Oilers Coach Knoblauch's Lack of Trust for Jeff Skinner Goes Back To The Offseason
NHL reporter Ryan Lotsberg of Heavy Hockey has revealed a deep dislike and lack of trust between Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch and Oilers forward Jeff Skinner.
After being bought out by the Buffalo Sabres, the Oilers felt that signing him in the offseason may give him the change of scenery he was looking for and find his scoring touch once again. Many fans and some Oilers pundits were excited to see that Skinner was coming to the team while others remained sceptical.
With the NHL season now entering the new year, it's become clear that coach Knoblauch has no trust in skinner's abilities and general play that it seems the coach does not even like the player himself.
Skinner has gone on long stretches of no goals and the Oilers have worked hard trying to find him a line and lines mates who would gel with him. It seems no matter what the Oilers do whether it is bad luck or Skinner has really regressed as a player as he's played 34 games, scoring three goals with 7 assists for 10 points is deeply troubling.
As the games have gone on, Skinner's ice time has been dropping and he is now the worst plus minus player on the team. It's been mentioned that the biggest concern aside lack goal scoring is the fact his defensive side can be atrocious at times.
Coach Knoblauch has been extremely professional on how he is managed this player and has spoken to the media without mentioning anything negative or demeaning against Skinner which continues to give good relations.
On the trade front, it is likely no one will take him even though he has a full no movement clause. He holds a cap it of $3,000,000 but is an unrestricted free agent next season which will see the Oilers cut him loose.
But at 32-years-old and a clear drop off in his talent especially in his defensive abilities it's safe to say the head coach does not trust his player and may not even like his player but continues to work with him to see what can be don going into the second-half of the season.
