Copyright yardbarker
Hyman Return Means Less Line Juggling for Oilers But with good news comes a challenge: cap compliance and roster management. The Oilers are tight against the salary cap and have too many players on the active roster. Hyman’s activation from injured reserve will require a corresponding roster move. That could involve trading a depth player, placing someone on waivers, or sending a rookie like Isaac Howard back to Bakersfield of the AHL to create space. Head coach Kris Knoblauch and general manager Stan Bowman will need to make that decision quickly. The good news about this is that it also means fewer in-game lineup changes or roster shuffling from game to game. The Oilers lead the NHL in the least amount of ice time with the same trio of players together. In other words, Knoblauch is changing the lines so often, there is absolutely no chemistry being built up between forward pairings or trios. That will change when Hyman returns. Hyman will slide back alongside McDavid and likely someone like Andrew Mangiapane, with Jack Roslovic moving down to play with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. Expect small tweaks here and there, but for those lines to remain for some time. The top line in particular will see Hyman stay with McDavid in an effort to get both of those players going offensively.
