Ice and Fire: Oilers Should Hammer and Nail Foes

Edmonton Hardware

Todd McLellan and the Oilers' coaching staff are missing a golden opportunity. Not playing Nail Yakupov on a line with Rob Klinkhammer, regardless of their dissimilar skillsets, is depriving hockey fans everywhere of a variety of line names/puns involving hammers and nails. Jocularity aside, Klinkhammer probably isn't on the radar of your fantasy roster due to his semi-regular role as a checking forward. He has more value as a grinder to the Oilers.

Yakupov, conversely, assumes this year's mantle of the player everyone says "it has to be better than last year, right?" The first overall pick in 2012, Yakupov has infinitely disappointed both the Oilers and those looking to cash in on his tremendous, albeit misplaced, talent. A combined minus-68 the last two seasons with just 25 goals in 144 games, Yakupov was a risky pick late in drafts. Last week, however, he started looking like a player with the pedigree of a former No. 1 overall pick thanks in large part to last summer's No. 1 pick, Connor McDavid. The two No. 1's are complementing one another well, and the Oilers grabbed back-to-back wins on the weekend. Yakupov notched a goal in each game and added a helper for good measure. There are a handful of puzzle pieces to mix up in the Oil patch on the team's top two lines, but McDavid and Yakupov are now an item while Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (two other No. 1 overall picks) are the other.

Yakupov complements McDavid well, and both are boosted by the presence of a physical winger in Benoit Pouliot, the player definitely worth looking at if he's available. Pouliot will ride shotgun with McDavid and, at worst, Nugent-Hopkins, even when Jordan Eberle returns from injury. Pouliot, McDavid and Yakupov combined wonderfully for a quick goal in Saturday's win over Calgary, with McDavid pouncing on a loose puck and creating a slick bit of passing.

Worth noting is Pouliot averages 2:53 on the power play, though he has just two assists. The chances will be there.

McDavid has four points in the last three games, but it was a matter of time before he started raking in the points. For his linemate, Yakupov, there hasn't been that consistency, save for the later half of his rookie season when he finished with 17 goals. Yakupov has the talent and the opportunities for now. He is indeed worth using, simply because he's too talented not to. The risk, however, is both he and Edmonton's offense disappear for stretches, but when they're on, the points could come in bunches. The Oilers still aren't a playoff team, but they can be a benefit to poolies if employed properly.

Bedeviled

Looking at last season's leaders in goals-against average and save percentage, Cory Schneider was up there with just about every top goalie not named Carey Price. A .925 save percentage and a 2.26 GAA are outstanding, it was the 26-31-9 record that dragged his value down. This season is having an eerie similar feel to it, as the Devils are likely to finish toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference, yet Schneider remains a legitimate option in rotisserie leagues, registering a .945 save percentage and 1.63 goals-against average in three starts. He was outstanding Friday and Sunday in games against San Jose and the Rangers, earning an overtime win against the latter. Schneider is a victim of circumstance in that before Lee Stempniak blasted an overtime winner past Henrik Lundqvist on Sunday, the Devils had not led any of their five games at any point this season.

Owners in head-to-head leagues might want to steer away from Schneider on heavy game nights unless he has a great matchup. Regardless, the small sample size from the Devils shows they're a team that will struggle to score and support outstanding efforts from their netminder. Schneider is a great option in roto leagues, especially those that count saves, just don't count on many wins.

Also, someone needs to score for New Jersey. The duo of Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique each have four points through five games. New Jersey's power play is hitting at little more than 22 percent, and those two have four of their total eight points on the man advantage.

• Rookie Artemi Panarin is fitting in nicely on Chicago's top six, with two goals and five helpers through six games. However, none of those seven points are on the power play.

• The Buffalo pair of Rasmus Ristolainen and Ryan O'Reilly each have three points this season, all of which have come on the power play. Ristolainen, a first-round pick in 2013, seems to have found a niche on Buffalo's power play and has 16 shots so far. He appears to the option on the man advantage for a much improved Buffalo team.

• While Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are seemingly toying with the rest of the league, Ales Hemsky and Jason Spezza are playing like it's 10 years ago. Hemsky has an impressive six points through five games while Spezza, always a man to flirt with a point-per-game average earlier in his career, has four goals through five games heading into Tuesday. Scoring will never be an issue for Dallas, it's keeping them out on the other end that plagues a potentially strong team.

• Despite seeing only a smattering of power play time, the Islanders' Johnny Boychuk is tied for the league lead among shots for defensemen with Justin Faulk and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Boychuk is ceding power-play time to Marek Zidlicky and Nick Leddy; the Islanders even use a fourth forward in Frans Neilsen at times. Following the shots usually is a sound strategy, but Boychuk's lack of power-play time could see his production limited despite a goal and two assists through five games.

• The Arizona rookie trio of Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Tobias Rieder has combined for 10 goals and 17 points through five games. These numbers are likely to plateau, but the talent is undeniable with these three. Fun fact: Max Domi was born just several months before Arizona captain Shane Doan, the last remaining original Winnipeg Jet, made his NHL debut.