Offensive outburst a hopeful precursor for start of Oilers season

If the Edmonton Oilers want to start the season on the right foot, as evidenced by the team’s decision to start Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Trent Frederic together on the top line, Sunday night’s pre-season game was a good sign.

The trio provided all of the offence, including all three combining on two first-period goals en route to the Oilers’ 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks.

And then Draisaitl scored a power-play goal in the second.

And then McDavid set up Draisaitl for another goal in the third.

It was a far cry from their first pre-season game last Wednesday against the Seattle Kraken, when the scoresheet was nearly bare for them, with Draisaitl taking three shots, McDavid just one, and none for Frederic. No points, either.

Those were abundant against Vancouver, though.

“They were much, much better tonight,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch after the game. “That line was clicking a lot more than they were the first night.”

One would think that playing alongside McDavid and Draisaitl is something that could come easily to a player, but as Oilers fans have witnessed with the rotating cast of characters to flank either, that’s not always the case.

What has made Zach Hyman, who will start the season on the injured reserve, so good is his ability to gather pucks, something Knoblauch wants to see more of from Frederic.

“Freddie has got to be around the net, and I think about the first two goals,” explained Knoblauch. “He scores one of them being at the net. The first one, he’s also causing chaos, and that leads to some guys tying ’em up, and the other two get available, but I think about some other plays.

“There’s one back check I think actually on one of the first two goals, he broke up the play on the wall, getting in on the forecheck to continue those pucks, something that Zach Hyman is so good at.

“So I think Freddie’s got to be able to get them the puck, be able to make a little play once in a while, and then obviously being around the net to just cause some chaos. And tonight, I thought he did a lot of those things.”

McDavid and Draisaitl playing together is nothing new, after all, as over the last five seasons, they’ve played nearly 33 percent of their five-on-five ice-time together. Whether it’s fresh off a penalty kill as the Oilers look to regain momentum, or when the team is chasing the game, seeing the Dynamic Duo together shouldn’t be a surprise.

It’ll be up to Frederic to show he can maintain that level of play once the regular season starts, and the rest of the Oilers lineup to elevate their game, too.