This in from Tony Brar of Oilers TV, news that the Edmonton Oilers have again healthy scratched veteran winger Trent Frederic, bringing back Curtis Lazar to the line-up.
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Ingram
Scratched: Frederic, Regula, Pickard
My take
1. I’m not sure why Frederic was scratched and not Mattias Janmark, as Janmark has struggled to make plays with the puck in all zones. But there was some media buzz about Frederic not standing up for Connor McDavid last game after McDavid was hit solidly by Toronto’s Brandon Carlo. That job was left to Darnell Nurse, who challenged Carlo to a fight. Perhaps Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch had the same concern as Frederic’s media critics about him failing to engage.
The hit happened right in front of Frederic, so little doubt he saw it, but he proceeded to skate right to the bench.
2. Whether or not Knoblauch took issue with Frederic on the Carlo play, it’s fair to say that over the course of the season no regular Oilers forward has played weaker two-way hockey than Frederic. All things considered Janmark has been a much better defensive winger than Frederic, so keeping him in over Frederic makes some sense.
3. What made little or no sense was taking out Lazar for the Toronto game. Lazar has been playing aggressive, hard-hitting and solid two-way hockey in a limited role. He’s part of the solution for this team this year, not part of the problem.
4. As these lines are now formulated, this may well be Edmonton’s strongest line-up of the year, with the first, second and third lines all displaying good-to-great chemistry, at least on the attack. McDavid’s line is in a bit of a lull defensively, but there’s no doubting their offensive skill.
57 games
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