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The key fact being the three star forwards — Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — all lining up at their natural position of centre, perforce on three different lines. This is the “Centres Three” or “Unicorns, Baby!” line-up template, where each of the Big Three runs his own line. Of course, any time past coaches Todd McLellan or Ken Hitchcock tinkered with the idea, some pundits were heard to mutter about helicopter lines (no wings) . If you’ll pardon the pun, it’s now Dave Tippett’s turn to give it a whirl.

Tippett has previously gone on the record saying that he intends to pair up the deadly duo of McDavid and Draisaitl who last season combined for 91 goals and 221 points while spending about two-thirds of the season as linemates. When Draisaitl wasn’t on one of McDavid’s wings, RNH usually was.

Can the unicorns model work? The solution to this vexing riddle is of course an upgrade on the wings, one that has been painfully slow to come in recent years as the Oilers tried a succession of young wingers from Nail Yakupov to Jesse Puljujarvi to Kailer Yamamoto on the top six while trading away proven stars Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle to address other team needs.

New GM Ken Holland has taken a different approach, adding a number of experienced wingers to short-term contracts over the course of the summer. “Experienced” is not synonymous with “proven”, mind. The result has been a veritable cornucopia of decently skilled wingers all trying to make a positive impression in the dwindling days of training camp.