With Shawn Horcoff now on the shelf for at least a month with a broken knuckle, and Eric Belanger waiting for some relief from a couple of broken toes, the Edmonton Oilers have enlisted centre Mark Arcobello of the Oklahoma City Barons.

The 24-year-old Arcobello will play his first NHL game Wednesday against the Dallas Stars at Rexall Place.

“He is the best hockey player down there (American Hockey League),” Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger said. “We just need to process what our options are.”

The Oilers had an optional skate on Tuesday, so there wasn’t a ready indication as to the makeup of the lineup. But Krueger did not rule out a few tweaks to his top six forwards — in particular the trio of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. They have been together since their days in Oklahoma City during the NHL lockout.

On the back end, Theo Peckham has been assigned to the Barons for a conditioning assignment.

“There’s some serious thought to some moves,” Krueger said. “Sometimes, if you just flip two guys, it refreshes everybody, so that’s on the table.”

Arcobello, the Barons’ best forward with 39 points in 43 games, did play between Hall and Eberle when Nugent-Hopkins left the Barons to play for Canada at the world junior hockey championship.

But putting the five-foot-nine, 165-pounder back between the two wingers would necessitate more than a flip of centres, so he may instead see some time on the fourth line.

Arcobello, an undrafted Yale University product who was born in Milford, Conn., split the 2010-11 season between the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL and the Barons, earning himself a two-year, entry-level contract.

jireland@edmontonjournal.com

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