Caleb Jones to play in top-4 of defence against the Avalanche

Here is the Oiler's projected lineup for tonight's game.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Caleb Jones to play in top-4 of defence against the Avalanche
Zuma Press

Tonight, the Edmonton Oilers are hosting the Colorado Avalanche. After having lost their previous game to the San Jose Sharks by a score of 6-3 on Tuesday, the Oilers will be looking to bounce back against one of the best teams in the league.

Defence has long been an issue for the Emonton Oilers, but it now seems as though there is hope in that regard. Rookie d-man Ethan Bear is performing quite admirably so far this season with 2 goals and 6 points in 20 games so far. His great play has earned him a spot on the first defensive pair for the Oilers alongside Darnell Nurse.

Bear may not be the only one looking to establish himself in Edmonton's defensive unit this season. After the injury to Adam Larsson, the Oilers were short a man on the right side of the defence. Many guys stepped into the top-4 of defence without much success. It is now Caleb Jones' turn to try to fill Larsson's shoes. 

Jones, brother of the Blue Jackets' Seth Jones who is an elite defenceman in the NHL, had played 17 games with the Oilers last season, getting 1 goal and 5 assists. The former 5th round pick is establishing himself as a great two-way defenceman in the AHL and may be ready to take the step up to the NHL. With the Bakersfield Condors this season, Jones has 2 goals and 10 points in 13 games. He will get a chance to prove that he has got what it takes to play at a high level in the NHL this evening.

Here is the rest of the Oilers' projected lineup for tonight's game against the Avalanche according to insider and journalist Bob Stauffer:

Forwards:

Leon Draisaitl - Connor McDavid - Zack Kassian

James Neal - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Josh Archibald

Joakim Nygard - Gaetan Haas - Alex Chiasson

Jujhar Khaira - Riley Sheahan - Patrick Russel

Defencemen:

Darnell Nurse - Ethan Bear

Oscar Klefbom - Caleb Jones

Kris Russell - Matt Benning

Goaltenders:

Mike Smith

Mikko Koskinen

Sam Gagner, Joel Persson and Markus Granlund are set to be healthy scratches this evening.

The Colorado Avalanche are playing the second game of a 5-game road trip tonight and are coming off a convincing 4-0 victory against the Winnipeg Jets earlier this week. They will seek to keep their hot run of form going.

It should be a very entertaining game of Hockey.