A couple of weeks ago, I expressed some concern with the depth the Oilershave at center for the upcoming season. As of today, it appears that the four pivots will be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid, Anton Landerand Mark Letestu. RNH, to me, is a legitimate top six centerman with all the potential in the world to be one the league’s best. He took a big step forward last season, posting some very respectable numbers, making expectations much higher this coming season. McDavid may or may not start at center, depending on how training camp goes, but he’s penciled in for now and will make some noise. Lander is another player who established himself as a NHL regular last season, but a lot of his points came on a very good powerplay under Todd Nelson. I’m not expecting a whole lot from Letestu, considering his history, so I’ll have to wait and see what exactly the Oilers saw in him.
Full article is at The Copper & Blue.
You do realize that no NHL team is perfect at every spot in the lineup right?
I’d be more worried about the Oilers defence for next season if I were you then our group of centres.
Worst case scenario if a centre underperforms or gets injured is that they bring up Draisaitl from the minors or look for another Roy-type trade. If we have an injury to someone like Hopkins or McDavid next year, our season is lost anyway… There simply isn’t any safeguard for injuries like that for most teams around the league.