The NHL on TNT panel was in rare form on Thursday night as they had plenty of time to take jabs at one another during the sixth-longest game in NHL history between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals produced six separate intermissions and several gold exchanges between the star-studded crew.

One of those exchanges came between Edmonton Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky and noted Toronto Maple Leafs sympathizer Paul Bissonnette. Biz Nasty sparked the conversation by first taking a dig at the Oilers’ top-heavy roster construction.

"You got guys in Toronto that are on milk cartons" 😱@WayneGretzky just OBLITERATED Leafs fan @BizNasty2point0 pic.twitter.com/npDArPFfNt

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 18, 2023

“You gotta roll all lines, that’s just how it is,” Bissonnette started before glancing over at The Great One. “You saw the teams that tried to maybe go a little top heavy. I don’t want to hurt any feelings here about the Edmonton Oilers, Wayne, but you’re playing your top guys 25 [minutes] and your fourth line is only getting maybe seven or eight minutes. It can hurt you, Wayne.”

While they didn’t exactly play 25 minutes a game, Connor McDavid (23:43) and Leon Draisaitl (23:08) did lead Edmonton in time on ice per game. The team low in that category belonged to fourth line forward Klim Kostin (7:44).

Edmonton was knocked out of their second round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights in six games.

Gretzky, almost like he had his exact comeback prepared before the show started, fired back with a barb that may still be “too soon” for all Toronto Maple Leafs fans to hear.

“Why are you taking a run at the Oilers, you’ve got guys in Toronto on milk cartons,” Gretzky said laughing. “They were missing, so why are you running at my Oilers?”

Gretzky was of course taking a shot at how the Leafs’ big four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares underperformed in their five-game, second round exit to the Florida Panthers.

The truth is, both men are right.

The Oilers’ stars did show up as McDavid and Draisaitl combined for 38 points (21g, 17a) in Edmonton’s 12 playoff games. The Oilers power play operated at a devastating 46.2 percent effectiveness rate but when you take a look at the players that didn’t touch the ice a lot with McDavid and Draisaitl, Bissonnette’s argument becomes much clearer.

The next best point total from that group of players came from defender Mattias Ekholm who recorded seven points. The next best forward was Kostin at just five points.

On the Toronto side of things, the four forwards that many call the Leafs’ “Core Four” take up over $40.5 million of their salary cap space. Despite that, they only came up with a combined nine points in those five second round games. Neither Matthews nor Tavares scored a goal.

That has sparked intense, heated discussion about big changes for Toronto this offseason. Something Bissonnette didn’t really want to get into.

“I’m having a hard time cutting the cord,” Bissonnette responded chuckling. “I was trying to deflect there, Wayne. Thanks a lot for bringing it up.”

Screenshot via NHL on TNT