PRE-RAW | Kris Knoblauch 12.02.25

PRE-RAW | Kris Knoblauch 12.02.25

Chris, can you just give us a a thought on the Minnesota Wild, you know, the way they play and how that’s going to test some of the the work you’ve been doing defensively right recently? Yeah, they’ve got a um a very good team, very explosive. They’ve got um some very dangerous players on their first and second line and um and also their defenseman for the most part. All of them move the puck really well and they get involved and um you see obviously they’re playing very well lately. Um I believe they’ve got 11 wins in the last 14 games and the goalending that they get when they do make mistakes um their goalending has been phenomenal um during this stretch. So yeah, they’ve got a good team. When they do make mistakes, they’re getting some really key saves. Um yeah, I think the most part I think with their team just they’ve got some very dynamic, dangerous players that you um given them an opportunity, they capitalize on it. You’ve had a few measuring stick games on home ice here where you’ve come up significantly short. Do you feel like your team is in a in a different place heading into this one? And how so? Um I certainly hope we are. Um I think um you know last two of the last three games have been very underwhelming performances by our team against very good teams. Um you know Minnesota is one of the best teams in the league right now, especially the way they’re playing. It’s going to be another test like we had the previous games. So um you know I like our energy. I like how we’re engaged. Um we’re a lot better defensively. We’re tighter. Uh and uh we’re going to need that against uh this team. Um you know, they really capitalize on mistakes. So we’re going to have to have minimize our mistakes, but also being in a position to defend after those situations that occur. Chris, your your defensive game, as you mentioned, wasn’t where you wanted it to be a lot. that Seattle game it was. But the penalty kills specific going six for six, including almost two minutes in a five on three. What did you see that was consistent on your penalty kill that you hope to build on in December? Um I think there was just a lot of um one there was some block shots, you know, there was a couple that I think of and one Nugie on the five on three. Um, but everyone just being on their toes, ready to attack, especially on loose pucks. You know, a team has a shot. It’s a five on four. You probably have to give up something and you’re trying to minimize what that shot looks like and it’s not a dangerous shot. But anytime there was a loose puck, I thought we did a really good job of attacking that puck and gaining some um clears, getting that puck down the ice. And usually when things break down, I think about our our two power play goals against Seattle. We recovered pucks and then scored. Um I think for us the key for us having those kills were we were able to get the recovers. We were able to get the puck down the ice. We were able to get changes where Seattle didn’t win those battles. We did. We were ended up extending our offensive zone time and then capitalizing. So I don’t know. I think the biggest thing for us like we didn’t change our system um just emphasis on certain aspects. I think it was just the um players being on their toes, playing on their instincts and then getting those clear so we can get fresh bodies out there. And that being said, as good as the pel was, it was 100%. But we also had some key saves from our goalender and we need that on a pel. um talked to people in Boston earlier this week about Trent Frederick and when he’s playing well they felt you know he was aggressive, he was assertive, he’s physical and a little bit of an agitator maybe. How can you help bring that out of him? We haven’t seen that enough from him. Yeah, that’s um it’s a tough tough one. Um, you know, it’s not only for a player to play his best, he’s got to be in a position to feel like he can contribute. And, um, he whether it’s joining a new team or just finding a role or whatever it is, we haven’t been able to do that. And Trent’s obviously disappointed with um his season so far. Um, you know, we do expect more from Trent. I think he’s a tremendous player that hasn’t played to his potential and it’s on the coaching staff to and Trent himself to get that out of him and find out how he can help us uh win hockey games. And when he is playing his best, yes, he has to be tenacious. He has to be driving the net and really keeping his game really simple. and um you know I think just with the circumstances him signing his contract and and often sometimes when players put more expectations on themselves what it is is just more weight on your shoulders and it just paralyzes you. He wants to do so much more but it’s kind of getting away from what his identity is and playing to his strengths. So, I know Trent will come around and I know he’ll be a key player for us in the future. Right now, we’re just um we’re just trying to get it out of them. More and more we’re seeing, you know, the superstars around the league get on the penalty kill. What do you think prompted that change where they used to not be you didn’t want them to block a shot or get hurt, but now a lot of teams are putting their best scorers out there? Well, I think a lot of it has to do with um special teams are so um important to success. um your power play, your penalty kill. If you’ve got a team that’s good in those two areas, you probably have a good team that’s winning most nights. And um the five on five is often a soft, it’s usually not determining um the game. So, and because the special teams are so important, you want your best players on the ice. And we went we started the season off having our top guys killing a lot more than they do. They do a little bit now, but we’ve pulled them back a little bit. But I think it’s just the the thought of special teams being so important and having your best players in those situations. When you had them out there, did you see power plays like will you see them react differently knowing that those guys can really defend through their offensive instincts? Absolutely. you as a a power play unit, you see two players like that that are very dangerous. You are very reluctant to make a low percentage play. You are so careful. And then when you’re careful in the power play, you’re not as dangerous. And then then when you do lose the puck, you’re often defending, which isn’t often the case when you’re playing um when you have the man advantage. So there’s definitely benefits of having your best players out there, but there are some consequences um that maybe it affects your five on five play a little bit. Chris, a lot of quote unquote shut down centers or matchup centers in the league. Like with Joel Axen with the Minnesota Wild, what stands out to you or strikes you most about him as a player that makes him kind of effective when he goes out against top players? Well, I think one thing is those defensive players don’t get enough credit is their offensive ability. Um, you know, as good as you are defensively, the best tool that you can have as being a defensive player is making the other team other team’s best players defend. And I think he’s tremendous with the puck. I think he’s reliable and um can spend time in the offensive zone. Um, and he’s not a just a a checking player. But that being said, um, you know, obviously I think he’s a very smart player. to be a good defensive player, you have to be ahead of the play and know what the other team’s going to be doing. Um, and there’s not much cheat to his game. Um, but yes, he can make some plays with the puck and drive some offense, but it’s pretty uh reliable. And you look at the best two-way forwards around the league like um you know, you see Barkov um you know, he can put up offense, but there’s not much cheat to his game. And you know, I think with Erikson, very similar. I think u well-rounded um a lot of um you know, very sharp on his details, but not um you know, like any player, no matter how defensively you are, um he has a lot of uh pride in his defensive game, but um he doesn’t want to sacrifice his um he doesn’t want to give up that defensive play with trying to create something that’s not there. How much are you a strict matchup guy or not in terms of do you try to avoid some of those guys or you let your big guys just hey whoever’s on the ice no matter I don’t want to change my shifts or my tempo with with with who’s out there. Yeah. Well with one I’m not sure what they’re planning on doing but we’ve got two lines that would be considered a top line and I would say to it’d be very difficult to get both our lines away from that one line. So, I’m assume that most of the night we’re going to see their top two lines playing against our top two lines just because of how much uh we both rely on each. So, whether we um yeah, I don’t think it matters so much. Chris, will it be Steuart Skinner tonight? Yes. Thank you very much.

Kris speaks as the Oilers prepare to face the Wild at Rogers Place on Tuesday.