Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman spent the offseason building depth in areas of need. One of those areas (penalty killing) was designed to keep the team’s best players (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) off the ice when the team is short-handed. News this week that wingers Matt Savoie and Mattias Janmark are injured and won’t attend training camp represents a setback for the team in this area. The best laid plans of mice and men go awry. What can Bowman do about it?If the goal is reducing ice time for McDavid and Draisaitl, and scoring goals is the most difficult task in the NHL, the answer is easy.Penalty killLast season, McDavid averaged just over one minute per game on the penalty kill. New coach Mike Babcock may want to continue using the captain in this part of the game, but it’s a smart way to cut back minutes and use the world’s best player in situations (even strength, power play) where his breathtaking offence holds sway. Here’s a look at all Oilers forwards who played one minute or more on the penalty kill a year ago:PlayerTOI per gameJason Dickinson1:51Adam Henrique1:39Matt Savoie1:36Mattias Janmark1:30Ryan Nugent-Hopkins1:21Connor Mcdavid1:03Kasperi Kapanen0:59All numbers via Natural Stat TrickThe Oilers didn’t re-sign Adam Henrique, plus the Savoie and Janmark injuries take away two key penalty killers. The rest of this group returns for another season. Henrique was 50 percent on draws last season, Curtis Lazar was 56 percent, and that may be an area of difficulty for the team. Other than that issue, a centre PK rotation is one player shy; it currently consists of Jason Dickinson and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Assuming Babcock wants to fade McDavid and Draisaitl in this game state, an acquisition for the position (trade or trusting a prospect) will be required.Bowman added a capable winger, Mathieu Joseph, this summer for the PK role. He played just under one minute per game with the St. Louis Blues last season. The injuries to Savoie and Janmark put the team down a man on the wings as well, but there are options on the current roster.The main “pairs” last season (two forwards who work in tandem) were Henrique and Savoie (94 minutes, 8.21 xGA-60); McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins (43 minutes, 7.3 xGA-60); Janmark and Podkolzin (32 minutes, 12.9 xGA-60); McDavid and Draisaitl (27 minutes, 7.93 xGA-60); and Dickinson and Kapanen (26 minutes, 6.7 xGA-60).The pairings are informative in terms of what Kris Knoblauch found optimal, and the expected GA-60 is interesting, but the sample is so small none of the numbers above can be trusted. What we can gather is the Dickinson and Kapanen, McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid and Draisaitl pairings were successful, and those players are still on the team.If Babcock wants to run six forwards (three pairs of two) this season, Dickinson and Kapanen appear to be the only viable pairing returning.