Oilers veteran forward on 3 year contract becoming team problem for Coach Knoblauch

Jeff Skinner was listed as a healthy scratch again for tonight's game against the Seattle Kraken, despite scoring a goal and looking fine last game.

The Edmonton Oilers signed Mattias Janmark to a three year contract in the offseason, but the returns this season haven't lived up to expectations after a great playoffs last year.

Janmark still has his strengths of speed and penalty killing ability, but his entire offensive play at all situations is a black hole. His shots per 60 minutes has been decimated from an average of near 5 over his career to 2.5 this season - often considered a sign an NHL player isn't up to standard anymore.

With Jeff Skinner out of the lineup for tonight's game and Janmark moved up to the third line, fans are heavily questioning Knoblauch's decision to ice the best possible lineup.

Janmark is still bringing good quality play on the penalty kill and defensively, but the reality is he needs to be able to bring anything offensively. At the moment, Janmark hasn't scored a goal that wasn't on an empty net in 76 games.

In last year's playoffs, the Janmark and Brown pairing turned out to be an incredibly pleasant surprise for the Oilers, and a key part of their postseason success. However, Janmark can't be on the team for past glory - he needs to actually bring something to the team, and right now he's a black hole offensively.

Scratching the career veteran sniper Jeff Skinner after a decent game in favour for Janmark who's struggled for the entire season is hard to make sense of from Coscg Knoblauch. He clearly is prioritizing defensive play, but it's hardly fair to Skinner.

Hopefully the Oilers can find a new path forward for the veteran Skinner, because it's hard to see them continuing to healthy scratch the veteran for the rest of the season. A trade seems like the best path forward for both parties.