The Edmonton Oilers did score a power play goal on Tuesday night, but their numbers on the man advantage are still not where the team would like them to be. Now 2-19, head coach Kris Knoblauch pulled the blender out at practice and it looks like he’s finally going to pull the trigger on rumored power play changes. Interestingly, he’s made some surprising decisions.
Oilers host Tony Brar tweeted on Wednesday that the Oilers aren’t just taking half-measures. Knoblauch appears to be going all-in on new looks, moving both defensemen and forwards around.
Among the changes, Evan Bouchard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman have been moved off of the first unit. In their place are Mattias Ekholm, Jeff Skinner, and Viktor Arvidsson. Knoblauch ran drills with both Bouchard and Ekholm on each unit, so that situation may be fluid.
That means Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will play with two new forwards and potentially a rotating defenseman.
On the second unit are Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Adam Henrique, and two blueliners. Darnell Nurse will run one point, while Bouchard and Ekholm will rotate through the others.
These Are Significant Power Play Changes for the Oilers
Speculation that the team might make some slight adjustments to a struggling power play has made way for what appears to be a full-blown shuffling of the units. Whether Knoblauch tries these new combinations against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday remains to be seen. If the Oilers can get their power play going, it will be a huge plus for the roster.
Knoblauch’s mentality must be to really shake things up. Does this help players like Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins? Neither have scored yet this season. Perhaps it does and the question might be, why switch just one thing if the unit as a whole isn’t clicking? So too, these changes might help the Oilers time manage each unit in a more effective way.
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