Mike Babcock stacks the Oilers' top line and raises one big question

Mike Babcock skated Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line to open Oilers camp, and the reaction split almost immediately.

Ryan Rishaug reported it Thursday morning and the post has already cleared 15,400 views. He expects to see a lot of it in the early going.

The case for it writes itself. One of them put up 138 points last season with 90 assists.

The other did 97 in only 65 games on a $14 million cap hit. Nobody argues with that pairing on a whiteboard.

The reason a new coach reaches for it right away is what happened in April. Anaheim took the series in six games.

Edmonton scored plenty during the year, 282 goals across 82 nights. None of it mattered once the games tightened.

The captain finished that series at minus-8 with six points. That is the number that ends a season and starts a coaching search.

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Edmonton Oilers fans split over Mike Babcock's first big lineup decision

Here is where it gets interesting. He played all 82 games, scored 19 times and finished at plus-16 on a $1 million deal.

Then look at the playoffs. Six points in those same six games, and a plus-5 rating while the stars around him drowned.

Evan Bouchard came in at -7 on $10.5 million. Zach Hyman landed at minus-6 in the same series.

Five of the winger's 19 goals were game winners too. That is not a passenger somebody stuck there to fill a slot.

The fanbase is not unified on this. One reply predicted a 100 point year for him, another shrugged that the Oilers are just going to Oiler.

The skeptics have something. Stacking both centres on one line means the rest of the group gets thin fast.

Trent Frederic is the cautionary tale there. Seven points in 74 games on a $3.85 million cap hit.

None of it addresses the actual problem anyway. Tristan Jarry posted a .882 save percentage and Frederik Andersen is out until at least October 20.

Matthew Savoie carries the same return date, which trims the depth even further before anybody drops a puck.

So does putting the two best players together fix a crease that gave up seven goals in a playoff game?

Stacking those two is like putting both speakers on one side of the room. Louder in that corner. Very quiet everywhere else.

Babcock has every right to start here, because it is the oldest lever a coach owns. The interesting question is what he does on the night it stops working.

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