Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said something obvious but nonetheless shocking to me in his opening day press conference.
We all know that a number of players have moved on from the 2024-25 Oilers, but the scope of the change hadn’t really registered with me at least until Knoblauch described his challenge dealing with all the change in the forward group.
As many as seven of the ten regular wingers that played for Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Finals have either moved on, been moved out, are injured, or will play in a new position this season.
“We’ve got a lot of uncertainties,” Knoblauch said. “We’re missing about half our forwards from last year Stanley Cup run. So there’s going to be a lot of fluctuation. And, you know, I prefer that there wasn’t fluctuation. I would like to have the certainty but we’ve got some to start.”
The only wingers slotted to be back for opening with some degree of certainty are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin, and Kasperi Kapanen.
The others? Corey Perry is in L.A., Evander Kane, Vancouver, Connor Brown, New Jersey, Jeff Skinner, San Jose, Viktor Arvidsson, Boston. Meanwhile, it’s not known how soon Zach Hyman will be back from his wrist injury, while Trent Frederic is to be tried out as the third-line centre.
Half the forward roster.
That’s a lot of change.
That’s a lot of new lines and new roles for the forwards for Knoblauch to conjure up. Incoming are NHL rookies David Tomasek, Noah Philp, Matt Savoie and Ike Howard, along with veteran free agents signings Curtis Lazar and Andrew Mangiapane.
Knoblauch gave major clues about how it might well turn out in his press conference, saying he’s going to try to create a physical third line, as well as revamping the penalty kill both strategically and personnel wise, which means finding a number of new forward pairings to do that work.
Knoblauch said he knows Adam Henrique can play centre, so to try out other players like Frederic and Lazar there, Henrique will start out on left wing. “Trent Frederic, for us, played all wing, and typically, through his time in Boston a lot of it’s been on the right side,” the coach said. “But he has played a lot of centre, and during training camp, we’d like to see how that feels for our team. So he’ll have a lot of time playing the middle here in training camp and exhibition.”
As for the third line make-over, Knoblauch said, “We would like to kind of get a third line that’s hard to play against, maybe more of a checking role and a little more physicality.”
Frederic will be tried out there at centre. “If we want to create that line, you know, he’s going to have to play with some good support players also…. I think he can be a pretty good role player on that shut down, third line centre. That’s a possibility.”
Some guys might play on that third line who might otherwise or also play in the Top Six, Knoblauch said, noting that Frederic has good hands and might have more scoring in his game than he ever showed in his third line role in Boston. “I don’t want to commit to something and then find out it doesn’t work. So I think we’re very open minded on a lot of possibilities.”
Knoblauch addressed how Philp might fit in. “There’s a guy that can he can skate, he can move, he can make our team faster the size of them. He can make our team more physical and stronger. So if he’s playing like that, that certainly helps us. … I think overall, just that identity of him playing fast and physical really helps our group.”
Knoblauch continued: “You know, we’ve got a lot of skilled players. You look at the contributions that (winger Kasperi) Kapanen made in the playoffs when he came into the Vegas series. He wasn’t inserted because of his goals scoring, even though he did provide us a very important goal in that series in overtime. But you know, he added a lot that series, just with how much he was moving around the ice and the amount of hits he had, like he was a presence. And I’m not saying Noah Philp is gonna play like kapanen. Everyone’s got their different identity. But I think if he can bring a little bit of that elements, he helps our team. And, you know, I think our team could always use more of that.”
As for the two more heralded attacking wingers, Matt Savoie and Ike Howard, Knoblauch suggested that slow-cooking them is in order. There is no need for them to play on a top line with McDavid or Draisaitl on opening night, Knoblauch said, especially as that approach can backfire.
“Certainly our organization wants these guys to succeed and get into the Top 6 and be there at Christmas and be there for years to come. That’s definitely the goal but, you know, I don’t think it’s beneficial for the team — and certainly not beneficial for the players — if you put them in a position that they’re not quite ready for. Because if they’re in Line #1 or Line #2 on opening night, and it doesn’t work out, and then they bump down to Line #3, it’s going to be a gonna be a disappointment.
“I think it’s really important that they’re in the they’re in a good spot, and we want to build them up. And, you know, hopefully down the road, whether it’s a Christmas time, playoff time, or wherever it is, whenever they’re ready, that they do get up into the prominent role, because we want them to get to get there.”
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How will all this play out?
We all know by now that the forward line combos of NHL coaches are written in sand on the beach. They change with the tide, sometimes between periods, often between games.
Some player combos do stick together, and with so much change I suspect Knoblauch will rely on a few old partnerships right away, but things will evolve rapidly.
That said, the coach does seem focused on creating this hard checking third line, while slowly developing Savoie and Howard.
Candidates for the third line include Frederic and Henrique at centre, Podkolzin, Kapanen, and Savoie, a strong two-way player and aggressive forechecking. If Knoblauch wants to introduce Savoie in slow fashion to the battle of the NHL, I can see him starting on this line with Frederic and Podkolzin.
If Hyman is out, would it make sense for the Oilers to go with a proven winger in RNH with Connor McDavid and Mangiapane getting first crack at that job?
This would see a smart forward Henrique on the second line with Leon Draisaitl and 29-year-old rookie Tomasek battling 21-year-old rookie Howard for the other spot on that line.
The fourth line would have Lazar, Philp and Kapanen, with Mattias Janmark the 13th forward.
At the Cult of Hockey
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