Oilers Coach Shows Some Frustration in Removing Three Star Players From Powerplay

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Liam McCormick
October 23, 2024 (7:13 PM)

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The Oilers made a shockwaves this morning when Coach Knoblauch broke up the top powerplay unit at practice, and it may be a sign of some internal frustration.

The first and only powerplay unit has been greatly struggling to start the season, despite being one of the best powerplays in the NHL for multiple years now. Just a few days ago, Knoblauch laughed off any potential changes to the powerplay, but today commenced a full overhaul.

»Glenn [Gulutzan] has been here for a
while, seen some ups and down on the powerplay. Mostly a lot of ups. He said every year there's been talk about changing that powerplay, and every year they're at the top in the league. So, let's just be cautious about changing things.»
-Coach Knoblauch

That was only two days ago, but after another loss to the Carolina Hurricanes dropped their record to 2-4-1, the Oilers are showing some more urgency to figure things out - and potentially some frustration to move away from a unit that's always been productive. The Oilers removed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard from the first powerplay unit.

Considering the success that Hyman and Bouchard have had on the Oilers powerplay, this could be a very controversial decision - especially if the Oilers run two powerplay units and sit McDavid and Draisaitl for half of it. The Oilers stars are generational talents, and it's obvious that they'll eventually find their scoring groove again.

Knoblauch downplayed any real significant behind the changes to the powerplay, only saying that he's looking for more variety, but considering his earlier hesitation to make a change, it seems that there's some frustration from the Coach.

The powerplay has got to find its groove in the next few weeks for the Oilers to have success and get back to winning games, avoiding another slow start.