Babcock admits he has no answer for McDavid and Draisaitl with blunt message

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are running together again, and Oilers coach Mike Babcock still won't commit to keeping them there.

The two superstars have shared a line through all of training camp, and Babcock is refusing to promise anything beyond Monday's practice.

Asked directly if he'll stick with it during the regular season, Babcock didn't blink. "I don't have a clue what I'm going to do. I'm going to watch," he said.

It's the same shuffle Oilers fans have watched for years now. Split them up for scoring depth, or stack them together for maximum firepower.

Babcock's reasoning this time is different, though. He wants McDavid and Draisaitl together so the rest of the lineup gets real ice time instead of scraps.

"If you play them apart, and the top two lines play 20 minutes, what do the other guys do?" Babcock asked, pushing back on the idea he's speculating at all.

That's a fair point. But it also puts enormous pressure on Edmonton's second line to actually produce, and that's where this gets interesting.

Nugent-Hopkins faces make-or-break test at second-line center

Right now, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is centering that second line, flanked by Zach Hyman and Ike Howard, a spot he hasn't fully owned in years.

Nugent-Hopkins mostly played wing the past couple seasons, but he insists center still feels like home. "It's easier for me to jump back into that centre spot," he said Monday.

Last season he posted 20 goals and 56 points, but only 9 goals, 17 assists and 26 points at even strength across 72 games.

Those even-strength numbers are the real story here. A $14,000,000 cap hit for Draisaitl and $12,500,000 for McDavid means Edmonton needs its depth scoring elsewhere.

Hyman has quietly become one of hockey's best garbage men down low, the guy who cleans up the mess left behind once defenders chase McDavid around the rink.

Can he still do that without McDavid on his wing? That's the whole experiment Babcock is running, whether he admits it or not.

Nugent-Hopkins knows what's being asked of him. "There's definitely some emphasis on us to be able to produce and just make sure that we're a really good and solid second line," he said.

Here's the uncomfortable part nobody's saying out loud. If Nugent-Hopkins can't drive that line, general manager Stan Bowman goes shopping for a center at the deadline.

Edmonton is coming off a 5-2 win over Winnipeg on Saturday and carries a one-game winning streak into Tuesday's rematch against the Jets.

Babcock insists the fourth line of Colton Dach, Mathieu Joseph and Alex Formenton was the best group on the ice that night. Even that says something about where this roster stands.

Nugent-Hopkins is entering his 11th head coach as an Oiler, and he says Babcock's style is the fastest pace he's dealt with yet.

"You don't want things to be grey area, and that's what he's great at," Nugent-Hopkins said. Clarity is nice. Production is what actually saves jobs.