Mike Babcock is deciding whether Mattias Janmark-Nylen still deserves a spot on the Edmonton Oilers roster.
This is the first real lineup call of Babcock's tenure, and it's already stirring debate around the fan base this week.
Janmark managed just eight points in 43 games last season, one goal and seven assists, a steep drop from what he used to bring.
His plus-minus sat at minus-8, hardly the two-way stability the Oilers leaned on from him a few seasons back.
Compare that to Joshua Samanski, who posted four points in 24 games as a rookie and looked sharper away from the puck.
Isaac Howard chipped in five points over 29 games in his own trial run. Modest totals, but the shifts turned heads inside the room.
So why would a first-year coach still learning this roster lean toward the same names that struggled to produce last winter?
Oilers insider Bob Stauffer raised the idea of Janmark's return on his radio show, and few people know this organization better than he does.
Isaac Howard and Joshua Samanski keep waiting on their shot
Stauffer also floated the idea that Howard and Samanski could open the year in the American Hockey League, a path that pushes both farther from Rogers Place.
Parking two NHL-ready kids in the minors so a fading veteran gets another look feels like a bad plan before camp even opens.
Janmark's game has slowed like an engine running on fumes. Still moving, just without the same push behind it anymore.
McDavid and Draisaitl might reunite on the same line at home games this fall, sidestepping the matchups teams love to throw at them on the road.
McDavid closed last season with 138 points, 48 goals and 90 assists, numbers that make almost any linemate look better than they actually are.
Draisaitl posted 97 points of his own, spending stretches alongside Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen on a line that clicked more often than not.
Podkolzin finished with 37 points and Kapanen added 17. Proof that pairing gave Draisaitl looks he didn't always get on McDavid's wing.
The Oilers finished 41-30-11 with a plus-13 goal differential, good for second in the Pacific Division. Hardly a roster that needs a teardown.
Edmonton closed the year with a 6-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on April 16, then walked straight into an offseason full of open questions.
Training camp will force Babcock's hand soon enough. Not every player currently penciled into a bottom-six role is guaranteed to stay there.
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Should Mike Babcock give Isaac Howard and Joshua Samanski roster spots over Mattias Janmark?
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