Oilers coach Knoblauch reveals Corey Perry's debut lines and unrightfully scratches a player
As the Oilers held practice today ahead of tomorrow night's game against the Nashville Predators, Corey Perry officially became a full participant in practice. Today, Perry was skating on the third line with Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod, and Coach Knoblauch confirmed Perry will make his debut tomorrow night.
Perry should be an amazing fit on that third line, as Holloway and McLeod may be able to create space with their speed for Perry to show off his scoring touch. Not only that, but McLeod and Perry can get into the rough stuff - making that a tough line on its own too. It's fantastic to see Perry finally set to make his debut after the longtime rumours around Perry joining Edmonton, and it must be great for Perry personally to get back on the ice.
Along with the great news of Perry joining the team however, is a questionable decision by Coach Knoblauch. As Perry slotted into the team's bottom six, Knoblauch went against expectations and is scratching veteran Sam Gagner in favour of Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark.
The 34 year old veteran Gagner has missed some time with injury this year, but has been a consistent contributor in the bottom six and is a key element to the Oilers scoring depth right now. In 22 games this year, Gagner has recorded an impressive 5 goals and 10 points, all while averaging less than ten minutes of ice time. On the other hand, Connor Brown has zero goals and 4 assists in 37 games, yet is staying in the lineup on the fourth line. Scratching Gagner is a bizarre and seemingly wrong decision from Knoblauch, but he's yet to make a wrong move as coach of this team, so we'll have to see how this plays out.
| POLL | ||
Should Gagner be scratched? | ||
| No, he's been fantastic | 221 | 26.7 % |
| Yes, he's not that good | 86 | 10.4 % |
| He's a vet, he needs rest | 179 | 21.6 % |
| Scratch Connor Brown instead | 343 | 41.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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