Edmonton Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch Calls Out Former 40-Goal Scorer
The Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch called out the former 40-goal scorer Jeff Skinner in a recent press conference.
Kris Knoblauch and the Oilers finally found their stride after yet another tough start to the season. The team has won eight out of their 10 last games and is in the second rank of the Pacific Division, three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
However, one of their summer acquisitions has been performing quite underwhelmingly this season.
The 32-year-old veteran Jeff Skinner has only 12 points, including six goals, in 32 games this season.
Recently, a reporter even suggested that Skinner could be traded out of Edmonton soon because it's not a right fit for the player.
Yesterday, during a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, head coach Kris Knoblauch decided to demote Skinner to the fourth line.
Skinner did get great opportunities on the ice during the game but was frustrated by the Senators' goaltender on a few occasions, including this one:
In his post-game comments, Knoblauch revealed what the player can do to earn more minutes on the ice.
He stated that the player must keep doing what he did against the Senators: play good hockey:
Later, he talked about how Skinner should get a shot at playing more minutes in another line, as slumps and injuries are common in an 82-game season:
"The season is long. There's injuries, there's slumps."
Watch his full press conference in the video below:
Skinner, Knoblauch, and the Oilers entered their Christmas break and aren't set to play another game until December 28th against their division rivals Los Angeles Kings.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Jack Hughes | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jesper Bratt | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dougie Hamilton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan Bastian | - | - | - | |
| Brett Berard | - | - | - | |
| William Borgen | - | - | - | |
| Jonny Brodzinski | - | - | - | |
| Sam Carrick | - | - | - | |
| Filip Chytil | - | - | - | |
| Paul Cotter | - | - | - | |
| Will Cuylle | - | - | - | |
| Brenden Dillon | - | - | - | |
| Justin Dowling | - | - | - | |
| Adam Edstrom | - | - | - | |
| Adam Fox | - | - | - | |
| Erik Haula | - | - | - | |
| Nico Hischier | - | - | - | |
| Luke Hughes | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Jones | - | - | - | |
| Johnathan Kovacevic | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 35 | 24 | 10 | 1 | 49 | |
Capitals | 33 | 23 | 8 | 2 | 48 | |
Golden Knights | 33 | 22 | 8 | 3 | 47 | |
Devils | 36 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 47 | |
Panthers | 35 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 46 | |
Oilers | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 44 | |
Maple Leafs | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 44 | |
Wild | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 44 | |
Hurricanes | 33 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 43 | |
Kings | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 43 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||