PROJECTED LINEUP: Oilers vs. Avalanche

EDMONTON, AB – Jack Roslovic will start on the top line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, and goaltender Stuart Skinner will get the start on Saturday night for the Edmonton Oilers when they welcome the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Place.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch will stack Edmonton's top line to go head-to-head with Colorado's top forward unit of Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas, who have a combined plus-28 rating, setting the stage for a high-energy and highly entertaining matchup at Rogers Place tonight.

"I'm sure there'll be a lot of times where those two lines are against each other just because of the amount of ice time that each line will be playing," he said. "I think it's a good matchup and a good challenge for our guys. I think they enjoy having those times when they're playing against other teams' best, and their top five-man unit, which plays a lot together, is obviously one of the best, if not the best, in the NHL."

"It'll be exciting for the fans seeing all those star players on the ice against each other."

Roslovic will be promoted to the top line after recording three goals (two on the power play), four assists and a plus-3 rating in his last six games, averaging 18:39 of ice time with the Oilers playing primarily with Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin at even strength.

"Jack's been playing really well, and we talk about whether those lines are playing against each other, and we want our best to play against their best," Knoblauch said. "And right now, Jack's been one of our best. He's been contributing offensively, but also with his speed, breaking up plays with his stick and getting in just to disrupt those plays, which allows your better players to get those pucks too. So I think we had a lot of options.

"I know Podkolzin has spent some time with those two this year for a game and last year for a short stint, and Pods has been playing really well, but we just wanted to keep with the positions. Jack, being on the right, we felt that was the best option."

Isaac Howard, David Tomasek and Matt Savoie will make up the fourth line, while Noah Philp will centre Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic on the third line to round out Edmonton's bottom-six forwards.

Mattias Janmark and Zach Hyman both practiced during Saturday morning's pre-game skate on the flanks of Curtis Lazar, who'll be a healthy scratch against the Avalanche, with both forwards poised to make their returns to the lineup from respective injuries in the coming week.

Coach Knoblauch mentioned on Friday that Janmark is "very close" and could've played either tonight or Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Hyman is expected to be back within the week – likely on the Oilers' upcoming seven-game road trip – after missing the first 15 games of the regular season recovering from wrist surgery back in May.

On the blueline, Alec Regula will suit up in his second straight game alongside Darnell Nurse since returning from an upper-body injury in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars, having missed the 12 games from a high hit delivered by Evander Kane on Oct. 11 against the Canucks.

"It was fun to play again," Regula said. "Got the first two games in and got banged up there, so it was good to get back and playing again. You always want to be playing, so that's the fun part."

Regula has played alongside Nurse twice already this regular season, and he likes what each of them brings to the combination.

"We played a handful in the preseason together, and then those first two. I thought we did well," he said. "I think he can help me a lot. He's a good veteran, and I can help him, too. I think our games complement each other, so it's a great test tonight. They have a lot of high firepower, so it's going to be a challenge, but I'm confident that we can play well together.

'I think he's really assertive out there. He's very good defensively, and I that's something I've picked up on. He's always been there to help me out. He's an unbelievable skater, covers a lot of ground quickly, and he's just very aggressive in the defensive zone. I think I'm a little bit more passive."

View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. the Avalanche below:

Draisaitl - McDavid - Roslovic
Podkolzin - Nugent-Hopkins - Mangiapane
Henrique - Philp - Frederic
Howard - Tomasek - Savoie

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Regula
Kulak - Walman

Skinner
Pickard