oilersrule66

"the young hockey addict"

Welcome to the next oilers dynasty • Canada • 21 Years Old • Male

Is MacTavish done this Summer? Part 1

Most fans believe that the Oilers still have a few more moves that they're going to make before the season starts given that they have holes on the 3rd line and have too many defensemen. And with Hemsky still here even after MacTavish said he was going to trade him. But what if MacTavish is all done for the summer and is happy with the lines he has now?

If MacTavish is done for the summer I still see him trading Hemsky for whatever he can get. Even if it's only a 2nd round pick. He came out and said publicly that he was going to trade him and we don't want a Luongo situation where the player doesn't want to be there. He pretty much has to trade Hemsky now.

After trading Hemsky, if MacTavish doesn't make anymore moves, what are the Oilers lines? The top 6 is pretty much set in stone with Hall - Nuge - Eberle and Perron - Gagner - Yakupov but the bottom 6 is a mess. The only real players that are set in stone are the 2 centermen, Boyd on the 3rd and Lander on the 4th. After that we know Jones is on the team but that's it. And we don't know what line he's even on.

There's 3 spots left to fill on the 3rd and 4th lines. All wingers. Joensuu will be able to play on the 4th line. So that leaves 2 spots open. Maybe the 2 UFA signings of Hamilton and Acton that everyone thought was AHL depth are the missing pieces? Maybe MacTavish has more plans for these 2 than everyone thought?

Acton might have a realistic chance at making the team givin that his dad's the associate coach but why would Hamilton make the team? Did Eakins like him when he played in Toronto? Did Eakins ask MacTavish to sign him? Maybe.

Now if Hamilton, Acton and Joensuu are the missing pieces, where do they fit? If these are the other 3 wingers for the bottom six Jones will almost definatly be on the 3rd line. But who will be with him? I hate it when people say Joensuu's a 3rd liner but who knows? Maybe he is. Maybe MacTavish knows somthing we don't. Maybe Joensu is 3rd line quality.

If Joensuu is in fact going to play on the 3rd line that makes Hamilton and Acton the 4th liners. This makes sense because niether of them have much NHL experience and giving them time on the 4th line will let them develop.

This would make Edmonton's lines for 2013 - 14....

Hall - Nuge - Eberle

Perron - Gagner - Yakupov

Joensuu - Gordan - Jones

Acton - Lander - Hamilton

I hope MacTavish knows something I don't because the bottom six looks inexperienced with only 2 players that have played full NHL seasons before. But at least everybody fits into the general age group of the team. This is a young group of kids and maybe MacTavish is trying to make the lineup that we'll have when the Oilers are winning cups?

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