EDMONTON — Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick are hopping straight into the fire.

They joined the Edmonton Oilers on the road as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. This will be the second and final time that they play the Blue Jackets after defeating them at home in January 4-1.

The new guys will get to prove their mettle tonight, as they will be injected straight into the lineup. At morning skate this morning we got a sense of where they will slot in – at least to start.

Henrique will get his first crack at the can on a line with none other than Evander Kane and Leon Draisaitl. According to Oilers TV correspondent Tony Brar, he will be on the left wing while Kane slides over to the right wing.

Carrick will potentially center the fourth line alongside Mattias Janmark and Derek Ryan. Connor Brown will be a healthy scratch.

Of course with this new configuration also comes the return of the best line in hockey – Connor McDavid centering Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.

It was a quick skate this morning so we are not sure how the special teams units will roll out. Right now the top penalty killers for the Oilers (sorted by time on ice per game) are – Janmark (1:52), Brown (1:50) and Nugent-Hopkins (1:50).

Carrick and Henrique would jump to the top of that line with 2:40 and 2:34 (respectively) of penalty kill time on ice per game this season. It’s possible that they could be rolled out as a separate unit, or spend time with other players who are already familiar with the penalty kill systems.

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