In the third period of Monday's game in St. Louis, after Tyler Pitlick went down to injury, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl were placed on a line with Pat Maroon and enjoyed some success, having scored the game-tying goal.
Despite that success, and despite the fact that they did skate together in practice today, Oilers head coach Todd McLellan talked about being hesitant to keep them together.
"It doesn't come as a surprise but we have to have a little bit of balance. As we got down in the game and we lost (Pitlick) it was common sense to put them there. The type of play that Letestu's line is providing us right now makes us comfortable doing that. It's always about the group but it's trying to find at least three lines that can really hold their own and tilt the game our way.
"Last night, Leon going up to that wing made a huge difference. But when (Pitlick) was there, he was also doing a good job."
If they did skate together, the question then becomes who plays centre in addition to Letestu. The obvious candidates are Matt Hendricks and Drake Caggiula.
"They're naturally guys who have played it a little bit in their careers and feel good about it," McLellan stated.
"Hendo's real strong in the faceoff circle and a pretty trustworthy guy. Drake is experiencing that position at the pro level for the first time so there's a little more risk but he's got some quickness to him and a good hockey mind so we do feel comfortable about doing that."
McLellan ponders uniting Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins
With success at the end of the St. Louis game, Coach McLellan weighs the pros and cons of having Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins on the same line
