, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) and scores 3.38 goals per 60. That’s a top-flight offensive unit.

McDavid without Draisaitl has been hot for weeks, and now delivers 3.22 goals per 60 and a 52 percent share. Draisaitl solo has been money all year. His current goal percentage is 64 percent, and the trio is scoring 3.69 goals per 60. All of these numbers are championship quality.

However, when the two elite talents are off the ice, Edmonton scores 1.17 goals per 60 and owns a 29 percent goal percentage. The terrible offence hides a positive fact: The third and fourth lines are surrendering just 2.81 GA per 60. That’s a solid, workable number, meaning offensive upgrades are vital to the current lines.

Building a third line internally

Let’s start with the positives. Adam Henrique is the owner of a 2.55 GA per 60 at five-on-five. To put that in perspective, Draisaitl’s line is 2.54 GA per 60 this season, and McDavid is at 3.10 GA per 60. The Oilers average 2.75 GA per 60, meaning Henrique’s trio is above average compared to the rest of the group.

The key wingers should be able to provide offence without giving up anything defensively. In 2000-01, Grier scored 20 on the line and received some Selke votes (as did Marchant) for his defensive work. In 2006, Torres chipped in with 27 goals during the regular season, and Pisani scored 14 in the playoffs.

Both lines boasted a responsible centre (Marchant and Peca) considered quality in areas like faceoffs, penalty killing and positioning. Both lines had a right winger who could score goals and play well across 200 feet (Grier and Pisani), and both lines boasted left wingers (Moreau and Torres) who could flatten opponents with a big hit and play at the outer edges of the rules.

Assuming we can place an aging Henrique into the difficult Marchant-Peca role (and understanding that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is ideal for the No. 3 centre job but is also needed on the McDavid line), let’s delve into the best available wingers.

Responsible winger

The most responsible winger among third- and fourth-line candidates on the Oilers is Mattias Janmark. He’s shy offensively, so he isn’t a suitable comparable to Grier in 2001-02 or Pisani in 2005-06. However, his 2.65 GA per 60 is superior to rookie Matt Savoie (2.75) and veterans Kasperi Kapanen (3.37) and Andrew Mangiapane (3.7) on the current club.

Janmark’s five-on-five offence (1.21 goals per 60) trails Kapanen (1.69) by a significant amount. Kapanen is currently injured, but offers size, speed and skill. He has improved in the main area of weakness over his NHL career (consistency), and could be the internal solution for the Oilers.

One name that has appeared in recent weeks as a possible option is Quinn Hutson. Known for his responsible play, he has lit up the AHL and even had a solid first run in the NHL not long ago. Hutson may seem like an obscure option, but he has some similarities in range to Pisani at the same age.

The Marchant and Peca lines featured some fast trains with size. The most attractive candidate from this pool of talent is Kapanen. If he can deliver the kind of consistency we saw during the playoffs last spring (1.64 GA per 60 in the 2025 postseason), Henrique might have his right winger.

Rugged scorer

Coach Kris Knoblauch has been patient with veteran Trent Frederic, who has failed to deliver as an agitator, scorer and outscorer so far this year. One of the key problems has been recovering from a high-ankle sprain. Frederic’s foot speed has fallen off even from last year, when he first had the ankle issues.

NHL average speed for his position is 35.4 kph. Although Frederic’s top speed is below NHL average, two of this three best times have come in the last two games versus the Flames. It could be a sign that Frederic’s boots are improving. If that’s the case, there’s some history of positive results on a checking line.

Even this year, his GA per 60 is 2.59 at five-on-five. That’s not far from Henrique’s number. In the two seasons before his injury, Frederic scored 29 and 36 five-on-five points, respectively. He has scoring talent, and if he continues to recover his speed, Oilers fans could see Frederic emerge as a real solution.

Failing that, the only option available is Vasily Podkolzin. The big winger isn’t as filthy as Torres or Moreau in their prime, but the NHL is a different style 25 years later. Podkolzin’s size and speed deliver thunderous checks. He wouldn’t be the offensive player he has become on the Draisaitl line, but Podkolzin is the last chance option for an important position on a new makeshift Edmonton trio.

The solution

Management appears to be biding time to see if Frederic can deliver something close to what was his established level of ability with the Boston Bruins. If the recent foot speed improvement results in better scoring and outscoring, Henrique would have a rugged scorer and outscorer for his left wing.

If Frederic doesn’t improve, there’s only one option.

If the coaching staff keeps Nugent-Hopkins on the top line, then the play here is to gift the Henrique line Podkolzin and spend the rest of the regular season deciding on Janmark, Kapanen or Hutson as the line’s right winger.

Draisaitl can flourish with any winger. He’s proven it time and again.