Key Oilers Return, But Knoblauch’s Latest Comments the Real Story

A couple of familiar faces returned to the ice for the Edmonton Oilers on Monday as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kasperi Kapanen took part in a practice at the Downtown Community Arena. Both have been out with injuries, and both are close to returning. As big a story as that might be for the Oilers, the bigger news might be the comments that came from head coach Kris Knoblauch after the skate.

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Oilers Latest Injury Update

The Oilers had a few welcome sights at practice, but it doesn’t mean the lineup will look much different on Tuesday night when the team takes on the Dallas Stars. Nugent-Hopkins and Kapanen were both back on the ice, skating in regular rotations during drills. Nugent-Hopkins even took turns on a line with Connor McDavid and Matt Savoie, while Kapanen rotated through the third line.

Even with that progress, neither player is a lock to suit up. Head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed that Kapanen and Jake Walman are definitely out for Tuesday. Nugent-Hopkins called himself uncertain, saying he still needs to discuss things with the medical staff before making a call. Following Tuesday’s home game, the Oilers are off until Saturday. The team has four extra recovery days to work with—something that is good news for everyone currently on the shelf.

Knoblauch’s Comments

While the injury updates grabbed attention, Knoblauch’s post-practice comments were the real headline. He pushed back on the idea that Edmonton’s early-season struggles stem from system changes, making it clear the team hasn’t altered its five-on-five structure at all. That said, they are about to try some new things.

He said:

“We have been playing the exact same systems (5×5) as we have the previous two years, and we have talked about how things will work out or turn around, but it has got to the point where things haven’t turned around 20+ games into the season, and now we are starting to alter some things.”

He said they made one change at Monday’s practice and more might come. He then added, “It is hard, because we have had so much success going to the Stanley Cup Final twice, we didn’t want to change anything, but now we are playing like we have, for as long as we have, we have to start thinking things won’t just work themselves out, we need to make some adjustments.”

Limiting slot chances will be a major priority, and he didn’t rule out moving players around if execution doesn’t improve.

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