It’s never a dull moment in Oil Country with the Edmonton Oilers.

After Saturday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the spotlight was on Connor McDavid, praising how well-coached the Lightning are, subtly turning attention toward his own coach — this while Leon Draisaitl is in Germany receiving treatment, with Oilers fans crossing their fingers that the dynamic scorer will be back sooner rather than later.

All of this comes while the team is in a heated, or perhaps lukewarm, Pacific Division playoff battle. With that in mind, this Oilers Thoughts covers lineup discussions and silver linings. Enjoy!

Matt Savoie shouldn’t have been taken off the first line

Since the Olympic break, Matt Savoie has been the third-most productive Oiler offensively, with 10 points, behind only McDavid (20) and Draisaitl (17).

The St. Albert, Alta. native went on a three-game stretch playing on the top line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman from March 13 to March 17, during which that line connected for three goals. Moreover, it was a revelation to see a player like Savoie, who can play the game fast and dynamically, alongside the Oilers’ captain.

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McDavid to Savoie to the back of the net 🚨 🎥: Sportsnet | #LetsGoOilers

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1:10 AM · Mar 16, 2026

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The line was broken up for the game against the Florida Panthers on March 19, in which the Oilers went scoreless, with Vasily Podkolzin getting a promotion and Zach Hyman dropped down. After the Oilers were shut out, I wrote that the natural, rather easy decision was to reunite the Savoie–McDavid–Hyman line because of its recent success.

However, my influence in putting words together behind a computer can only stretch so far. Head coach Kris Knoblauch reunited the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–McDavid–Hyman line against the Tampa Bay Lightning and dropped Savoie to the bottom six with Josh Samanski and Jack Roslovic.

Now, credit to Samanski for his first NHL goal last game on that line, but dropping Savoie to the bottom six, in my opinion, wasn’t the right call — he played 15:27, his lowest ice time in six games.

The Nugent-Hopkins–McDavid–Hyman line combined for one goal against the Lightning and were on for two against, but when the team is without Draisaitl, the best offensive option to play down the middle after McDavid is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. I feel you have to utilize him there to spread out the offence, and I previously mentioned the potential of a Jason Dickinson – Nugent-Hopkins – Roslovic line.

That said, the Savoie–McDavid–Hyman line has produced three goals at five-on-five........

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