Babcock not about to separate McDavid and Draisaitl with Edmonton Oilers winning

They’re 6-1-1, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Out of the gates on the season, of all things, where they typically find themselves digging an early hole instead of standing atop the heap.

And they’ve done it despite having injury upon injury at the centre position.

First, it was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins not making it through the pre-season before falling, forcing third-line centre Jason Dickinson up to the second line.

Then Dickinson, who missed playoff games last year with a bad foot, sat out the first three games of this season, played three, and has now sat out the past two with a new, supposedly unrelated injury.

So, Colton Dach has been bumped up from what was originally his spot on the fourth line to play on the second line, leaving newcomers Owen Michaels and Filip Hallander to shoulder the responsibility of centering the bottom six — along with previous servings of Trent Frederic and Josh Samanski, who is now back with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League.

It’s basically been centre by committee on the bottom three lines. And it’s been working. The team is winning.

Meanwhile, they’ve got two of the top three centres in the world playing on the same line in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

So, it’s also a tad ironic.

And with the career pace McDavid is bringing into this season, no one is looking to change anything anytime soon.

But it did lead to an interesting conversation in head coach Mike Babcock’s media scrum at Monday’s practice, to say the least, when asked if all the top line’s success is coming at the expense of his other lines?

And say the least, he did: “No,” he replied, looking around the line of reporters. “Anybody else?

Really, Mike? Perhaps we should take a moment to revisit the topic.

Now, I have to say, I like the way Babs handles media. It’s been far too long since a head coach in this city felt free to speak his mind and — heaven forbid — actually say something of substance.

Heck, he’ll even come up with a memorable soundbite or two before making his exit, or what I like to call his patented ‘Mike drop.’

And that’s what he did here. Short and sweet (OK, perhaps minus the sweet), to make a point. He doesn’t feel anyone else is suffering at the expense of his top dogs getting to eat first.

Enough scraps are trickling down and the entire engine is running at premium performance, piling up wins for the team and points for its superstars.

Eight games into the season, the top line has accounted for 19 of Edmonton’s 37 goals, and 48 of the team’s 87 player points.

One-quarter of the lineup is putting up better than half the offensive production.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not second-guessing anyone’s coaching style or game strategy, especially not a head coach who obviously brings elements to the team that have been sorely missing, and keeping a talented squad from realizing its potential.

And I’m certainly not suggesting he try to even things out and make it fair for the other lines. That’s not what this is about.

It might not even seem like that big of a deal soon, considering Dickinson is expected to return as early as Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, while Nugent-Hopkins should be right on his heels later on in the Oilers’ current five-game home stand.

We already saw some of the cavalry return in the form of forwards Zach Hyman and Dach, along with defenceman Jake Walman, who helped boost the team to a convincing 6-2 win Saturday at the Utah Mammoth.

But forgive me for being curious of the decision to keep Draisaitl on McDavid’s right wing through it all, when there are 28 other teams out there who would kill to have the guy become their No. 1 centre. And wonder about the thought process behind it.

Fortunately, Babs would end up steering back to the topic in later questions.

“I think to answer your question, they’re playing together and they’re playing well,” he said of McDavid, Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. “Podzy’s a real player who gives them a (physical) dimension just like ‘Hymes’ would give them.”

And there appears to be an intention to keep the trio together through thick and thin, (thick being the top line and thin being all the rest).

“That’s just the way we’ve done it,” Babcock said. “When we get other people back, that doesn’t mean they’re playing together. It’s just we were in a spot where we felt we really needed to push with one group and survive with the rest

“You saw the other night, as soon as Dacher’s line came on the ice and played in the O-zone and they were heavy, it’s way different thing. So, over time, when you get Michaels and (Mathieu) Jo(seph) and ‘Formie’ (Alex Formenton) in the spots they’re supposed to be, then maybe it’s better some nights for them to play apart.”

The ‘them’ in that equation, of course, are McDavid and Draisaitl, long the nuclear option for a list of Oilers head coaches looking to push the pedal to the metal in a game by sacrificing the second line to double down up top.

Whether or not Babcock continues to keep the red button pressed down once more reinforcements return, even he’s unsure.

“I don’t know that,” Babcock said. “Right now, to your point, it’s worked good for us on most nights so far.”

And there we have it. All it took was an entire scrum of questions just for Babcock to keep returning back to the original one.

The only thing is, now that I think about it, I preferred his initial ‘Mike drop’ answer in the first place.

In and out: As for an official update on Nugent-Hopkins, Babcock was reluctant to broach a timeline.

“I’m scared,” he said of offering a potential countdown. “Just what we’ve been through with some of the guys, they’re back and then they’re gone. So, I don’t really have a great answer for you. I wish I did.”

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