Question Marks, Part II

Not a reference to the glut of young, smallish kids with mostly one-dimensional skill, but a reference to the Oilers’ apparent depth at centre. Since 2006, the Oilers have lost Michael Peca, Jarret Stoll, Marty Reasoner, and Kyle Brodziak. While the first was a decision clearly out of their hands, and the second was a necessary evil in the business of trading hockey players (and the return was solid), the other two, I can’t quite explain. I mean, neither guy is the mythical Third Line Centre we’re looking for at this stage of their careers, necessarily, but both were capable in the face-off circle and good penalty killers, and that’s something that this team severely lacked last season. You wouldn’t think a little thing like face-offs would have a ripple effect through the lineup, but there’s some good reasons, when you think about it. Winning face-offs, of course, always improves possession time, which is critical in the small-sample world of special teams. Being able to put two capable centres out for certain draws allows one to cheat a little, because if he gets waived, there’s another man there who can take his place, instead of having the winger come in and almost assuredly lose it. Most importantly, for a man like Craig MacTavish, who was big on line-matching and face-offs, having a trustworthy guy out against the best and/or in the defensive zone was critical; last season there were two, with Horcoff taking the lion’s share of the draws and the now-departed Kyle Brodziak doing an able job of mop-up from the 4C position. The fact that Horcoff was frequently playing both 1C and 3C took a huge toll on him, even as well-conditioned as he is, and I think it’s the primary reason for his relative lack of offensive contribution last year: we’ve seen in the past that when Horc has someone capable backing him up on the checking line, and can take a load off, he’s a near-PPG player, and an extra 20-25 points from your top-line centre is huge.

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