Oilers coach Knoblauch hints power play may change
You know something is wrong with the Edmonton Oilers when even its star-studded power play is struggling to get on the scoresheet.
Over the past few seasons, the Oilers have become the gold standard for icing a successful power play, even snagging the NHL record with a 32.4% success rate in 2022-23.
Yet, despite all those achievements and the group staying almost exactly the same, they have converted on just one of 15 chances through six games this season and sit third-last in the NHL with a conversion rate of just 6.7%.
A slump like this could lead to changes for that unit. While Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch isn’t itching to switch up the players on that top unit, he admitted that he is open to the idea, but is treating it with plenty of caution.
“No, it’s not locked in,” Knoblauch told Daily Hive of the power-play group. “Talking to Glen [Gulutzan] about it… He said every year there’s been talk about changing that power play and every year, they’re at the top of the league.
“Just being cautious about changing things because it’s been mentioned every year and they persevere and they show why they are an elite power play.”
"I think we just have to be a little patient & not be thinking about blowing things up because there are stretches where power plays just don't go well."
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch on changing the #Oilers power play.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/bJa9QPGiip
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 21, 2024
This wouldn’t be much of a story if the Oilers were winning games to start the season, but their slow 2-4-0 record to open things up is putting some added emphasis on things. In Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, the team had two power plays when the game was 0-0 and were unable to break through, ultimately allowing Dallas to take control of the game.
It’s frustrating when you can’t score normally; however, it hits another level when you have a group that has torn up the league over the past few seasons that suddenly hits a wall. Evan Bouchard, who quarterbacks the top unit, says that while the fan base may be losing patience, the belief is still high in the dressing room.
“I wouldn’t say anything is wrong with it,” Bouchard told reporters Monday morning. “We know eventually it’s going to click… I don’t think it’s a lack of confidence in our power-play group, we know what we have it’s just a matter of time before we get it going.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the bumper on that top power-play unit, has especially struggled to start the new season. While it hasn’t exactly gone to plan for the longest-tenured Oilers player, he echoed Bouchard’s sentiment of sticking with things.
“PKs are evolving right now,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “That’s something our power play has been good at over the years… Being able to adjust on the fly and make plays.
“We want to sharpen up and the teams are going to put pressure on us. We got to be sharper and faster.”
The Oilers will not stay in the bottom tier of the NHL when it comes to their PP all season. Yet, to see it falter so much at critical times in games this early in the season is concerning and one can’t help but think that things may have gone a bit stale after an extended period of success.
We’ll see if that rings true or if Edmonton will be able to silence the naysayers once again.