Evander Kane receives big demotion from coach Knoblauch
PUBLICATION
Ryan Hall
December 27, 2023 (6:53 PM)
As the Oilers prepare for their game against the Sharks, it's clear that head coach Kris Knoblauch is still not comfortable with his lines. It was revealed today that Evander Kane will be demoted to the third line has Knoblauch continues to tinker and experiment.
It seems that Knoblauch is trying to spread out his offence while capitalizing on the recent chemistry that Leon Draisaitl has found with Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod. With Nuge on the top line and playing well with Zack Hyman and Connor McDavid, this puts Kane as the odd man out.
Over the past several weeks Kane has been missing several practices which has been tied to an undisclosed injury. Reducing his minutes for a possible recovery may be the case, However, having over $5.1 million on the third line does not help with the optics.
What's worse, for the past five games, Kane has been held to one assist and is a -3 with his ice time being held below 15 minutes.
Hopefully, this will spur better results for Kane and potentially move him back into the top 6 as he will be vital for the playoff push down the stretch.
POLL |
DECEMBRE 27 | 729 ANSWERS Evander Kane receives big demotion from coach Knoblauch Is Evander Kane still a top 6 forward player? |
Yes - Just have a tough few weeks | 541 | 74.2 % |
No- He's washed up | 188 | 25.8 % |
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