I've had no shortage of topics to write about when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers this season. Whether it be the scoring exploits of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the volatile goaltending situation, the controversial Evander Kane signing, and now the recent coaching change, there's been plenty of storylines to unpack from a fantasy perspective. Given the most recent newsworthy topic, I'll be devoting a considerable percentage of today's Ramblings to the situation in Edmonton. You've been forewarned.

The first game of the Jay Woodcroft era resulted in the Oilers benefitting from the new coach bounce, as they finished with a 3-1 win over the Islanders. Mike Smith made his third start of the week his best start of the week, stopping 37 of 38 shots in earning his first win since mid-October. Dave Tippett was well-known for leaning heavily on Smith dating back to their days in Dallas and in particular Arizona, but don't expect Smith to receive anything like back-to-back starts under Woodcroft as he had under Tippett earlier this week. That means we could see more Stuart Skinner, at least while Mikko Koskinen is in COVID protocol. Woodcroft should be very familiar with Skinner from their days in AHL Bakersfield.

Evan Bouchard had the most-searched profile on Frozen Tools as of Friday, so I would be remiss if I didn't mention him here. Bouchard had already taken on the first-unit power play duties for a few games, and he should be able to maintain that in the short term since he also has experience with Woodcroft and new assistant coach Dave Manson in the AHL. Although Bouchard does not have a point in his past four games, Tyson Barrie does not have a point in his past 11 games. Barrie is on pace for just 36 points, his fantasy value sinking like a stone and not showing signs of making an immediate recovery.  

Jesse Puljujarvi appeared to be the odd man out when the Oilers signed Kane, but he might thrive under the new coaching regime. Puljujarvi snapped a 14-game goal drought and a nine-game point drought with a power-play goal. He had also recorded just two points in his last 14 games, which were both assists from one game. His icetime was 11:47 in Tippett's last game, but it was bumped up to 16:14 on Friday with valuable top-unit power-play time and even-strength time with McDavid. Pool Party has been very up-and-down this season, having started the season with 13 points in his first 11 games. This might be a good time to grab him if he was dropped in your league.

Below were the Oilers' forward lines on Friday under Woodcroft. I am only showing three lines because the Oilers used 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Friday.

EVANDER KANE – LEON DRAISAITL – KAILER YAMAMOTO

RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS – DEREK RYAN – WARREN FOEGELE

ZACH HYMAN – CONNOR MCDAVID – JESSE PULJUJARVI

The player hurt the most with these new lines appears to be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, as Woodcroft appears to be going with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins down the middle. However, RNH played 20 minutes in this game and was still on the first power-play unit. He may not stand to lose a ton of value, and line combinations can always change.

Tyler Benson and Ryan McLeod played just seven minutes each filling out the forwards. Benson was a highly-touted junior player with the Vancouver Giants and a point-per-game scorer in the AHL last season, but he had been barely used by Tippett. Woodcroft is also familiar with both Benson and McLeod, so don't be surprised if they eventually receive more of an opportunity.

For more on the Oilers coaching change, check out the Fantasy Take that Mike Clifford wrote on Thursday.

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The Flyers have announced that Sean Couturier will miss the rest of the season following back surgery. Couturier has not played since December 18, during which time the Flyers experienced a 13-game losing streak. The good news is that the surgery is expected to repair the back issue and there should be no lingering effects, so Couturier should be back in the lineup next season. Couturier can be stashed on IR in keeper leagues, but he can be safely dropped in single-season leagues. Keep in mind that if you are in a cap league, Couturier's eight-year, $62-million contract kicks in next season.

Something else to think about: A potential Claude Giroux trade would make the Flyers very thin up the middle. Kevin Hayes may need surgery and is reportedly "50/50" to return this season. A quick glance at the depth chart shows that the Flyers could lean heavily on journeyman Derick Brassard down the stretch (if he is not traded himself), while Morgan Frost could find a more permanent NHL role before the season ends.

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Jamie Benn's scoring isn't close to what it used to be, but lately he's been doing what he's good at. Benn scored a goal, added an assist, and picked up a fighting major for a Gordie Howe hat trick on Friday. He finished the day with a solid bangers league statline, which included 7 PIM, 3 HITS, and 2 BLKS. Benn struggled through an 11-game stretch without a point in January, but since then he has scored three goals in his last four games.

Like Tyler Seguin (who I discussed last weekend along with other Frozen Tools top searches), Benn is a second-line player now. His value is higher in bangers leagues, as he leads the Stars with 56 PIM and is second with 93 HITS. Digging deeper in the penalty minutes category, he leads the Stars with two fighting majors – a number also indicative of how much fighting in the NHL has declined.  

The music and color commentator make this Jamie Benn vs Brendan Dillon fight pic.twitter.com/OcoGX1OK4n

📢 advertisement:

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) February 12, 2022

Mark Scheifele had his own hat trick on Friday: A Draisaitl hat trick. Scheifele scored the game-tying goal with just 32 seconds in regulation and also added an assist while finishing with a minus-1. Scheifele leads the Jets with 2 DHTs this season. The play of the Jets this season might make him more prone to Draisaitl hat tricks, as he is currently a career-worst and team-worst minus-12. This is also the first time in six seasons that Scheifele is scoring at below a point per game (0.84 PTS/GP).

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Alex Galchenyuk:
0 goals in his first 23 games
4 goals in his last 5 games

— Jason Gold (@JayGold85) February 12, 2022

Alex Galchenyuk also has five points with a plus-5 over his last five games. He's also available in just 3 percent of Yahoo leagues and just 6 percent of Fantrax leagues. He's onto his fifth team in the past three seasons, so he's the kind of player you'd expect to see among the desert of misfit toys. I wouldn't get too excited given the lack of production earlier in the season, but those in very deep leagues could take a flier in case he continues this run and takes advantage of not being a healthy scratch.  

Nick Schmaltz also scored a goal for the Coyotes, giving him three goals over his last two games.

In the win over Arizona, Steven Stamkos deposited a pair of goals. Finally able to stay healthy all season, Stamkos is in the top 10 in scoring with 54 points in 47 games.

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You might have noticed Jordan Eberle as the Seattle representative at the All-Star Game, but remember that the expansion Kraken don't really have a star player. In other words, they're not the first-year Vegas Golden Knights. Entering Friday's game, Eberle himself had not scored a goal since December 9 – a span of 22 games. Eberle picked the perfect time to snap that goal drought, scoring the game-winner with under two minutes to play in regulation to give the Kraken a 4-3 win over the Ducks. Eberle is on pace to finish with just under 50 points, a similar pace to what he had with the Islanders over the past few seasons. He's also a team-worst minus-18.

Can't decide which was more impressive, the sauce pass or the wicked finish. 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/SDzpvjB7uz

— NHL (@NHL) February 12, 2022

Ryan Donato scored a pair of goals for Seattle, breaking a six-game point drought and a nine-game goal drought. Donato also took five shots and was credited with three hits.

In a losing cause, Isac Lundestrom scored a pair of goals with a plus-2. Lundestrom snapped a four-game goal and point drought with the goals.

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