RAW | Kris Knoblauch 12.01.25

RAW | Kris Knoblauch 12.01.25

Jake Mullman option for tomorrow or still a little ways? No, he won’t play tomorrow. He’s still um yeah, not quite ready that game from a coaching perspective. What did you like most about that performance you feel you can build on heading into this home stand? Well, I thought we defended uh much better. Uh gave up fewer chances and um but I also like our players engagement. uh they were a little bit fired up and um you know we took some more penalties than we would like to but there was a lot of um energy and a lot of um togetherness on the bench and on the ice which uh I think is very important to play an entire season and um but we got to be careful on you know not taking the penalties and um maybe there’s some penalties there that probably maybe my opinion shouldn’t have been called but uh um I don’t just everyone just seemed a little more engaged, a little more fired up. How about Ryan New Hopkins? I know I spoke to you about his return, but maybe just at a different angle, how’s this team different with and without Ryan? Well, you look at how Ryan touched the game the other night. Uh, you know, penalty kill. There’s a there’s a turning point in the game possibility. We’re up one- nothing. We’ve got a uh five on three for almost two minutes. And Ryan’s a big part of the reason why we kill that. he had a key block shot. Um, and then on the other side of it, power play, we go for two for two and he gets one of the goals, but he has a big part in that dynamic. So, and then also just five on five. He’s a tremendous player. I like that line of Rico and Yanny together. Um, you know, you feel that they can chip in offensively, but certainly, um, you know, those three guys are probably our three best penalts. So you have those guys on the line together. They should be pretty reliable against other teams top units. Are you hoping to get an extended look with new hockey side just to keep them center? Well, we will go with the same lineup as we had the other nights and I thought they played well and hopefully we can build some momentum um with the lines that they are. So the last two times a central division power team came through town, things didn’t kind of go the way a lot of people wanted them to. Now now you got many. Is your team in a bit of a different place now than it was against maybe Colorado? Um I I I think so, but uh you know after the um I guess both those games going into those I don’t think we’re under the best circumstances going into those games. Um one coming out a long road trip to the Dallas and then the uh or after the Florida game. The one previous was after Dallas. Uh we had a couple days off and then played. Um but right now you certainly have an anticipation that we’re going to play a lot better than we did in those two. Uh I don’t see how we could play worse. But um yeah, I don’t know. I think uh guys are ready, committed to playing some good hockey uh defensively especially and this will be a good test. Minnesota’s um next to Colorado, probably the hottest team in the NHL, playing really well and it’ll be a a test for us. How valuable is the rest and the practice time that you guys have finally been able to get over the last Well, right now we get to get into a little bit of a rhythm where we play practice play um sprinkle in a optional skate once in a while before games. Uh before we really just didn’t have any opportunities to have that schedule. We, you know, the first 50 days of the schedule, I believe we played 25 games and we had about six or seven practices, which uh is not ideal. Um, we’ve had some practices. We had three last week, another one this week. We can work on things, but I think most importantly, it allows players to um make plays with the puck. And morning skates, they get it, but they don’t get the competition. and they don’t get uh to receive a pass under duress. So, it’s a much different um situation. Now, we got practice, we can up the tempo, we can put them in situations where they’re um being confronted. Um so, now because I I felt like our biggest um downfall early in the year um us not playing up to standards was our puck play. And I think that should be a a strength of ours. And I think it was really um we weren’t executing very well. You talked too game. A lot of young players would be saying, “I only got seven points. You played 26 games. Not playing so good.” You’re the coach. What do you see? Well, I think ice time’s a good indicator of what the coach is saying. Uh I put him out there as on the penalty kill. uh he’s on there second year of power play and he’s playing top six minutes where you know maybe he hasn’t been putting up the points but uh he’s been um making some nice plays with with the puck but he’s been able to retrieve pucks which is very important. um you know, if you’re always defending because you couldn’t get a puck back, then it’s nobody wants to be on the ice with you because um yeah, you’re just always defending. But, you know, last few games, pretty much every game that he’s played with, he’s been hounding pucks. He’s been trying to uh you know, break up plays and he does that with his speed, but also he’s a smart hockey player. He knows where the play is going. So, um, yeah, I think the points will come, but, um, you know, I it’s not that I look at the lineup and say so and so’s only got so many points and I got to demote them or promote them just on that because a lot of those points is under um, circumstances. You might be absolutely lucky or you might be just a recipient of playing with somebody who’s providing the offense. Um, I’m not concerned about his um, lack of goals or assists. If you didn’t like this his game, you wouldn’t be playing him with the best player in the world. I don’t imagine. No, absolutely not. No, we put him there. We’re not It’s not a confidence booster. It’s not that, oh, we’re going to play with Connor to get your confidence and get your game going. That’s absolutely not it at all. It’s he’s got to be able to play a good 200 foot game, which I believe he has been. He’s been playing with energy and he’s also has the ability to make plays with the puck and I think as he more experience he gets the more comfortable he will um to make more plays. But overall, I think uh his situation being a young guy coming in the NHL, full-time player, he’s been doing a pretty good job.

Kris addresses the media as the Oilers return home and look to build off a win in Seattle.