Zack Kassian may not have been a member of the Montreal Canadiens for very long but you can bet the Edmonton Oilers forward had today’s date circled on his calendar. Despite being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on July 1st in exchange for Brandon Prust and a fifth-round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft, the 25-year old never suited up for a single regular season game before being shipped out-of-town for netminder Ben Scrivens following the NHL’s Christmas break.
To suggest the Edmonton Oilers organization and fan base were looking forward to life following the NHL All-Star break would have been quite the understatement. After all, it is not every day that a player the caliber of Connor McDavid is dropped into a lineup in the middle of a season. With that said, the Oilers could not have asked for a better schedule to start the unofficial second half of their 2015-16 campaign.
On an evening in which Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid made his long-awaited return to the lineup, it seemed almost fitting that the rookie phenom and Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby were front and centre in Tuesday night’s NHL schedule. While the kid wearing No. 97 had an immediate impact in his first game back since breaking his collarbone against the Philadelphia Flyers in early November, No. 87 looked pretty darn good in putting together his most productive performance of the season in picking his ninth career hat-trick.
While it was likely a combination that Todd McLellan was hoping to try out well before game No. 51 on the Edmonton Oilers schedule, the tandem of Jordan Eberle and Connor McDavid will finally see the light day on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. After watching the duo of Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl carry this team for the better part of the past three months, the potential addition of a secondary scoring line could not have come at a better time for this group.
For a league that has lacked that so-called “sellable star attraction” for what feels like an eternity, one would think the NHL would be falling all over itself to try to push Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban into the spotlight. Instead of using the talented blueliner’s infectious personality to help further grow the game and expand its worldwide reach, this league seems perfectly satisfied with keeping the status quo and ignoring “the gift” they have been handed.
