![\"48](\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/edmontonjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/48.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n48 games<\/p>\n
My take<\/p>\n
1. Many Oilers fans and commentators have long been keen to see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at centre. The move has now been forced due to the compassionate leave for Draisaitl to go back to Germany on a family emergency.<\/p>\n
2. I\u2019ve been OK with RNH on the top line with Connor McDavid<\/a> and Zach Hyman, mainly because the top line has been the NHL\u2019s best line for seven weeks. Why mess with success?<\/p>\n At the same time, I think when the playoffs roll around, there\u2019s a good chance RNH will play centre, just as he did in last year\u2019s playoffs against Dallas when coach Kris Knoblauch decided to team up Connor McDavid<\/a> and Leon Draisaitl on the top line.<\/p>\n 3. I was not a huge fan of RNH at centre early in his career. He wasn\u2019t strong enough to win battles consistently in the defensive slot. He was often out-muscled on Grade\u00a0 A shots against. But that\u2019s changed. In the 2025 playoffs, with Hyman and Evander Kane on his wings, RNH was outstanding in the defensive slot.<\/p>\n Maybe he\u2019s gotten stronger. Maybe he\u2019s more determined not to lose battles. Maybe it\u2019s both, but there\u2019s no centre I\u2019d rather see on the ice protecting a lead than RNH.<\/p>\n 4. Last season RNH was teamed up with two aggressive and big wingers in Hyman and Kane. Now he\u2019s teamed up with two big wingers in Trent Frederic and Kasperi Kapanen. While Kapanen has been playing the best hockey of his NHL career since he returned from injury, Frederic has been a major disappointment this season.<\/p>\n That said, Frederic had his best game of the season Monday night in Chicago, when he chipped in on seven Grade A shots without one mistake on a Grade A shot against. It was a genuinely great performance, the kind the Oilers expect from Frederic. Perhaps he can get it done in the Top 6 tonight.<\/p>\n 5. There\u2019s no winning the Stanley Cup in Edmonton without a strong third-line centre. Adam Henrique has demonstrated he\u2019s not that player any more. Curtis Lazar is a stretch there. Jack Roslovic has an outside chance, but his defensive play and conscience aren\u2019t that close to being good enough for him to thrive in that role. Besides, he\u2019s a solid scoring winger. Edmonton should play to his strengths.<\/p>\n But RNH has what it takes to get it done as a two-way centre. There will be a strong gravitational pull to play him on the wing on the top line when Draisaitl returns. But as the playoffs draw near, the need to win will be paramount, and I suspect Edmonton\u2019s ability to win will be best served with RNH at centre.<\/p>\n At the Cult of Hockey<\/p>\n Staples: Knoblauch and Oilers have again found a path to Stanley Cup success<\/a><\/p>\n Things getting messy for Oilers winger, goalie with today\u2019s line-up changes<\/a><\/p>\n