Oilers shake up lineup as Roslovic debuts, Mangiapane moves up

NEW YORK — Things are getting real on the Edmonton Oilers roster front, with Jack Roslovic’s debut rippling throughout the lineup that will face the New York Rangers on Tuesday.

And with Mattias Janmark and Jake Walman expected to return sometime during this five-game Eastern road trip — and defenceman Alec Regula (suspected concussion) hoping to return Thursday — some decisions are pending around the roster and the cap.

“Those are things that we’ll have to figure out sooner than later,” head coach Kris Knoblauch acknowledged Tuesday morning, “because guys are coming back.”

Roslovic will make his Oilers debut at right wing on a line with centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Savoie. That kicks Andrew Mangiapane, with a goal in each of his first two games as an Oiler, up to right wing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — a spot previously held by Trent Frederic.

In all, Knoblauch shuffled three of his four lines from that dominant performance against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, pushing Noah Philp right out of the lineup after a pretty good showing in the opening two games of the season.

How did he decide on the rookie Philp?

“Somebody that’s not on special teams,” Knoblauch said. “Philp isn’t on power play. He’s not on penalty kill right now, and that’s probably the biggest reason why he was the guy that comes out.”

Stuart Skinner starts in net at Madison Square Garden against the 2-2 Rangers — who have been shut out in both home games thus far — while Regula did not skate after getting drilled by Evander Kane Saturday. Troy Stecher draws in for the first time this season, playing alongside Darnell Nurse.

Here’s how the Oilers looked at their morning skate:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Mangiapane

Savoie-RNH-Roslovic

Podkolzin-Frederic-Kapanen

Howard-Henrique-Tomasek

Ekholm-Bouchard

Nurse-Stecher

Kulak-Emberson

Skinner

It will be a chance for Oilers fans to see the newest addition, Roslovic, who went to a conference final as a Ranger two springs ago.

“They do a really good job at being able to take guys in the last two years. You can kind of see that trend,” said Roslovic, when asked about joining a lineup that’s been to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals. “It’s a great core of guys who know how to adapt to new faces and bring them in.”

Mangiapane has played exactly 500 NHL games, collecting 125 goals and 245 points. Still, he put his head down for a gameday nap on Tuesday knowing he would later skate out with two of the premier players in the world as his linemates.

Will there be any nerves?

“Maybe a little, but you can’t think like that, right?” the 29-year-old said. “Coach put me there for a reason, and you’ve just got to go out there, be tenacious, hard on pucks, and hopefully get some second and third opportunities for those guys. Create space for those guys out there.”

After a pair of disappointing free agent signings in the summer of 2024 — Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson, who were healthy scratches in the Cup Final — the early returns for this year’s prime free agent pick-up are good. Mangiapane has scored in both games so far, and earns a spot on the big line in the Big Apple.

“He is a very versatile player, whether he’s playing left wing, right wing, or up and down the lineup. We thought of him that way when we signed him,” Knoblauch said of the former Flame. “We’re going to move him up, with him playing as well as he is. Trent (Frederic) is moving down, just because we needed that centerman, putting Jack in. We just had to move around the lines a little bit.”

With Mangiapane taking a turn next to McDavid tonight, Roslovic waiting in the wings, and right winger Zach Hyman still trending towards a Nov. 1 return, we may have seen the last of the Frederic-McDavid experiment. Particularly if he can find some traction at 3C.

“We do have some difficult decisions with some guys coming off the IR,” admitted Knoblauch. “And we’ve got a quality player that we haven’t played yet, who is healthy, with (Curtis) Lazar. Those are things that we’ll have to figure out sooner than later, because guys are coming back.”