Edmonton Oilers: Now Is The Time For Kailer Yamamoto To Take Over
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers are trying to find their way into a playoff spot after a rough few months. The only way they are going to get there is with the players in their locker room. They already added Evander Kane, there isn’t much more the team can do now besides playing out the season and seeing what happens. One player that can play a big role in a comeback would be Kailer Yamamoto.
Kailer Yamamoto finds himself on a new line with the Edmonton Oilers.
As Dave Tippett and the Oilers juggle lines to try and find something that can work and stick for the remainder of the season, one group that could be fun to watch is Evander Kane, Connor McDavid, and Kailer Yamamoto. That group has a lot of talent and a lot to gain from with each other.
The Edmonton Oilers are 24-17-3, while they have been doing a lot of things right since their win over the Calgary Flames on January 22nd, they also were shut out by the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Kailer Yamamoto and Connor McDavid are the two forwards that have spent the most time with Evander Kane thus far with the Oilers at five on five, Kane and Yamamoto have played together for a little over 52 minutes, and the next best forward at five on five is Ryan McLeod who has spent a little over 4 minutes on the ice with Kane at five on five.
In four games with the team, Kane has two goals and an assist, his first goal also having an assist from Kailer Yamamoto. This is the time for Yamamoto to take off and start to put up more points. He has eight goals and eight assists through the first 43 games of the season, but that number can go up in the future, especially on the top line where he can put up more minutes a night.
With Kane on the team, the Oilers have been able to open up their lines a little more and try to provide a little more depth up and down the lineup. Here is what the forward group looks like now with Kane in the lineup:
Evander Kane – Connor McDavid – Kailer Yamamoto
Ryan McLeod – Leon Draisaitl – Zack Kassian
Zach Hyman – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jesse Puljujarvi
Warren Foegele – Devin Shore – Derek Ryan
Some pretty big contracts on the third line, hopefully, this group starts getting more goals at five on five and wins more games otherwise trying to trade a few players for the success down the line might be an option come March.