Kris Knoblauch hasn’t wasted any time putting his stamp on the Edmonton Oilers. On his first official day as team head coach, he’s already made a massive change to the lineup, moving two of the best players in the world off of each other’s lines. At practice, Knoblauch split Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, something that admittedly takes some guts to do considering where the Oilers are at in the standings and that both players haven’t exactly lit the lamp in recent games.
Knoblauch’s lines at his first practice featured McDavid with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Sam Gagner. The second line consisted of Draisaitl with Evander Kane and Zach Hyman. Dylan Holloway was with Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele, while the fourth line consisted of Raphael Lavoie and James Hamblin and Derek Ryan. The defense pairings stayed the same as Darnell Nurse was with Cody Ceci, Mattias Ekholm was paired with Evan Bouchard and Brett Kulak was with Vincent Desharnais.
This is an interesting strategy for a few reasons. First, splitting McDavid and Draisaitl when the two players might be their respective best chances of putting up some points is a bit risky. Ideally, you want these players running their own lines, but they work so well together, having them on the same line to work them out of their ruts might be best. But, it wasn’t happening before, so perhaps Knoblauch believes it’s best to split them up now and see if different linemates will get them going.
Second, Hyman exploded for a hat trick in the first period when placed with Kane and Nugent-Hopkins against the Seattle Kraken. Splitting them up after a great game feels like an intriguing choice.
These Lines Make Sense on Paper
What’s nice about the changes is that it appears to make the Oilers more well-rounded and slots people in their right places. For a while, Woodcroft had McLeod playing on the top line. While he’s fast, he wasn’t getting anything done on offense. He’s not a top line player in the NHL. Back on the third line, he makes more sense there.
One could make an argument that Gagner is not a top-line player either, but he’s a utility guy. He can ultimately play anywhere and any kind of style. He grinds and brings a similar kind of energy that a Kailer Yamamoto did. That might be what McDavid needs.
How much of the changes at practice make their way to the ice tonight isn’t clear. And, how many more changes the new coach makes will be seen in due time. But, he’s not afraid to come in and make changes, perhaps the biggest one that could have been made with this current lineup.
It was also noted that Connor Brown was back on the ice. He won’t play Monday night versus the New York Islanders, but it’s being said he’s nearing a return.
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